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In the final scene of our story, Matthew (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) highlights a tragedy in Bethlehem. It is often called “The Massacre of the Innocents.” Some people see this story as a myth because no other historical records talk about Herod killing children in Bethlehem. Most Bible scholars believe it was only several dozen baby boys (Bethlehem was a small city after all).

I say “only” not to minimize the tragedy, but to explain why extrabiblical histories of Herod are silent on this event. When a ruthless and violent king like Herod kills his mom or his sons, the ancient news media pays attention. But when a few dozen baby boys are slaughtered in Bethlehem it’s not newsworthy.

But God sees. And He records it for us in Scripture:

Matthew 2:16—Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.

Put yourself in the people’s shoes for a second. A young mom gives birth to a baby. She smiles when she hears it’s a boy. She feeds him, sings to him, changes him, and smells his head when he sleeps. Her heart expands as he learns to roll over. Then crawl. Then walk. She smiles when he smiles, laughs when he laughs, and cries when he cries. She loves her baby boy and cannot imagine the world without him. Until one day, without warning, there are soldiers at the door. Under Herod’s orders they take her baby boy and put him to death. Where is God when tragedies like this happen?

In his book Trusting God, Jerry Bridges tells the story of a similar tragedy:

"At 9:15 a.m., just after the children had settled into their first lesson on the morning of 21 October 1966, a waste tip from a South Wales [coal mine] slide into the quiet mining community of Aberfan. Of all the heartrending tragedies of that day, none was worse than the fate of the village Junior School. The black slime slithered down the man-made hillside and oozed its way into the classrooms. Unable to escape, five teachers and 109 children died.

A clergyman being interviewed by a BBC reporter at the time of [the tragedy, in response] . . . to the inevitable question about God [said], 'Well . . . I suppose we have to admit that this is one of those occasions when the Almighty made a mistake.'" [1]

If the “Almighty” can make a mistake, he’s not almighty is he? Matthew refuses to let us believe something like this. God is sovereign, even over this suffering. There is hope, even amidst this horror.

Once again, this is a new story that connects to an old story and completes it.

Matthew 2:17-18—Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

What’s going on here? The answer is found in Jeremiah 31. Matthew is pulling together several threads from this chapter to make one beautiful tapestry.

The first thread is Rachel. In Genesis 35, Rachel gives birth to a son named Benjamin. But Rachel weeps for her children because the delivery will quickly take her life. Jacob buries her in Bethlehem, six miles south of Jerusalem. So even though Rachel is long gone by the time Jeremiah prophesies, he references her poetically as a mother in the faith.

The second threat is Ramah. This is a city just six miles north of Jerusalem. It’s connected to Rachel because it was part of the territory of her son Benjamin. But it’s also the place where God’s people were taken away into exile. Rachel’s descendants are weeping because her children have been taken away.

The third thread is Rejoicing. Surprisingly, even though the passage Matthew quotes is about sadness, the chapter is about rejoicing. This is true from the beginning to the end of the chapter, but consider just one example a few verses before the passage Matthew quotes:

Jeremiah 31:13—“Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

It’s strange for Jeremiah to write about so much rejoicing. He’s sometimes called the weeping prophet, after all he’s the one who wrote the book of Lamentations. He’s witnessed the carnage in Jerusalem in 586 B.C.,  the destruction of the temple, and saw the last of Judah’s kings. He’s writing during the exile. Why is Jeremiah calling on God’s people to rejoice?

The answer comes towards the end of the chapter:

Jeremiah 31:31-34—“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

God will put His law within us, by the Spirit (therefore we’ll all know Him intimately). God will forgive our sin and remember it no more (it’s penalty will be completely paid).

Now we see why Matthew quotes this passage in Jeremiah. Just as God brought hope and the promise of a new covenant out of the horrors of exile, God will bring hope and the presence of a new covenant out of the horrors of what happened in Bethlehem.

How can I know for sure? How can I trust Him? The Father didn’t rescue Jesus from Bethlehem to save Him from death. Jesus was rescued so He could be saved for death. Jesus must live a sinless life, fulfilling all righteousness well into His adulthood. He must die a sinner’s death, not as a victim of Herod’s sword but of Pilate’s cross. Because in His death He will inaugurate a new and better covenant. If God breaks His promise to you, Christian, then Jesus died for nothing!

The story of Jesus is a new story that connects to an old story and completes it. Jesus establishes a new and better covenant.