When King Herod murders infants...

"Christus," Peter Eugene Ball, Winchester Cathedral, 
Winchester, U.K.

When King Herod murders infants in Bethlehem, 

Matthew's gospel uses words from Hebrew poet Jeremiah, 

perhaps the only words that can express 

the desperate, writhing vacancy of death.  

“A voice was heard in Ramah,
     wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
     she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

Jesus, who escaped Herod that night 

later cries out from the cross in the words of Psalm 22, 

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The gospel writer seems to see Jesus's credibility in part 

through the crucifixion's recapitulation of this Psalm: 

The mocking crowd:

“All who see me mock me;
     they sneer at me; they shake their heads;
'Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
     let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”

The soldier's casting lots:

“...they divide my clothes among themselves,
     and for my clothing they cast lots....”

Minimizing is the thing the story does not do.

Here is God, torn by the rending that devours us. 

Here is Jesus in Camus' absurdity. 

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