Faces of Herod: Past and Present
Past
Matthew 2:1-23
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: …
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.
Present
The Children
Upon the street they lie
Beside the broken stone:
The blood of children stares from the broken stone.
Death came out of the sky
In the bright afternoon:
Darkness slanted over the bright afternoon.
Again the sky is clear
But upon earth a stain:
The earth is darkened with a darkening stain:
A wound which everywhere
Corrupts the hearts of men:
The blood of children corrupts the hearts of men.
Silence is in the air:
The stars move to their places:
Silent and serene the stars move to their places:
But from earth the children stare
With blind and fearful faces:
And our charity is in the children’s faces.
-William Soutar (1898-1943)
According to Oxfam International, conservative figures show that more than 11,000 children were killed in Gaza by the Israeli military since October, 2023.
CPW
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