Herod anxiously expected the return of the wise men, with full
information as to where he might find the infant King of the Jews:
but, as day after day passed and they came not, he saw that they did
not mean to do his bidding. "Then was Herod exceeding wroth, and sent
forth his soldiers, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem,
and in all the coasts thereof,"--that is, in the neighbouring parts of
the country,--"from two years old and under, according to the time
which he had diligently enquired of the wise men." As much less than
two years had passed, since the wise men saw the star which heralded
the birth of the Messiah, Herod made sure that, by killing all the
little boys under that age, he should destroy the infant King of the
Jews, and so rid himself of any further anxiety.
Terrible was the distress and mourning amongst the poor Mothers, who
saw their infants torn from their arms and murdered! but their dear
babes were safe; taken from the dangers and troubles of this world, to
be for ever happy in the presence of God: "for they are without fault
before the throne of God."
Our Church sets apart three days, immediately after Christmas Day, in
remembrance of three classes of Martyrs. A Martyr is one who suffers
in the cause of duty, and will die rather than give way: those who
thus suffered for Christ, and would die rather than offend or forsake
Him, are called Martyrs. "The Innocents," as the murdered babes of
Bethlehem are called, suffered death for Jesus's sake; but, of course,
they had no will in the matter; they were too young: these were the
first Martyrs.
The day after Christmas Day is called "St. John the Evangelist's Day":
St. John was, when Jesus grew up, one of His disciples: he dearly
loved his Master, and was ready to die for Him, but he was not called
upon to give up his life, though he suffered much for Jesus's sake.
The day following "St. John's Day," is called "St. Stephen's Day": St.
Stephen was the first who willingly gave up his life for the sake of
Jesus Christ. Thus we have three classes of Martyrs commemorated in
our Church: Martyrs in Deed only--the Innocents; Martyrs in Will
only--St. John; Martyrs in Will and in Deed--St. Stephen.
But to return to our history. Herod was guilty of a great sin; and,
in spite of all his wickedness, the Child Jesus lived and was safe.
It is said that Antipater, who had caused the death of Mariamne's
sons, advised his father to slay the infants of Bethlehem. Antipater
was a bad man, and, as he was very anxious to be King of Judaea
whenever Herod should die, he wished to destroy one who might, as he
feared, dispute the kingdom with him: no doubt he rejoiced when the
cruel deed was done, concluding that Jesus had perished, and that he
was now sure of the throne: but he was disappointed; for very shortly
afterwards he in some way displeased his father, who at once caused
him to be put to death. It is dreadful to think of the numbers of
persons killed by Herod's orders, but Antipater was the last; for five
days afterwards Herod himself died.
This Herod, called Herod the Great, left four sons living--Archelaus,
Herod Antipas, Philip, and Herod Philip. There are three other Herods
also mentioned in Scripture--Herod Agrippa, and his brother, also
called Herod, who were sons of Aristobulus, and consequently grandsons
of Herod the Great; and, afterwards, a son of Herod Agrippa, called by
the same names as his father, Herod Agrippa. As it is difficult always
to know which Herod is spoken of, the Table below will be useful to
refer to.
1.
Herod the Great.
|
+------------------------+---------------+
| 2. | 3.
| Herod Antipas. Herod Philip.
|
Sons of Aristobulus.
+------------------+
| 4. | 5.
Herod Agrippa. Herod.
|
| 6.
Herod Agrippa.
After the death of Herod the Great, Archelaus became governor of the
provinces of Judaea and Samaria, and Herod Antipas ruled over the
province of Galilee, under the title of Tetrarch: but upon this
subject we must say a little more before we go on with the history of
Jesus Christ.
When Herod died, he left a Will, in which he declared his wish, that
his son Archelaus should be king over the greatest part of his
dominions: but as the whole kingdom was subject to the Romans, this
could not be done without the Emperor's leave. Before Archelaus could
go to Home to ask this permission, there was a great disturbance
amongst the Jews in Jerusalem, in consequence of Archelaus refusing to
grant some request: they assembled in great numbers in the Courts of
the Temple, and behaved in such a riotous and disorderly manner, that
Archelaus ordered his soldiers to attack them, and 3,000 men are said
to have been killed on this occasion; a piece of cruelty which
probably disinclined the Emperor Augustus to give Archelaus as much
power as his father Herod the Great had had; at any rate, Archelaus
only succeeded in being made Governor of Judaea and Samaria, with the
promise, that if he acted so as to give the Emperor satisfaction, he
should have the title of King: but instead of obtaining this, he
behaved so ill, that a few years afterwards he was deprived of all
power, and banished to a city in Gaul, where he died.
Returning to the history of our blessed Lord, we find that after the
death of Antipater and Herod, the Angel appeared to Joseph in Egypt,
saying, "Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into
the land of Israel, for they are dead which sought the young child's
life." The Angel did not name any particular place for the young Child
to go to, but the Messiah was not to stay long out of the Holy Land,
given to Abraham and his descendants, as a heritage for ever. When
Joseph, with Mary and the holy Child, got back into the land of
Israel, he found that "Archelaus reigned in the room of his father";
that is, he was Governor of Judaea; fearing his cruelty, he was afraid
to take the young Child and his mother there, and the Lord, by means
of a dream, warned him to go into the land of Galilee, which was under
the government of Herod Antipas.
Joseph in consequence made choice of Nazareth in Galilee as a
dwelling-place, and there the Lord Jesus Christ lived till he grew up
to be a Man, and was ready to begin the work which He came into the
world to do. During all these years, up to the time when Jesus was
thirty years old, we are told nothing of what He did, except His
questioning the priests in the temple, when He was twelve years old.
Twelve was the age appointed for the young Jews to begin to keep the
Feasts and Fasts prescribed by their Law; and accordingly, Jesus, who
came to fulfil all righteousness, accompanied Mary and Joseph to
Jerusalem on this occasion: but after all the ceremonies had been
observed, He, unknown to them, remained behind, and going into the
temple astonished the priests and learned men by His questions, His
knowledge of the Scriptures, and the way in which He spake: no wonder
that all who looked upon Him merely as a human being, should be
astonished. When Mary missed her Son, she and Joseph returned to
Jerusalem, where "after three days they found Him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them
questions." To His mother's gentle rebuke, "Son, why hast thou thus
dealt with us?" the holy Child made that answer at once referring to
His divine nature, and to the work for which He had left His Father's
kingdom, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" They
understood not fully then His meaning; but Mary "kept all these
sayings in her heart."
But Jesus had now done all that was to be done for many years, as to
His great work; and therefore, though He knew Himself to be the Son of
God, He submitted to His earthly parents: He went "down with them, and
came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them"--thus in His first work,
setting us the great example of obedience to parents--an example which
all of us must carefully and cheerfully copy. No sin, not even the
least approach to it, was found in Him: one act of disobedience would
have prevented His making atonement for us. And this perfect Being so
loved us, His sinful creatures, as to die for us: let us love Him; and
show our love by trying to copy His example in all things; beginning
with obedience to our Parents, and all whom they set over us.