Thought for the Week

by Rev David Stewart, Retired Church of Scotland minister.

A few years ago, when I was still working, I was in school watching a Nativity Play. At the end of it, one of the pupils came up to me and said, “I know why everyone loves Christmas”. I didn’t say anything. Just waited for the answer. She said, “It is because it is about a baby and everyone loves a baby”. Sadly, that was not true when Jesus was born. When Jesus was a baby, Israel was ruled by King Herod who was a cruel tyrant. His greatest fear was of being overthrown and killed. Matthew’s Gospel tells of wise men from the East coming to him and asking, “Where is the one born to be King of the Jews?” He sends them to continue their search and orders them to come back and tell him where this baby this. They find Jesus in Bethlehem, but they are warned in a dream not to go back to Herod. As time passes, Herod’s paranoia grows, and he realises that he has been deceived. He sends his soldiers to kill all the male children in Bethlehem who were 2 or younger, as he thought that Jesus would also be killed. The massacre takes place, but Jesus has been already taken to safety in Egypt. Between Christmas and New Year, some branches of the church celebrate Holy Innocents’ Day which commemorates this terrible event.

Sadly, similar things happen today. A recent UN Report stated that 2017 had been the worst year on record for violence against children because of war. Recently, we have seen evidence of this. Syrian children caught up in a siege in a suburb of Damascus. Rohingya children forced to flee Myanmar and now living in refugee camps. Children in Yemen facing a famine because of a civil war.

As we look at these events, we feel despair at our inability to change things. But, we can do something. We can pray to the God who cares for all the children and who wants an end to violence throughout the world. We can also support charities that bring aid to these situations. Our individual efforts might seem insignificant, but together with other concerned people we can do much.