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Humble Hero
Herod sent soldiers to Bethlehem with orders to put to death all
the children two years old and under. The quiet homes of the City
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of David witnessed scenes that had been opened to the prophet six
hundred years before:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
The Jews had brought this disaster on themselves by rejecting
the Holy Spirit, their only Shield. They had searched for prophecies
that they could interpret to exalt themselves and show how God
despised other nations. It was their proud boast that the Messiah
was to come as a king and trample down the heathen in His anger.
In this way, they stirred up the hatred of their rulers. Through their
misrepresentation of Christ’s mission, Satan had intended to bring
about the Savior’s destruction, but instead it returned on their own
heads.
Soon after the slaughter of the children, Herod died a fearful
death. Joseph was still in Egypt, and now an angel told him to return
to Israel. Thinking of Jesus as the Heir to David’s throne, Joseph
wanted to make his home in Bethlehem. But when he learned that
Archelaus had been made king in Judea in place of his father, he
feared that the son might carry out the father’s evil intentions.
God directed Joseph to a place of safety, Nazareth, his former
home. For nearly thirty years, Jesus lived here, “that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a
Nazarene.’” Galilee had a much larger mixture of foreign inhabitants
than Judea, so there was less interest in matters relating especially
to the Jews.
This was the Savior’s reception when He came to earth. God
could not entrust His beloved Son to human beings, even while car-
rying forward His work for their salvation! He commissioned angels
to accompany Jesus and protect Him until He could accomplish His
mission and die by the hands of those whom He came to save.
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