Jesus Christ: Lord or Threat?
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· 3 viewsThe wisemen, although pagans from a pagan place, show true repentance and faith in God by worshiping Christ. Worship is a true sign of a believing heart.
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Introduction
Introduction
We had an election recently here in Canada and the night of an election can be somewhat painful if you are reallly invested in the political landscape. You wake up the next morning and check the news or maybe you stay up looking at the polls. You watch as the power over our country hangs in the balance and is given to one of the candidates, each seeking an opportunity to take the helm and direct the country in their own way. At the end, if you are invested enough, you feel one of two things: relief or disappointment. But those emotions can go deeper to being feelings of victory and feeling of threat. If the one candidate you really really didn’t want to win gets in, you can feel threatened. You feel this way for a couple of reasons. One, you feel like you are powerless as a voter. You did your duty and voted but it seemed to have no effect and your candidate lost anyway. Two, you feel threatened because you believe the candidate will use or abuse power in ways that will harm your country, your neighbourhood, your family, and you. In other words, there is a sense of power being stripped from you and given to someone you disapprove of.
We tend to feel this way any time our power is at stake. Maybe its a single move in a chess game that puts the favour of the game heavily in your opponants hands. Maybe its in an argument when someone brings up something you cannot refute well, or perhaps they make an attack on your character that you cannot deflect. Whatever the case, the feeling of power, credability, and decision making being taken away is a nasty one and is prone to put is in a defensive stance, feeling that we are in danger in some sense. The feeling that we are unable to control a situation excites a primal instinct in us: the desire to fight or run in the face of danger.
This is no different when God takes control out of our hands. In this way, faith runs against how we are used to reacting to a decrease of power. Instead of fighting or fleeing, we are called to surrender our power willingly and trust him who is all powerful. Such a thing was demanded of the Kings of Israel, to submit to the power of God’s word, and they would not. And so, like Herod in our text, they decided to fight for their own right to control. This is the story of Magi who learned faithful worship of the true King of Israel, and an imposter whose hold on power drove him to defend that power with unimaginable evil.
The Story
The Story
In the days of Herod the King, that is, Herod the great. He was a king known for his paranoia and insistance on being called “King of the Jews” despite him being a puppet for the Roman Empire.
Not much detail is given about these Magi and where they are from. There has been much speculation on this point, and generally it is accepted that they are Persian. They also clearly do not have the Hebrew Scriptures since they are unsure about where the King of the Jews is supposed to be born, something Micah 5:2-4
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
Magi were pagan astrologiests who were supposed experts in interpreting dreams and others secret methods of divination.
Magi: Jesus as Lord
Magi: Jesus as Lord
The Magi come to the capital of Judah where the famous Herod the Great resided. They ask Herod this simple theological question but Herod has to refer to the priests to get an answer. Even if we didn’t know of Herod’s infamy, we know from Herod’s ignorance of the Scriptures that he is not a divinely appointed king. Accordingly to the law, a godly king must have a copy of the Scriptures that he reads constantly so as to rule carefully by them.
The purpose of the Magi’s coming revealed: a desire to worship the new King of the Jews whose coming was haralded to them by a unique astronomical phenominon.
When informed by the Scriptures, they believe and obey them and the star confirms it to them after they show this faith. They nievely follow Herod’s instructions and search for the child.
When they are led to the exact house that Jesus is in, they present kingly gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Despite popular belief, the individual gifts do not have much significance beyond being expensive and exotic gifts for a King, similar to the gifts the queen of Sheba would bring Solomon from her country.
This worship of the pagan, gentile Magi directed at the Jewish Messiah fulfills a common expectation of the coming King of David’s line,
May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts!
May all kings fall down before him,
all nations serve him!
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.
There is also a connection here to Numbers 24:17
I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the forehead of Moab
and break down all the sons of Sheth.
The detail of a star leading these pagan prophets to Jesus reminds us of the words of another pagan prophet, Balaam. In a way, these Magi are a redeemed picture of Balaam, worshipping willingly rather than reluctantly as opposed to a jealous King (Herod and Balak). God revealed himself to these men so that they may worship Jesus, just as God revealed himself to Balaam that Israel may be blessed.
Although its unlikely that the Magi had a theologically thorough knowledge of who Jesus was, they did recognize him as a King worthy of universal homage and divine adoration. With the little revelation they had, they worshipped Christ and embraced his Lordship by faith. They were not afraid of him taking over their country or way of life, they were not jealous or insincere in their approach to this foreign king. Theirs way an attitude of faith that surrendered their valuables to him as expressions of worship. Their coming declared that, to them, Jesus was the greatest, the best, the worthiest. He alone is worth this kind of respect and I think we can confidently say that they went back to their home justified, being a first sign of the great harvest the Gospel would reap among the gentiles.
Herod: Jesus as Threat
Herod: Jesus as Threat
Herod in this text has an attitude towards the promised King of Judah that is completely opposite to what we see in the Magi. Herod has been on the throne as a puppet of the Roman empire for over 40 years at this point. Although he was only a couple of years from his death, he was extremely sensitive to any possability of his throne being taken from him. Rather than seeing the kingship of Israel as a sacred and God given role as an undershepherd meant to lead people to God, he saw it as human power that he could take and keep by his own means. This basic misunderstanding about the nature of power is what drove Herod to murder his own family members to secure the throne. Power is something given to men by God as a comodity to steward and manage and give back to him what is his. God gives power to a king with the expectation that the king be willing to hand that power back to the true king, and that they’ve used that power and those resources to advance God’s agenda. Sin, when it comes down to it, is when we take the power and resources that God has given us to steward and use them for our own ends with the goal of keeping them for ourselves. So when God brings about his ends and calls us to relinquish what he’s given us to steward, in sin we are prone to be threatened by it. This is Herod’s situation. He is threatened by the birth of a Davidic King prophecied of in Scripture because he is threatened by God’s sovereignty and right to the power he has.
In this story, Herod represents every tyrannical leader of God’s people that have ever ruled. He is Cain murdering his brother, and his descendant Lamech. He is Reuben sleeping with his father’s concubine Bilhah. He is Moses striking the rock when God commanded him to speak to it. He is David with Bathsheba. He is Ahab killing a man for his vinyard. He represents every man who has taken God-given power and used to unrighteously, acting as if the power belongs to them and not ultimately to God. Herod shows the condition of the human heart so well in the lengths we will go to keep and master what God has given us for a time for his glory.
Because of his corruption, the idea of a messianic coming is not something that sparks praise and joy in Herod’s heart, it sparks fear because he does not see God as his Lord, he sees God as competition. Not only is he willing to murder a whole city of children, he is willing to deprive the people of their long awaited Messiah just so he can stay on his throne for a couple more years. This is wildly selfish and perhaps an exagerrated picture of the same self-centredness that exists in every Christ-rejecting heart.
Conclusion: What is Jesus to you?
Conclusion: What is Jesus to you?
There are two kinds of people, those who are blessed and joyful at Christ claiming his universal throne, and those who are threatened by it. It has nothing to do with their position, King of Judah or foreign astrologist, it has nothing to do with ethnic heritage, Jew or Gentile. The question is, does Christ’s absolute authority and rule over all things threaten you or cause you to rejoice?
These are telltale signs of a threatened person:
They emphasise being “true to themselves” rather than submissive to God.
They are often either judgemental, lawless, or inconsistant.
They are quick to call people loveless or legalistic when their sins are called out in love.
They have man-glorifying theology that brings God down.
They have a secret sin in their life that they know is wrong but they won’t make the necessary sacrifices to kill it.
They lack faith and trust primarily in themselves rather than in God’s grace.
But someone who is worshipful is noticably different,
They practice self denial and sacrifice anything for the sake of Christ and his kingdom.
They humbly confess their sins and are not defensive when exhorted, Proverbs 27:6 “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”
They let their minds dwell on the things of God and find joy in practicing holiness.
They live life with open hands, walking after the words of Job in Job 1:21, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Finally, they live lives characterized by thanksgiving and worship, especially in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Which are you? Are you threatened by the Lordship of Christ over your life, or are you thankful? Do you eagerly embrace the mortification of sin or do you hold back? Do you view yourself and being your own, or do you share Paul’s view,
Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Do you live to please yourself and fulfil your desires, or do you live for the glory of God?
Galatians 5:24 (ESV)
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
May we all check our hearts and firtilize them with the Word and with prayer that we may never be threatened by Christ’s Kingship, but only adore him for it.