Day 298: The Real First Martyrs

In Matthew 2:16, King Herod murdered every male child in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill Jesus.  The murder of male babies in Egypt might come to mind.  What struck me is that these children were completely oblivious to what was going on about them.  At two, they hardly did anything wrong to warrant a punishment.  Some were just newborns.  This is why the Bible refers to this poor forgotten event as the Massacre of the Innocents. Not to say they are martyrs, but this is not unlike the Sandy Hook massacre of innocent children that took place a year ago around this time.

Anyways, these babies were killed for Jesus' sake.  They didn't believe in Him, like martyrs are murdered for their faith, but it was because of Jesus' existence that they died.  It was cruel, unfair, and they were innocent.  I'm sure God has special crowns in heaven for all the innocents who have been unfairly murdered, for their faith or out of no good reason except evil.  Children, real martyrs, have died for their faith in other countries.  Why does it happen at Christmas?  I can't say.  Maybe they die to remind us of the battle at hand, with Jesus' presence in the world and His stand against Evil.  Once you think about it too, Jesus told us to have the faith of a child.  So all martyrs are really children at heart.