Do not suppose that death has got the upper hand, nor that death will have the last word. For out of Egypt God has called His Son — the same Son, Jesus Christ, who has come in the Flesh to bear your sins and be your Savior. He has shed His Blood and died for you, and God has raised Him from the dead. Therefore, death has no power over Him, and neither does it have any power over you, since you are baptized into Christ Jesus and belong to Him now and forever.

And yet, despite all that, it sure still looks and feels as though death were winning. Examples abound on all sides, and you can hardly read or listen to the news without adding more on a daily basis. Explosions, shootings, accidents, and illness. And it strikes even closer to home too often.

“In the very midst of life, death has us surrounded.” And the fear of death, under its many guises, enslaves and tyrannizes you, driving you to sin. It is at the heart of all your selfishness and greed, your covetousness and idolatry, your deception and manipulation, and both your lazy negligence and your works-righteous legalism. For death has come into the world on account of sin, and sin increases all the more in the fear of death. It is a vicious cycle which erupts here and there, within and without, sometimes with cold calculation, and then again with aimless outbursts of violence.

Sometimes, like King Herod, you get angry and lose your temper, and you fight back and defend yourself with force — as though you were a god, with the power and authority of life and death.

At other times, like Rachel, you despair of any help or consolation — you weep and moan, refusing to be consoled or comforted — as though there were no God, no Savior, and no hope to be found.

Such fear of death, such anger, and such inconsolable grief are all sinful and unrighteous, because they are contrary to faith and to the love of God.

I tell you, then, repent of your misplaced fear, of your violent temper, and of your hopeless despair.

Wait quietly and patiently upon the Lord, and rise up at His Word to do what He calls you to do. No matter how daunting, difficult, or discouraging the task at hand may be, get up and go in the hope of His grace, mercy, and peace. Live and work as St. Joseph of Nazareth has done in caring for his wife and for her Son, as he flees with them to Egypt and waits upon the Word of the Lord.

So, then, about that story set before us on this day: Once again it would seem that death has got the upper hand, and that everything is out of God’s control. After all, the little Lord Jesus has to be rushed away to safety in the middle of the night, while the innocent baby boys of Bethlehem are slaughtered in His wake. Where is the justice or the hope in such events as these?

To point out that everything actually unfolds according to the Scriptures seems, on the surface, only to make matters worse. For why on earth would God permit such atrocities to happen?

Why, indeed, does God permit you to suffer?

And why does the Lord your God permit you to hurt and harm your neighbor?

Truth be told, God does respond to and deal with evil, with sin and death, with fear and anger and despair. But He does not respond as you would do, nor does He act like either Herod or Rachel. He does not react with force, nor retaliate with the raw unbridled power of a temper tantrum. He has no need to get “defensive,” as though He were backed into a corner and desperate for some way out. Nor does He panic and throw up His hands in frustration. He does not give up the fight.

True enough, there is a day of reckoning, a day of judgment, when God vindicates His people and punishes the sons of disobedience. He does get glory over against Pharaoh and the armies of Egypt who are drowned in the depths of the Red Sea. Herod also dies and is judged by the Lord.

But the Lord God demonstrates His almighty power over sin, death, the devil, and hell, chiefly by showing mercy to sinners, and having compassion upon them, and forgiving them all their sins. He is patient and long-suffering, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. He establishes His righteousness in the midst of the nations, not by punishment to start with, but by redemption. Else we should all be lost, completely and forever, and then there really would be no hope at all.

As it is, the Lord our God is faithful in His mercy, and He is righteous in His forgiveness of sins. So it is that Herod’s treachery does not triumph, because death does not get the last word. Herod’s slaughter of the innocents is no less sinful and wicked on that account, but neither does it win.

God does not fail or neglect the children of Bethlehem, but He calls them to Himself and rescues them from every evil, unto the Life everlasting in body and soul. Their little bodies are cruelly butchered and put to death, but God gives them rest, and He shall raise them in glory at the last.

Meanwhile, Christ Jesus does not “run away” in fear from danger and from death, but He proceeds in faith to the Sacrifice of His Cross, which shall be at the time appointed by His Father in heaven. No one takes His life from Him, but He lays it down willingly when that Day and that Hour come.

It is toward that purpose that He grows up — from infancy, through childhood, into adulthood — in order to redeem the whole of human life. He lives in faith and love, from the first to the last, on His Way to the Cross. And as true Man, He learns to refuse the evil and choose the good. That is to say, He learns experientially to live by faith in the Word of God in the midst of sin and death. He goes to the Cross, not as a helpless babe in His Mother’s arms, but as the Perfect Man of God.

In all of this, He does not escape the trials and tribulations of this life — which the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem are spared, though their mothers and fathers are not. But He submits Himself to every bit of the Great Tribulation — for you and your salvation, and for the sake of all people.

He enters into Egypt in order to rescue and redeem His Israel from Egypt, in the certainty that His God and Father will call Him forth by the new and greater Exodus of His Cross and Passion.

It is not at Herod’s whim, but in fulfillment of God’s holy will, that Christ Jesus lays down His life in the hope of the Resurrection, trusting the Scriptures of the Prophets, the promise of His Father.

He thus becomes the Lamb who is given in place of beloved Isaac, sacrificed in place of the sons of Israel, put to death in place of all the children of men. He is pierced for your transgressions, wounded for your iniquities, crucified, put to death, and buried; and by His stripes you are healed.

And now, behold, He is risen from the dead and lives forever in His own glorified Body! For He is raised by God to life again, which is your justification, your righteousness and holiness before God in heaven. Thus does the Son return to His own territory, to the Right Hand of His Father.

Beloved of the Lord, you now follow this Lamb, Jesus, wherever He goes, so that you are with Him where He is. So it is by your Baptism into His death, and so too by the eating and drinking of His true Passover Feast, which is His Body given and His Blood poured out for you.

And so it is that you shall be with Him forever, alive with His Spirit in both body and soul, holy and righteous in the presence of His Father, residing in peace on the heavenly Mount Zion.

This is your future, and in the Resurrection of Christ Jesus it is your sure and certain hope. Amen, Amen, so shall it be! And that was likewise the case for the believing baby boys of Bethlehem when Herod put them to death, for he could not rob them of their life, which is in Christ Jesus.

To be sure, your time now under the Cross is not easy — in this wilderness to and from Egypt — as you must care for your neighbors in hardship and adversity, and as you mourn for those who die. It was not easy for St. Joseph and the Holy Family, either, nor for the grieving fathers and mothers of Bethlehem. And let us not make light of the Cross that is thus borne in this poor life of labor.

But the truth remains, that Christ has died, and Christ is risen from the dead. And He has written His Name — the Name of His Father — with the sign and seal of His Cross upon your forehead.

Therefore, God calls you also out of Egypt in His Son. Indeed, you are His beloved son in Christ!

Have no fear of death, for it has been undone. Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for all your sins are forgiven. The devil who sought your life is defeated; he cannot harm you anymore forever. You are ransomed and redeemed by the Lord your God, and you are taught the New Song of the Lamb who has purchased and won you with His own Blood.

Even now you sing His Song in the strength of His Resurrection, which is the surety of your own resurrection from the dead; for He has become your Salvation, now and forever and ever.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.