Day Seventeen: The family and the soldiers

There are many little encounters going on in the background of Breughel’s picture. Bearing in mind that it is only around A3 size, it is amazing that he manages to give us such detail.

I could have selected many other groups, but my eye was drawn to a little scene on the left of the painting. A man and a woman, who is holding a small child, are talking to some soldiers mounting on horseback. The soldiers are probably part of the Magi’s escort, so should pose no threat to this little family, but they are armed to the teeth, and one holds a trumpet – an instrument used on the battlefield - and any soldiers, even apparently friendly ones, might seem alarming to these unarmed and vulnerable people. This little encounter reminded me that Matthew’s story of the birth of Christ ends with another band of soldiers descending on Bethlehem, sent by Herod to massacre all the children under two. Joseph, warned in a dream, takes Mary and Jesus and escapes to Egypt, but the other children of Bethlehem don’t escape. The little family Brueghel paints don’t know it, but they have a dark future ahead of them. In every generation, including our own, children are killed in wars not of their making, and families suffer because of political and military decisions made by others.

 For Reflection

 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘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.’ Matthew 2. 18

 Have you come across armed soldiers or police – maybe at airports or other sensitive locations? Do they make you feel safe, or anxious?

Pray for children and their parents caught up in war and civil unrest, and all who are traumatised by conflict.

The whole picture:

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-brueghel-the-elder-the-adoration-of-the-kings