Why Read the Bible: To Learn the Need to Count the Cost of Discipleship

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied. When [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

–Matthew 2.1-5a, 13-16 (NIV)

Today we observe the slaughter of the innocents (the actual feast day is transferred to tomorrow), the awful event described by Matthew in today’s passage. There are some who question the historicity of this account. Critics who doubt the veracity of this story usually point out that this sad event is not mentioned anywhere else outside of the Bible. They therefore conclude that the slaughter of the innocents is probably a story Matthew concocted to support his particular apologetic.

But this criticism does not hold up under careful examination. First, Bethlehem was an obscure village in the Roman Empire and there were no means of instantaneous and mass communication. News of this event would likely have been contained to the immediate surrounding area and stopped there (cf. Luke 1.65). Second, while the slaughter of innocents is a terrible event, it is likely that the scale of slaughter was simply insufficient to garner the attention necessary for it to be noticed and chronicled in extra-biblical sources. Bethlehem was not a major population center and the number of boys killed would have likely been relatively small (although not too small for the families who had their babies killed by a cruel ruler). There is therefore no good reason to question the historicity of this sad event.

Third, and for the purposes of today’s reflection, we see in this story what can happen when human fear is allowed to go unchecked. One of the things Matthew is telling us is that those who choose to follow Christ can expect to encounter opposition along the way, sometimes lethal opposition. He tells us that from the very beginning, Jesus’ enemies have been hellbent to destroy him because he is a threat to their power, status, and security. Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, represents a threat to the false and corrupt values of God’s broken and fallen world. He makes us afraid because deep down we know there is something here that far surpasses our pettiness and selfish ambitions and we don’t like it one bit. When we are afraid, we seek to put an end to our source of fear by whatever means possible. And when we can get away with it, killing our source of fear is the most effective and permanent solution. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Herod acted as he did. This is what sin and lawlessness bring about.

Likewise for those who follow Christ. We can expect opposition and persecution from a variety of places, sometimes sadly from within the Church itself. And where lawlessness reigns, this opposition often turns deadly. We don’t have to look very far in today’s world to see the truth of this. Christians around the world face persecution and death everyday from the various enemies of the cross. The danger is real and it can be terribly frightening. It has the potential to make the faint of heart and faith fall away.

In this country, persecution usually doesn’t turn deadly. Instead, it frequently takes the form of ridicule for holding Christian beliefs and values. Unfortunately, enemies of the cross have been successful in challenging and changing many of our traditional values, all in the name of tolerance and freedom, and most Christians have let that happen because we do not want to speak out for fear of being labeled “intolerant” or a “bigot.” Many Christians simply do not believe there are people who hate Christians and Christianity enough to want to destroy the faith and silence them. They simply refuse to believe that the motives of Christ’s enemies could possibly stem from malice or hatred of him and his followers. Today’s story, however, reminds us how wrongheaded this thinking is. The enemies of Christ are real and given half a chance, will move to eliminate his followers with ruthless and cunning determination.

All of this is why our Lord himself cautioned those who would follow him to stop and count the cost of being his disciple because being a Christian is terribly costly (see Luke 14.25-35). It costs us our sinful and fallen self. It can cost us popularity or being perceived as being ignorant or unenlightened. It can cost us our families and sometimes our very lives. All of this can cause us to fall away and if that happens, it will cause the name of Christ to face additional ridicule from his enemies.

But here is the funny thing about the upside-down economy of the Kingdom (upside down at least from a worldly perspective). When we are persecuted, the world tells us to run like crazy from it or to change so that the persecution will stop. Jesus, on the other hand, tells us to stand our ground and rejoice because we are blessed when we are being persecuted for his Name’s sake (Matthew 5.1-12). We are to count it as joy when we are persecuted and ridiculed for Jesus’ sake (James 1.2ff). Why is that? Because we are attaching ourselves to Life, not death. We are acknowledging there is more to life than mortal existence or power or prestige or wealth or security or popularity. We are demonstrating our faith in the great love that God has for us in Jesus Christ. We believe the promise that there is something far better awaiting us and that we have the very real help of the Holy Spirit right now, to bolster and strengthen us as we deal with our fears and all else that can go wrong with the heart and this world.

If you are a Christian and have never suffered because of it, chances are you are only going the the motions. But when you suffer for Christ’s sake because you remain faithful to him and his Gospel, you can consider yourself blessed. You can experience real joy in the midst of your suffering and trials because you know you have the very promise and Power of God living in you to help you overcome all that the Evil One and this fallen world can throw at you. Surely the Holy Innocents would understand.