Dead Babies on Christmas: Xmas Beyond Biblicism

Murdered infants and toddlers don't exactly make many Hallmark Christmas greetings. But according to the Christmas story in Matthew, Herod "slew all the children in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under" (Matt. 2:16). Those of us familiar with the tale know that an angel warned the holy family to flee to Egypt in order to avoid this atrocity (an atrocity whose historicity is in question for a number of reasons). Without salvation from this decree of baby homicide, Jesus would have died long before the cross. Since we know the end of the story, we can read this part of the story understanding why God saved Jesus.

But even in spite of the story's ending, why didn't God save the other children? Surely these babies deserved deliverance from death. A child does not need to be the Messiah in order to deserve Physical salvation. After all, isn't that a large part of what the gospel story is about? Before Jesus died for the sins of the world, babies died for him, died to placate Herod's megalomania. God chose God's only son over these innocent children in order that Jesus could sacrifice himself for such children. 

This is a problem for the Christmas story as it is read in popular US culture, but not for Christmas itself. Christmas should not be about certain interpretations of the Bible, viz., attempts to read the Bible as nothing other than literal and historically accurate and attempts to fit the Bible into a sort of positive hits radio station. Christmas is neither Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christmas" or the so-called holiday spirit. By remembering this story of infanticide, I am challenged to think about the underside of my own blessings. Who pays for my gifts in non-monetary ways? Who is forgotten in the media-created idea of "the war on Christmas." What happens to those in need after the generosity of the holiday spirit fades into memories of Christmas past?