I WAS JUST DOING MY JOB
MATT 2:3-8
HELLO, MY NAME IS YOUSEL; I AM A SCRIBE, WELCOME TO JERUSALEM. THE CITY YOU ARE ASKING ABOUT, BETHLEHEM IS ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTH WEST OF HERE. I REMEMBER THE DAY THAT THE STORY HAPPENED THAT YOU ARE ASKING ABOUT. THE DAY THOSE KINGS CAME. WOW! WHAT A DAY THAT WAS, I WAS HERE IN THE TEMPLE THAT DAY, IN FACT I WAS WORKING IN THE DIVISION THAT CAME UP WITH THE ANSWER THAT HEROD ASKED. WHERE IS THE MESSIAH SUPPOSED TO BE BORN? NOW TO YOU, I SUPPOSE, THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN INTERESTING QUESTION, ONE THAT MIGHT HAVE EXCITED US, BUT YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT I OR ANY OF THE OTHER SCRIBES HAVE BEEN ASKED THAT QUESTION. IN FACT, WE HAVE HEARD THE QUESTION SO MUCH, WE CAN RECITE THE ANSWER BY HEART. AFTER ALL, ANY GOOD JEW KNOWS WHAT THE PROFIT MICAH SAYS, BUT YOU, BETHLEHEM, IN THE LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE RULERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU WILL COME A RULER WHO WILL BE THE SHEPHERD OF MY PEOPLE ISRAEL. WE ALL KNOW THIS; ACTUALLY, I AM SURE THAT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW MANY TIMES WE MUST ANSWER THIS QUESTION BECAUSE IT SEEMS AS IF THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO SEEM TO BE CLAIMING THAT THEY ARE THE MESSIAH. BUT SOMEHOW EVERYTHING WAS DIFFERENT THE DAY THOSE KINGS CAME INTO TOWN. HOWEVER, YOU KNOW, I AM GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF I THINK FIRST WE SHOULD SET THE SCENE. FIRST, I SHOULD TELL YOU WHO THE MAJOR PLAYERS ARE. THE FIRST PERSON IS KING HEROD THE GREAT. HEROD IS WHAT IS KNOWN AS AN IDUMEAN, WHICH MEANT THAT HE WAS RACIALLY IMPURE, AND NOT A JEW, AND YET HE CALLED HIMSELF THE KING OF THE JEWS. HEROD IS A VERY COMPLEXED CHARACTER. HE MARRIED A JEWISH HASMONEAN WOMAN NAMED MARIAMNE TO MAKE HIMSELF MORE ACCEPTABLE TO US JEWS, BUT YET WE REALLY DIDN’T EVER TRUST HIM. HEROD ALSO APPOINTED MARIAMNE’S BROTHER AS THE HIGH PRIEST TO TRY TO APPEASE US BUT THAT DIDN’T WORK EITHER. HOWEVER, ULTIMATELY HEROD HAD BOTH HIS WIFE AND HER BROTHER KILLED SO THAT DIDN’T ADD MUCH TRUST. HEROD DID EXPAND AND START BUILDING US A NICE NEW TEMPLE TO WORSHIP AND HONOR OUR GOD. IN ADDITION, WHEN TIMES GOT ROUGH, HEROD RETURNED SOME OF THE TAXES IMPOSED ON US AND ALSO TOOK SOME OF THE GOLD FROM STATUES THAT WERE IN HIS POSSESSION TO BUY FOOD FOR THE PEOPLE. HEROD ALSO BUILT RACE TRACKS, THEATRES, AND OTHER STRUCTURES TO HELP KEEP US ENTERTAINED. SO THERE WAS A GOOD SIDE TO HEROD AND AT TIMES, HE REALLY SEEMED TO TRY TO INGRATIATE HIMSELF TO US.
HOWEVER, THERE WAS ALSO A VERY BLOOD THIRSTY SIDE TO HIM. HEROD WAS EXTREMELY JEALOUS OF ANYONE WHO WAS MORE POPULAR THAN HE WAS, AND UNFORTUNATELY, SINCE HE WAS AN IDUMEAN, HE WAS ALWAYS ONE OF THE LEAST POPULAR PEOPLE AROUND. WHEN SOMEONE BECAME MORE POPULAR THAN HEROD, THEY WERE IMMEDIATELY PUT TO DEATH. THIS INCLUDED THREE OF HIS SONS, HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW WHO HE MADE HIGH PRIEST, HIS WIFE MARIAMNE, A NUMBER OF THE PRIESTS OF THE TEMPLE, AND MANY OTHERS. WHEN HEROD WAS SICK AND HE KNEW HE WAS ABOUT TO DIE, HE HAD A NUMBER OF THE DISTINGUISHED CITIZENS OF JERUSALEM ARRESTED AND GAVE THE ORDER THAT WHEN HE DIED THEY WERE TO BE KILLED. HEROD DID THIS BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT WHEN HE DIED THERE WAS GOING TO BE NO MOURNING AT ALL. IN FACT, WHEN HE DIED, THERE WOULD PROBABLY HAVE BEEN A CELEBRATION SO HE HAD THESE OTHER PEOPLE KILLED TO ASSURE THAT THERE WOULD BE MOURNING IN JERUSALEM THE DAY HE DIED IT DIDN’T MATTER THAT IS WASN’T FOR HIM.
SO SEEING THE PERSONALITY OF HEROD, DOES ANYONE WONDER WHY IT SAID THAT WHEN THE KINGS FROM THE EAST ARRIVED IN JERUSALEM ASKING WHERE IS HE WHO HAS BEEN BORN THE KING OF THE JEWS, HEROD AND ALL JERUSALEM WAS TROUBLED. OH BOY WERE THEY TROUBLED! HERE IS THIS KING WHO IS TOTALLY PARANOID, TOTALLY INSECURE, TOTALLY UNSTABLE, AND TOTALLY JEALOUS OF ANYONE WHO SEEMS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIM HEARING THAT SOMEONE HAD BEEN BORN KING OF THE JEWS! HEROD WAS FREAKING OUT AND EVERYONE ELSE WAS WORRIED ABOUT WHAT HE WOULD DO NEXT, AFTER ALL, HE HAD A HISTORY.
SO HEROD SUMMONED A GROUP OF LEARNED PEOPLE WHO SHOULD KNOW THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION WHERE WAS THE MESSIAH TO BE BORN. NOW IF ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SUMMONED WERE ON ONE PAGE MAYBE WE COULD HAVE COME UP WITH SOME SORT OF ANSWER THAT WOULD CALM HIM, BUT THE GROUP SUMMONED HAD MULTIPLE PROBLEMS OF THEIR OWN. SO ADDING TO THE SCENE OF THE UNSTABLE KING WE HAD THE WARRING FACTIONS OF THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND SCRIBES. LET ME TELL YOU WHY THESE GROUPS DID NOT GET ALONG.
THE CHIEF PRIESTS CONSISTED OF ABOUT 200 PEOPLE, WHICH INCLUDED THE HIGH PRIEST AND DIRECTLY BENEATH HIM IN RANK WERE THE CHIEF PRIESTS, AN EXCLUSIVE GROUP OF HIGHBORN JEWS. THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THEM WAS THE CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE, SECOND ONLY IN RANK AND POWER TO THE HIGH PRIEST. HIS DUTIES INCLUDED SUPERVISION OF THE WHOLE BODY OF PRIESTS AND OF ALL TEMPLE ACTIVITIES. OTHER CHIEF PRIESTS HAD CHARGE OF THE DAILY AND WEEKLY TEMPLE SERVICES, THE TEMPLE TREASURY AND THE MAINTENANCE OF THE SACRED VESSELS. THIS GROUP IS KNOWN AS THE SADDUCEES, WHICH MEANS RIGHTEOUS ONES. THE SADDUCEES WERE THE RICH ARISTOCRACY OF THE CHURCH. THEY HELD ALL OF THE HIGH OFFICES AND WERE IN NO RUSH TO LOSE ANY OF THEIR PRIVILEGES. SINCE THE SADDUCEES WERE THE RICH ARISTOCRACY, THEY WERE MORE WILLING TO COMPROMISE WITH ROME IN ORDER TO KEEP THEIR POSITIONS OF HONOR AND WEALTH. THE SADDUCEES BELIEVE IN THE LAW OF MOSES AS WAS WRITTEN IN THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE TORAH. ALSO, THE SADDUCEES DID NOT BELIEVE IN ANGELS, THE SOUL, OR THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. THEY ALSO BELIEVED THAT A HUMAN THROUGH FREE WILL CHOSE HOW THEY WOULD ACT AND GOD HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THAT IS WHY GOD CAN NEVER BE EVIL OR CONNECTED TO EVIL IN ANYWAY. TIED TO THE FACT THAT THE SADDUCEES ONLY BELIEVED IN THE LAWS OF MOSES, THEIR PURITY CODE IS FAR STRICTER AND THE PENALTIES THEY GAVE FOR SIN WAS FAR MORE SEVERE. THE MAIN GOAL OF THE SADDUCEES WAS DEFENDING THE JEWISH RELIGION AND THE TEMPLE’S SACREDNESS IN PARTICULAR. A SADDUCEE COULD NEVER BE A PHARISEE OR SCRIBE. THIS WAS THE FIRST GROUP THAT WAS SUMMONS BY HEROD.
ALSO SUMMONED WERE THE SCRIBES WHICH INCLUDED THE PHARISEES. THE NAME PHARISEE MEANS SEPARATISTS, OR THE SEPARATED ONES. THEY WERE KNOWN AS THE ONES WHO ARE LOYAL TO GOD, OR LOVERS OF GOD. THE PHARISEES BECAME THE EXTREMISTS OF THE JEWISH RELIGION. THE PHARISEES BELIEVED IN THE LAW OF MOSES BUT THEY ALSO BELIEVED THAT THE LAW CONTINUED THROUGH THE PROPHETS. THEY ALSO HAD DEVELOPED AN ORAL LAW KNOWN AS THE MISNAH, WHICH BECAME PART OF THEIR LAW. THE PHARISEES ALSO BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION, AND ANGELS. HOWEVER EVEN THOUGH THE LAW WAS EXPANDED THE PHARISEES ARE KNOWN AS THE CONSERVATIVES OF THE GROUP BECAUSE FOR A PHARISEES THE OBSERVATION OF THE LAW IN TITHING, OBSERVING THE SABBATH, AND PERSONAL PURITY IN THE WAY PLATES AND VESSELS ARE CLEANED, AND HANDS ARE WASHED IS THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE. A PHARISEE CAN BE A SCRIBE. HOWEVER, NOT ALL SCRIBES ARE PHARISEES. FINALLY, THE THIRD GROUP CALLED BY HEROD WAS US SCRIBES. WE SCRIBES AREN’T A SECT BUT A PROFESSION. WE ARE SCHOLARS WHO ARE LEARNED IN THE LAW. WE LECTURED IN THE SYNAGOGUES, TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOLS, DEBATED IN BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AND APPLIED THE LAW IN JUDGMENT ON SPECIFIC CASES. WE SCRIBES ARE THE VOICE OF TRADITION. OUR BUSINESS IS TO STUDY AND INTERPRET, AS WELL AS COPY, THE SCRIPTURES. BECAUSE OF OUR MINUTE ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE LAW, WE ARE ALSO CALLED LAWYERS, AND ARE RECOGNIZED AUTHORITIES, OUR DECISIONS ADD TO THE ORAL LAW, OR TRADITION. WE SCRIBES AS INTERPRETERS OF THE LAW ARE IMPORTANT MEN. THAT IS WHY I WAS SUMMONS TO THE MEETING ALSO.
HEROD CALLED US TO THE PALACE TO DISCUSS THE CLAIM OF THE KINGS. WHILE WE WENT TO THE PALACE, WE GOT INTO ANOTHER OF OUR INSANE ARGUMENTS ABOUT SOME MINUTE POINT AND SO WHEN WE GOT THERE WE JUST WANTED TO ANSWER HEROD’S QUESTION AND GET OUT WITH OUR LIVES. SO HEROD ASKED US AND WE ANSWERED. AND THAT WAS THAT. WE ALL GOT OUT OF THE PALACE AND WE WENT ABOUT OUR BUSINESS BECAUSE AFTER ALL FOR US IT OUR JOB!
YOU KNOW, YEARS LATER LOOKING BACK AT THAT DAY, I MADE A MISTAKE. I DID MY JOB AND I LEFT. I WAS INDIFFERENT TO THE QUESTION BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THE MESSIAH TO COME FOR SUCH A LONG TIME. IN ADDITION, THE OTHER THING IS, WE ARE THE IMPORTANT ONES IN JERUSALEM SO WHY WOULDN’T WE HAVE BEEN CONSULTED AHEAD OF TIME THAT THE MESSIAH WAS COMING. HOWEVER, WE WEREN’T AND I WAS INDIFFERENT.
SO THE QUESTION I HAVE FOR YOU IS WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU THAT SHOULD HAVE MADE YOU WANT TO INQUIRE ABOUT IT FURTHER BUT YOU DIDN’T? I BET IN YOUR LIFE ALL THESE MANY CENTURIES LATER THERE HAS BEEN THINGS THAT HAPPENED THAT YOU JUST TOOK IN STRIDE AND CONTINUED ON IN LIFE. IF I HAD IT TO DO ALL OVER AGAIN, I WOULD HAVE JOINED THOSE WISE MEN OR AT LEAST FOLLOWED THEM TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS KING OF THE JEWS NONSENSE. YET IT WASN’T NONSENSE AND WE WERE SO AFRAID OF HEROD.
I KNOW THESE ARE ALL EXCUSES BUT I WANT YOU TO STOP AND IN YOUR MIND’S EYE LOOK AT THAT SCENE IN HEROD’S THRONE ROOM. IN YOUR MIND’S EYE STOP AND IMAGINE HEROD ON HIS THRONE, THE WISE MEN STANDING OFF TO HIS LEFT, AND ALL OF US STANDING TO HIS RIGHT. IN THIS PICTURE IS EVERY REACTION TO JESUS THAT YOU CAN FIND IN THAT TIME AND IN YOUR WORLD TODAY. THERE WAS THE PARANOID, JEALOUS, INSECURE HEROD WHO HATED JESUS. HERE WAS A PERSON WHO WAS WORRIED THAT SOMEONE WOULD STEAL HIS THRONE. BUT WHAT IS REALLY FUNNY IS THE RIGHTFUL OWNER OF HEROD’S THRONE LAID IN A HOUSE IN A SMALL TOWN JUST SIX OR SO MILES SOUTH AND EAST OF WHERE WE STOOD. DO YOU KNOW PEOPLE WHO HATE JESUS? DO YOU KNOW PEOPLE WHO DON’T WANT TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH JESUS BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID OF WHAT THEY MIGHT HAVE TO GIVE UP OR WHAT JESUS MIGHT TAKE FROM THEM? ALSO IN THE PICTURE ARE ALL OF US, THE JEWISH TEMPLE LEADERS. WE WERE HAPPY WITH OUR LIFE, WE DIDN’T NEED THE MESSIAH TO COME NOW, WE WERE ALL DOING PRETTY GOOD AND OUR LIFE WAS SET SO WHEN WE HEARD FROM HEROD, WE FULFILLED OUR REQUIREMENT AND THEN UNCARINGLY RETURNED TO OUR OWN LIFE, UNCHANGED, UNCHALLENGED, AND UNMOVED. AND IN THE THIRD GROUP OF PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE, THE WISE MEN? WE WILL DISCUSS THEM LATER BUT WE CAN REST ASSURED THAT IN THIS PICTURE THESE MEN ARE THERE SEARCHING WITH BREATHLESS ANTICIPATION FOR THE KING OF THE JEWS IN THE FORM OF A BABY. THE QUESTION THAT FACES ALL OF US IS, WHAT GROUP IN THIS PICTURE WOULD YOU CHOSE? MY PRAYER FOR ALL OF YOU IS THAT YOU CHOSE THE THIRD GROUP WHO ARE WAITING WITH BREATHLESS ANTICIPATION, BREATHLESS EXCITEMENT, AND TOTAL LOVE FOR THAT CHILD THAT IS LYING IN THE MANGER. MY NAME IS YOUSEL I MADE THE WRONG CHOICE; I HOPE YOU MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT LIFE!
LET US PRAY.
