January 1, 2023
I wish you a very Happy New Year!
You know there is a big build up to Christmas. Then what? What happens the day after Christmas, or the week after Christmas? That’s the time to return a gift to the store or go shopping for after Christmas sales. That’s what Ian and I did after Christmas, go shopping. I guess we felt like we didn’t shop enough before Christmas! Do you keep your Christmas tree up? Some people put it away the day after Christmas. Some keep it up all year! Another thing we do after Christmas is enjoy days off!
But 2000 plus years ago, on the day after the first Christmas, the day after Jesus born, the world just got back to normal. Other than Mary and Joseph and the shepherds, the world didn’t know anything had happened. It was just another day. Although we know, the world would never be the same. God became flesh and dwelt among us. A king had been born. A king who would lay down his life for his subjects, and who called them to lay down their lives for others as well. Do you think about Jesus as King? The kingship, lordship of Jesus is lost on many of us.
In our lives, for me too, Jesus is often reduced to a friend you call when you need help, a backup plan, a conscience reliever, comforter. Jesus is often not king.
The angel told Mary you’re going to give birth to a son and call him Jesus. In Luke 1:32 the angel says: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” This is royal language. The angel continues, “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.” Who is David? King David! Jesus was a different king from King David. Jesus has a throne in heaven. But on earth, Jesus didn’t look like an earthly king. He had no palace, no throne, no silver or gold.
Mary and Joseph are probably thinking about the angel’s words: our little baby will be a king? How is this going to happen? Joseph, is probably thinking, “I’m not a king, I’m just your average Joe!”
To the rest of the world, King Jesus was a secret they were not in on, until the magi showed up in Jerusalem. They didn’t show up right away. We often have a nativity scene with Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and the magi. But it took the magi time to get there, and the shepherds were long gone when the magi arrived. They came from afar.
Matthew 2:1 says, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem “ We often call them the three kings. But Matthew doesn’t say how many there were, or that they were kings, or wise men. He says they were magi. Magi were astrologers who studied the movement of stars and planets in the sky, and they interpreted what they saw as a sign that some important event in the world had occurred. They saw the star rising in the East. They saw it as a sign a Jewish king would be born.
But they didn’t follow the star yet. They had seen the star at its rising, and they thought: ok, there is a newborn Jewish king. It only makes sense he would be born in Jerusalem. So that’s why they go to Jerusalem. The star isn’t leading them to Jesus. That’s why they have to ask the people in Jerusalem. “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
The problem was, the Jews already had a king, King Herod. Verse 3 says, “When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” Herod was someone who was ruthless in getting and holding onto power and position. And now people from a foreign land have come and said there is a new Jewish king born? Herod doesn’t waste time, he asks the religious leaders where the Messiah, the new king, is to be born.
The teachers of the law say: In Bethlehem. The prophet, Micah, had said, O Bethlehem, from you a ruler will come who will shepherd my people, Israel. Herod is not happy about this! What if word gets out: there is a new king born, even the stars proclaim his birth. What it they say the Messiah, the king anointed by God has come? What if I lose my kingship?
So, Herod called the magi aside and asked them when they had seen this star rising? Herod wants to know when this child was born. Verse 8 says, he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” King Herod was part Jewish. He was ok with the Jewish religion. He even built the 2nd temple! So, making sacrifices for sins? King Herod would do that. But submit to a new Jewish King, the Lord, the Messiah? King Herod did NOT want to worship a new king! He would not submit. He wanted the magi to give him all the details, not so he could worship the king. Instead, so he could kill this new king.
Verses 9 and 10 say:After the Magi had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. Now they could follow the star and find the new king!
Verse 11: “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.” Now Mary, Joseph and Jesus are in a house. They upgraded from the stable. And the magi, seeing the child, bow down and worship him. They bowed to a child like you would to a king. They worshipped a child like you would worship God!
The magi had come to worship. They submit, they defer. Not Herod! Herod believed. He believed there was a threat to his power, some sort of baby king. But he would not worship or bow down to this king. Kings don’t just have believers, they have followers. Herod would not follow the new king.
The magi worship, then they are warned in a dream to go home by a different route. King Herod is very angry that they don’t return and tell him about the king! Then something happens and we wonder, why would you ruin the Christmas story with such tragedy? Herod says, kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity, that are 2 years old and less. So, Mary and Joseph take Jesus and flee to Egypt so he his safe. Why did this horrible part of the story happen? Because this wasn’t the Christmas story, this was the story of the birth of a king. There was a conflict between Herod and his earthly kingship, and Jesus and his heavenly kingship. Herod would kill anyone to keep power: even his own family members. Jesus would give his life to be the last sacrifice anyone makes for sin.
The question for us, is are we just believers, or are we also followers? Jesus asks us: Will you acknowledge me as more than a sin forgiver, more than a conscience cleanser, more than a good luck charm, more than a last resort, more than a friend you call to bail you out. Will you acknowledge me as your king? Will you invite me into your life and your decisions. Will you treat people with love and grace, as I do? Jesus often invited people. He’d say “Follow me.” Kings don’t just have believers, they have followers.
My challenge for you this week is to ask yourself, Is Jesus King in my life?
When Jesus was born, he came not just as a sweet infant, but as a tension and threat to this world. The magi bowed in worship. King Herod believed but would not submit.
Jesus brought a new kingdom. He called people and calls us still to acknowledge that His ways are best, God’s love conquers all, His wisdom is beyond ours. Following him we become better persons. And when we become not just believers in Jesus, but followers, he leads us to a deeper faith that means we don’t fear the cross. We lose the ways of the world, and find true life with every step we take to worship the king. Amen.
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