Joy to the World - Pt 11

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. (Matthew 2:1-4 ESV).

It is always surprising to me when just one word carries so much meaning in the Bible. In our reading today, Matthew records that Herod was “troubled” when he heard the news of the star and its portent of the birth of the Messiah, the new king of Israel. At first glance it would seem that this word was just a simple description of his anxiety. I suppose you might think that he could have been disturbed for perfectly legitimate reasons. After all, if a new king was born from the will of God, shouldn’t he make preparation to transfer leadership and welcome him with open arms? The interesting thing in this passage is that Herod’s trouble was much different than that. No wonder “all of Jerusalem was troubled with him” (v. 3). We must recognize that Jesus is troubling to people, especially for those who do not want to worship him. In fact, he brings out opposition for those who are “troubles.” Of course this is not the primary message of Matthew, but it is inescapable as the story unfolds. We see the development of two kinds of people who do not want to worship Jesus, the Messiah. The first kind is the people who simply do nothing about Jesus. He is a nonentity in their lives. This group is represented by the chief priests and scribes. Well, they told him, and that was that: back to business as usual. The sheer silence and inactivity of the leaders is overwhelming in view of the magnitude of what was happening. The inactivity on the part of chief priests is staggering. Why not go with the magi? They are not interested. They do not want to worship the true God. The second kind of people who do not want to worship Jesus is the kind who is deeply threatened by him. That is Herod in this story. He is really afraid. So much so that he schemes and lies and then commits mass murder just to get rid of Jesus. It is the same today. These two kinds of opposition will come against Christ and his followers everyday: indifference and hostility. Perhaps you are not in one of those groups; however, there are those you may know who are. As we reconsider the Messiah and ponder what it is to worship him, make this season a time when you actively engage others in thinking about who Jesus really is and what he has come to accomplish in each of us.