The Joy of Christmas vs. the Grief of Connecticut Massacre

         

1. Although this blog is for outreach experiances, I wanted to share thoughts on the recent tragedy in Connecticut:
   
   Christmas --a time of celebration and joy; but for now, especially for those in Connecticut, a time of grief and sadness. How to reconcile these contrary feelings?
   
   As I re-read the biblical account of the first Christmas, the thought struck me-----> In the first century, Jesus was born in the midst of turmoil. Joseph and Mary had fled from King Herod, who sent a death squad after them to k...
   

   ill Jesus. Herod's men had instructions to kill all the baby boys 2 years & under in the town of Bethlehem. Most scholars have estimated (based on expected population of Bethlehem at that time) that the actual number was probably around 20 infants that would be under two, brutally slain in Herod's "slaughter of the innocents".
   
   This is also the same number of children murdered in Connecticut. The grief, despair, & sadness being felt in response to the tragedy is the same as that felt in Bethlehem in the first century:
   
   Jeremiah 31:15 &
   Matthew 2:16-18: “Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “Thus says the Lord: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.’”
   But because Jesus fullfilled His mission, eternal life awaits after this life for all those children slain will live again.