Matthew 2 – God’s purpose prevails

The Christmas story… we all love these passages but I think we can be so familiar with them that we stop thinking deeply about what exactly was going on.  Verses 16-18 are some of those that we can easily gloss over or forget – “[King Herod] gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under…”

I pause. My two-year-old has come running into the room to ask me for a snack.  I imagine someone – a soldier, maybe, or a police officer – showing up at my door and demanding that I hand over my son to be killed…  

I looked this up.  Yes, King Herod did order children to be killed, but historians believe it to be a relatively small number.  As if, to a mother, that matters.  But the edict probably covered only a small region, only affected a handful of families, and didn’t really make much of a blip on the world’s radar. But even if there was just one…

I would be devastated, confused, angry.  Did the families know why Herod was ordering this to be done? Were there rumors flying around about some “child king” who Herod was scared of? Would I have been resentful of this other boy who had indirectly caused MY son’s death? Would I have taken any comfort in knowing my baby was sacrificed for the sake of fulfilling a prophecy? 

I imagine this poor mama thirty-some years later, gathering bread and fruit at the local market. There is a man on the steps, speaking to a crowd. “Who is that?” she asks her friend, gesturing to the man. “You don’t know?” the other woman gasps. “That is Jesus! They say that He is the Messiah… He calls Himself the Son of God…”  A flash of recognition, a quick calculation… this man… THIS is the reason her toddler was murdered. HE is the reason she has spent her life in mourning.  

The Lord’s purpose always prevails, in spite of and sometimes because of our heartbreak.  That’s why it is so important to keep the big picture in mind and to cling to this promise – the Lord’s purpose always prevails. We cannot see behind the scenes to know what purposes are ultimately being served by our losses, our sadness, our struggles, but we have to believe that God is always at work and that we are part of His greater plan.

Similarly, imagine Mary’s surprise when, years after Jesus was born, the Magi show up on her doorstep.  While she had been tending her baby, nursing him, changing diapers, nurturing him, these men were trekking night and day, for years, spending their time and money and resources to get to her house and present their gifts to her son. All these things going on behind the scenes that she did not know about – God’s great plan.  And then, packing up everything and moving to Egypt, obeying God and protecting their family.  All these circumstances of Jesus’s first years were carefully orchestrated by God to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies. But Mary didn’t know that…  She was simply living her life, living the life God had called her to.  

Babies aside, how many people suffered under Herod and his son? How many people were tortured and killed during this awful reign? And, for why? So that Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah would be fulfilled.

Just like the exiled Jews, we rarely get a glimpse of God’s bigger plan.  But Matthew lays it out so clearly here – all the things God had been putting in place, coordinating in the background, laying the foundation for the Messiah to arrive.  

God had a plan for Jesus, and He has a plan for us. 

Psalm 139:16 says, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written – every one of them – the days that were formed for me before even one of them came to pass.“

God knew that you would be exactly where you are this very minute.  He has orchestrated events or worked them together for your good, knowing that you would end up in this exact moment in time. Can you look back and see God’s hand in your life? Are you angry or resentful for any of the things that have happened in your past? Can you see how God has used them for His glory? How does it make you feel to know that your pain, your loss, your difficulties are part of God’s grand plan? Are you still clinging to your own purposes?    

Please share in the comments how God has brought you to this place in life. Stories of His faithfulness, even in times of great trials, are so encouraging – and necessary! – for all of us to hear.