In my simple faith I wonder how it is okay to pray after
the tragedy and during tragedy but it is forbidden to pray in the public arena
before the tragedy. The culture that denounces Christ in the public discourse,
the society that mocks Christ in the political sphere, is suddenly brought to
knees for prayer when suddenly we are made powerless and voiceless. I reminded
my daughter Sunita that the birth of Jesus, the Prince of peace, was surrounded
and followed by the ruthless murder of children of Bethlehem by King Herod. Thus
says the LORD: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her
children, because they are no more” (Jeremiah 31:15).
Christians must call evil what it is, never deny its horror and power,
and remain ever thankful that evil will not have its full sway, or the last
word.
We affirm the Cross of Christ as the only
adequate remedy for evil. There is
one and only one reason that evil does not have the last word, and that is the
fact that evil, sin, death, and the devil were defeated at the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There they were defeated conclusively, comprehensively, and
publicly. Christ’s victory over
sin, evil, and death was declared by the Father in raising Jesus from the dead.
The resurrection of Christ is the ground of our hope and the assurance of the
final and total victory of Christ over all powers, principalities, and
perpetrators. In the face of such
horrors and atrocities, we are driven again and again to the Cross and
resurrection of Christ, knowing that the reconciling power of God in Christ is
the only adequate answer to such a depraved and diabolical
power.
For now, even as we yearn for the Day of the Lord, we grieve with those who
grieve. We sit with them and pray for them, and acknowledge that their loss is
truly unspeakable and that their tears are unspeakably true. We pray and look
for openings for grace and the hope of the gospel. We do our best to speak words
of truth, love, grace, and comfort.
What of the eternal destiny of these sweet
children? There is no specific text of Scripture that gives us a clear and
direct answer. We must affirm with the Bible that we are conceived in sin and,
as sons and daughters of Adam, will face eternal damnation unless we are found
in Christ. So many of these little victims died before reaching any real
knowledge of their own sinfulness and need for Christ. They, like those who die
in infancy and those who suffer severe mental incapacitation, never really have
the opportunity to know their need as sinners and the provision of Christ as
Savior. They are in a
categorically different position than that of the person of adult consciousness
who never responds in faith to the message of the Gospel. In the book of
Deuteronomy, God tells the adults among the Children of Israel that, due to
their sin and rebellion, they would not enter the land of promise. But the Lord
then said this: “And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey,
and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in
there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it” (Deuteronomy
1:39).
Many, if not all, of the little children who
died in Newtown were so young that they certainly would be included among those
who, like the little Israelites, “have no knowledge of good or evil.” God is
sovereign, and he was not surprised that these little ones died so soon. There
is biblical precedent for believing that the Lord made provision for them in the
atonement accomplished by Christ, and that they are safe with
Jesus.
Rachel is weeping for her children.
The prophet Jeremiah’s reference
to Rachel and her lost children is heart-breaking. “Thus says the LORD: ‘A voice
is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her
children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no
more.’” Like Rachel, many parents, grandparents, and loved ones are weeping
inconsolably even now, refusing to be comforted for their children, because they
are no more. This tragedy is
compounded in emotional force by the fact that it comes in such close proximity
to Christmas, but let us never forget that there was the mass murder of children
in the Christmas story as well. King Herod’s murderous decree that all baby boys
under two years of age should be killed prompted Matthew to cite this very verse
from Jeremiah. Rachel again was weeping for her children.
God, not the murderer, has the last word. For
those in Christ, there is the promise of full restoration. Even in the face of
such unmitigated horror, there is hope. “There is hope for your future, declares
the Lord, and your children shall come back to your own country.” There are so
many who pour out their lives and love to others in the Name of the New Born
King, Jesus Christ. We praise the Lord the Lights still shines in dark places.
"The people that walked in darkness
have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,
upon them hath the light shined." Isaiah 9:2
May the Lord give grace and
anointing to feed the lambs. May Jesus grant special blessings to those are
engaged in the ministry to the children in schools in churches. Jesus said let
the children come to me. Do not hinder them for to such belongs the Kingdom of
God.
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