Post-feast of the Nativity of Christ; Synaxis of the Most Holy Mother of God; The Holy Priest-Martyr Euthymius, Bishop of Sardis (824).
A day when the faithful are highly encouraged to participate in the Divine Liturgy.
Hebrews 2:11-18; Matthew 2:13-23.
Read Matthew 2:13-23
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
God is in control. It doesn’t often feel that way in our lives, and sometimes, it doesn’t even appear that way in the scriptures. Today, we read how Herod loses all control after he discovers that he has been deceived by the wise men, and gives the order to kill all the infant boys in Bethlehem. The result is a massacre, one that reminds us of the violence of our own day, which we read about in the news happening across the world, and which sometimes even breaks in on our own lives.
Yet God is in control. The passage about the slaughter of the innocents ends with a quote from the prophecy of Jeremiah, written down hundreds of years earlier. The point is that God already saw this coming, this wicked but futile effort of the powers of this world to stop his plan of salvation. The same God who saw evil coming (he permitted it, though he did not will it – an important distinction) also saves his Son, sending him into Egypt, and then brings him back to the land of Israel when the danger has passed.
God is in control. The powers of evil, sin, and death cannot destroy his plans, though they try. This is true for the fundamental battle between good and evil waged by Christ in his own life, death, and resurrection. But it is also true for the battles waged in our lives. God is in control. It doesn’t always seem that way, but if we look to him and let him take the lead in our lives, his plans will prevail.