Rachel, Jacob's beloved wife, after years of a barren womb, cried out to God and was answered with the birth of a son, Joseph, meaning "Do it again!" When she was pregnant with a second child, she died from a complication, thus naming her second child Benoni as she breathed her last, "son of my sorrow." Jacob couldn't bare such sorrow for he loved Rachel very dearly, thus changed Benoni's name to Benjamin, "son of my right hand." This change silenced Rachel's sorrow until a thousand years later, the prophet Jeremiah raised her voice once again, her sorrow to describe the tragic exile of Rachel's children, Israel, when they were taken as prisoners of Babylon, "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." Rachel's lament is profound.

Later Jewish mystics took this lament a step further. They taught that when the Messiah came, only one place on earth would prove suitable, a lonely place on the road to Ephrath where Rachel lies in the dust. "To mother Rachel he will bring glad tidings. And he will comfort her. And now she will let herself be comforted. And she will rise up and kiss him" (Zohar 2.7a-9a).

This coming Sunday, Matthew recalls Rachel's lament in the story of Jesus' birth and Herod's destructive slaying of innocent children. Rachel's lament, even after so many years through biblical times and history, still echoes a profound sense of human suffering, grief and sorrow where even God must dig deep to respond. Today, in our world of twenty first century, how shall we raise Rachel's lament? How will she be comforted today, in our world of tragic violence and deep sorrow we maybe be experiencing. There is no easy answer. The birth of Christ took place in the world of king Herod. The birth of Christ takes place on the road to Ephrath where Rachel weeps.

Come to worship and join Rachel's Lament

Pastor Dae