The recent murders of 20 young school children in Newtown, CT has cast a pall of grief over this small community and sent shock waves throughout the nation and around the world at a time when much of the Christian world is preparing to celebrate Christ's birth.

The sad and tragic irony is that an even greater number of children were murdered during the time of Christ's birth - a fact that is seldom mentioned as part of the the nativity story recounted this time of year. The second chapter of the book of Matthew tells the story.

When King Herod found out about Christ's birth to become King of Israel, he sought help from wise men to locate Jesus on the pretense of wanting to worship Him (Matthew 2:1-8). This was an attempt by Satan the Devil to try to have Jesus killed (Revelation 12:1-5). So God warned the wise men not to report back to Herod after finding the baby Jesus (Matthew 2:12).

When Herod found out, he devised another plan, "Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men's report of the star's first appearance.  Herod's brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:  "A cry was heard in Ramah - weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead" (Matthew 2:16-18, New Living Translation).

The Bible reveals that Satan was the force behind the death of Jesus Christ (Luke 22:1-6, Luke 22:21-27); so undoubtedly, he was also responsible for the murder of the young boys in Jerusalem (Revelation 12:1-5). Family members of children killed at Sandy Hook can certainly identify with the grief of the parents of the children in Jerusalem murdered by Herod's soldiers.

Despite the evil schemes and brutal murders instigated by Satan the Devil, the death of Jesus Christ that he brought about was the very event that spells his ultimate demise in the plan of God to put an end to all suffering and death (Hebrews 2:14), beginning with the resurrection of Jesus Christ that paves the way for the resurrection of all who have died (1 Corinthians 15:20-26, Revelation 21:4).

The Bible does not tell us when Jesus was born, nor does it give us instructions to celebrate His birth. The wise men celebrated his birth by giving Him gifts (not exchanging gifts), because of the fact that He was born to be a king. But there is no account of His birthday being celebrated as an annual event in Judea or in the apostolic church.

However, the Bible clearly instructs Christians to celebrate His death (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The fact that Jesus is referred to as "our Passover ... sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7) connects this ceremony with the Passover celebration in ancient Israel that involved sacrificing a lamb that we now know represents the death of Jesus Christ as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)

Many wonder how we can deal with the grief that we feel for the parents and family members who lost their dearly loved children in the terrible massacre at Newtown. One way is to learn more about the Passover and other Holy Days mentioned in the Bible that offer understanding of the meaning and purpose of life and death and the marvelous future that God has in store for all potentially mankind, made available by the ultimate Sacifice of Jesus Christ, Who in the meantime is able to offer comfort in time of need  "This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most" (Hebrews 4:14-16). For those affected by the tragedy in Newtown, this is certainly one of those times.