Clashing of the Kings (El Choque de los Reyes)
Mt. 2:1-16
The idea of a scrooge is not new. It is as old as the Bible. On that very first Christmas, there was a man who tried to kill all that is central to this special holiday.
He is not ficticious. He was a man who became king, but was actually a very bitter and miserable man.
They called him Herod the Great. He was a politician who knew how to politic.
He was half-Jew. We still wrestle with this type of problem today. Men in high places sprinkle a little religion or at least the faint simbolance of being religious to manipulate the church.
So the powers that be promoted him to higher and higher positions thinking that he would be able to control the pesky Jews.
The roman senate gave him the title "king of the Jews". The jews despised the title because Herod was not even the least bit religious.
I. Preoccupied with Power
Herod was completely obsessed and possessed with power. More than Nimrod or Pharoah ever thought about. More like his coach, Lucifer.
Power gives one the ability to control. Control can place people under your dictates.
Things have not changed much today. In politics, business, and even in the church there are people in power who abuse it, because they can't get enough of it. The flesh loves to control others. It is an ego thing; self-gratification.
He felt that he had to be "Number One" at any cost.
It is one thing to be motivated towards self improvement and being faithful with our God given talents. The danger comes when it becomes a matter of competition and power struggle.
The Lord reminds us over and over again to have a servants heart.
II. Preoccupied with Possessions
Herod built 7 palaces and 7 theaters. He built a stadium that seated 300,000 people. He had all that money could buy.
Is this not one of the things that our modern age is ate up with? Our Christmases and our everyday lives are consumed with having more "things". The "spirit of the age" has got a choke-hold on us, and we have lost much of the meaning of this holiday season.
III. Preoccupied with Prestige
One has to either be greatly favored or greatly feared by his subjects to have a continual following.
Herod knew how to play the political game. He was married 10 times, and some of those marriages were primarily for political benefits. He built entire cities with all the modern facilities of his time, and then named the city after one of his members of royalty.
He even built a temple for the Jews to show them that he was not such a bad guy. After all, he wanted their votes as well.
Herod knew all about how to win (buy) friends and influence people long before Dale Carnegie wrote his famous book.
This guy was ate up with himself.
IV. Preoccupied with Paranoia (fobia)
Herod lived in constant fear. That is how a tyrant has to live. He knows that he has to keep his back covered.
He built 10 emergency fortresses, all of them heavily armed and well stocked.
He had his own personal network of spies working for him to root out anyone who might be a threat to him.
V. Pandamonium
This king Herod was not born a king. He had to fight, plot, and kill to get to his throne.
It is no wonder that Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem as well (Mt.2:2)
Someone was threatening his kingdom. Someone was using his title. He did not have control of the situation and it was making him mad.
Two kings have met together and it is causing quite an uproar.
Herod is so troubled that he turns into the "Butcher of Bethleham"; killing all male children under two years of age. He is up against something that he cannot control. He has met his match.
The clash continues. The spirit that drove Herod is the spirit of the devil. He continues to lift his ugly head and manipulate, mislead, and deceive.
Like Herod, he makes you believe that you need to do it his way.
Okay. The choice is truly yours. Each one of us have a throne in our heart. Who is seated on that throne? Both kings want that position.
One will do anything to reign there. One has already done everything to reign there.
If you crave power, possessions, and prestige; then it is evident which king is on your throne. But deep down, you live in fear.
If you have a servants' heart and want to give more of yourself, then it seems that Christ has a place on the throne of your heart.
It is said of the wise men--"when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy".
