“When King Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men” (Matthew 2:16). This is not the most familiar part of the Christmas story, but it lets us see an interesting detail: some time had passed between when the wise men saw the star, and when they arrived in Jerusalem.

It makes sense that it would take a while for them to arrive. Suppose these wise men from the East saw the star as soon as it appeared (2:2). We would still have to allow for some time for them to figure out what it meant, to consult with one another and conclude that it meant that the king of the Jews had been born, and to decide to travel to Jerusalem to check this out. Add in preparation for this journey and actual caravan time, and it could easily be several months, perhaps a year. If we guess that Herod in his paranoia might have doubled the time frame given by the wise men from one year to two, it still tells us that it’s more theatrical than real in the Christmas pageant when the wise men arrive the night of Jesus’ birth.

In Herod’s murderous rage Matthew saw a recollection of the Exile: a power-hungry outsider king whose cruelty resulted in the death of children (Jeremiah 31:15; and this is after all why the psalmist wants payback in Psalm 137:9). It is impossible for people to be comforted in such a moment; Rachel (symbolically, the beloved mother of the children of Israel) can only weep (Matthew 2:18).

Matthew did not dismiss this heartbreak: he recognized it, and recorded it. The exile times in our lives, the days of anguish, the incomprehensible suffering: these are real. The memory of the Exile would always leave a deep mark on Israel; Matthew would note it as one of the pivots for counting up the generations (1:17). Yet the anguish was not all that was real: in the midst of it, God was doing something that would be characterized by salvation (1:21) and great joy (2:10).

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Help us, O God, on those days when everything seems to be falling apart, when all we can do is weep: help us to know that even in the midst of terror and despair, you are working to establish salvation and joy for the broken-hearted.