Posted on 12/27/2007 8:40:28 PM PST by Huber
The Innocents' Day.
The Collect.
O ALMIGHTY God, who out of the mouths of babes and sucklmgs hast ordained strength, and madest infants to glorify thee by their deaths: Mortify and kill all vices in us, and so strengthen us by thy grace, that by the innocency of our lives, and constancy of our faith even unto death, we may glorify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For the Epistle. Rev. xiv. 1.
I LOOKED, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
The Gospel. St. Matt. ii. 13.
THE angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saving, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, an be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Then Herod, when he maw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, amid slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Saw a thing on TV Christmas day, seemed the usual “could Jesus birth be real” kind of show. The first half was infuriating, nothing but revisionist bible scholars saying how riduculous historically the gospel accounts are....I was about to switch channels. Then the 2nd half was given to a conservative Methodist theologian traveling in the Holy Land, giving patient plausible accounts harmonizing the gospel witnesses. I was glad I stuck the show out.
One of the things he said was evidence shows Bethlehem to have been quite small, just a couple hundred people, in Jesus’ day. Hence Herod’s slaughter of the innocents may have been as few as a dozen or less children—small potatoes compared to the rest of Herod’s long list of crimes. Such explains why, as the unbelieving “scholars” often preach, there is no secular account to the massacre. Still God is concerned with just a few, who were killed due to wicked rage over our Lord’s birth.
It’s fascinating to me how scriptural teaching always allows an out for unbelief—while the facts of faith are plausible, the case is never air-tight: Faith must be willing.
Faith sharing bump.
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