“…they were the Church’s first blossoms, matured by the frost of persecution during the cold winter of unbelief.”
The first Christian martyrs (though their names or exact number remain unknown) are a visceral testament to the interplay of God’s justice, mercy and grace.
“Justice, mercy and grace” – I pray we hear these not as mere abstractions but as embodied expressions of the Word made flesh.
Charlie Kirk’s martyrdom, still too fresh, should particularly remind us of the flesh-and-blood consequences of speaking courageously in a fallen world.
“Justice” isn’t just a word when a beloved young man has been murdered in cold blood.
“Mercy” isn’t merely an idea when a murderer faces the prospect of punishment he deserves.
“Grace” isn’t to be taken for granted when a widow forgives her husband’s murderer.
Justice, mercy, grace – pray they are incarnate in our hearts beyond the wisps of words we say as their name. Thankfully, many Christian evangelists have already gotten to the heart of the matter, describing the triune interplay in the following way:
Justice is getting what you deserve (punishment).
Mercy is not getting what you deserve (no punishment).
Grace is getting what you don’t deserve (salvation).
Justice alone grants no pardon. Mercy alone abides no punishment. Justice and mercy, in dissonant tension, cannot fully contend with the problem of evil. Only God can reconcile justice and mercy through His divine grace – His eternal harmony expressed in perfect pitch by Christ’s innocent suffering on the cross. By suffering the ultimate evil at the hands of men, Christ embodies the ultimate grace God offers to men.
Yet, if grace can be defined as “getting what you don’t deserve,” couldn't evil also be named in the same way? Isn't Christ’s torture and crucifixion considered the ultimate evil because, above all others, He did not deserve it?
Are not the gravest evils those visited upon the innocent, who do not deserve their fate? Are not the worst sins those that seek to prey upon the vulnerable and defenseless? Are not the greatest crimes imaginable carried out against children?
This brings us back to the very first Christian martyrs.
We still do not know their names or their exact number. We only know of them from the Gospel of Matthew (2:16-18):
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. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.’
The Church has long considered these children from Bethlehem the first martyrs for Christ. Since we do not know their names, they are collectively referred to as the Holy Innocents.
Having suffered a grave evil innocently at the hands of the tyrant Herod’s fury, their undeserved torment cries out for God’s undeserved grace. Their martyrdom – mercilessly and unjustly slaughtered as babes on the mere suspicion of being Christ the King – fulfills prophecy and prefigures the coming of Christ’s own innocent suffering on the cross.
May all children denied justice and mercy in this world, stripped of their innocence and life by unspeakable evils, find both justice and mercy in harmony with His saving grace in the world to come.
From St. Augustine’s sermon on the Holy Innocents:
The precious death of any martyr deserves high praise because of his heroic confession; the death of these children is precious in the sight of God because of the beatitude they gained so quickly. For already at the beginning of their lives they pass on. The end of the present life is for them the beginning of glory. These then, whom Herod’s cruelty tore as sucklings from their mothers’ bosom, are justly hailed as ‘infant martyr flowers’ — they were the Church’s first blossoms, matured by the frost of persecution during the cold winter of unbelief.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL, M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances, as well as any feedback, please email [email protected]. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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