Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 

2 Samuel 12:9 

 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” 

2 Samuel 12:13-14

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December 17, 2025 

If I’m being honest, 2 Samuel 12:13-23 is one of the passages in the Bible that I wrestle with the most. I cannot read the story of David and Bathsheba’s baby dying without feeling a sense of rage bubbling up inside me. I can’t help but ask, Why? Why did God take an innocent little baby? Why leave his already suffering mother bereft of her child? David was the one who deserved to die. 

My visceral response to this passage leaves me feeling a little guilty. After all, who am I to question God? But the feeling persists just the same, and for years I found myself either quickly skimming through or altogether avoiding this portion of Scripture. It was just too heartbreaking, too uncomfortable to meditate on. 

But maybe it should be. We should recoil at the death of a baby. God created each of us in His image, and like Him we should care deeply about justice and protecting the vulnerable. We know instinctively that David is the one who deserves to die, not his blameless little baby. It is only natural for our souls to cry out, Why, God? 

But what we may forget when asking that question is that there was another child, another innocent baby born in Bethlehem who died for the sins of others. Like David, we deserve death for the countless ways we have sinned against God and hurt others. Instead, our lives are ransomed by the only One who was truly blameless. 

When we read the story of David and Bathsheba’s baby, may we see a heart wrenching foreshadowing of what happened on the Cross. While we were still lost in our sin, God’s blameless Son died the death that we deserve (Romans 5:8). When you find yourself looking at an image of Jesus lying in a manger this Christmas, take time to reflect on how a little innocent baby was born to take your place. 

Questions for reflection and discussion: 

  • Why does the story of David and Bathsheba’s baby makes us uncomfortable?
  • How does reflecting on this story change how you think about Christmas? 

 Church Reading Plan: 1 Kings 20; 1 Thessalonians 3