It was the day after Christmas at a church in San Francisco. The preacher, was looking at the nativity outside when he noticed the baby Jesus was missing. Immediately, he turned towards the church to call the police. But as he was about to do so, he saw little Jimmy with a red wagon, and in the wagon was the figure of the little infant, Jesus.
The preacher walked up to Jimmy and said, "Hi, Jimmy, where did you get the baby?"
Jimmy replied, "I got him from the church."
"And why did you take him?"
With a sheepish smile, Jimmy said, "Well, about a week before Christmas I prayed to little Lord Jesus. I told him if he would bring me a red wagon for Christmas, I would give him a ride around the block in it."
Little Jimmy wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. He was just doing what little boys do. He just figured if Jesus did him a favor, it was only right to return the kindness. He saw Jesus as a kind of religious Santa Claus. Just like going to the mall and sitting on Santa’s lap and asking for a special toy. In his mind, Jesus was just a little farther up the food chain.
Today we’re going to talking about people who see Jesus as a religious “Santa Claus”. They see Him as far enough up God’s food chain to supply them with all their wants and desires.
In our text today – the angel declared: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
When the angel… that said this newborn baby was to be “the Christ” he was declaring that this child was to be the fulfillment of centuries of Biblical promises. When the Jews referred to these promises – they spoke of the coming Messiah.
“Christ” and “Messiah” are essentially the same word
They both mean the same thing.
They both mean “The anointed one.”
This anointed one – this Messiah/Christ – was the description the Jews used to sum up the prophecies in the Old Testament that declared – God was sending “somebody”. And that somebody was going to fix everything that was wrong in Israel.
Jeremiah 23:5 (for example) prophesied: "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.”
Isaiah 11:2-5 declared: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD—and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
And in Micah 5:4-5a God declared “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.”
The coming Messiah was going to fix everything for God’s people, because:
1. He would reign wisely
2. He would be righteous
3. He would help the needy and poor
4. He would shepherd the flock
5. and He would give God’s people security and peace.
The problem was, the Jews had taken to seeing this coming Messiah to be kinda like a Santa Claus dressed like GI Joe and armed to the teeth with a whole lot of military hardware. And after having spent decades under the iron fist of Rome they weren’t looking for peace… they were itching for war.
By the time of Jesus – the anticipation of a coming warlord type of Messiah had reached a fever pitch
In their minds, if the real Christ/Messiah would just stand up – Israel could throw off the chains of the hated Romans.
And thus, false Messiahs began to pop up all over the place. There was….
· Hezekiah the “brigand” that was executed by Herod
· Then there was his son Judas the Galilean
· And then Judas’ brother Menahem.
· Then there was the prophet Theudas.
· And after him an Egyptian Jew who was put to death by the procurator Felix.
· Then there was another Jew who led his followers out into the wilderness at the time of Festus,
· and last, but not least, Simon bar Kochba whose revolt was quelled in A.D. 135.
All these SUPPOSED Messiahs led their followers to senseless deaths.
And why?
Because they weren’t real Messiahs. They hadn’t been sent by God. And they hadn’t come to fulfill God’s true purpose for His Messiah.
In fact, though these false Messiahs may have had legitimate reasons for fighting against Rome, whatever success they would have had would have paled compared to what Jesus offered. These men only came to be warlords/ military leaders.
Jesus came to be far more than that.
You see – Messiah/Christ – means “Anointed One”
And Anointing was a special honor that God gave only to 3 kinds of people in the Old Testament:
o Prophets
o Kings
o Priests
The anointing of the men in these offices indicated that God was “recognizing” them as those who represented Him before His people.
This ultimate Messiah – this final “anointed one” – was to represent all three offices:
1st, as Messiah, Jesus came to be our prophet.
This had been predicted by Moses back in Deuteronomy 18:15 where he said of the Messiah:
“The LORD your God will raise up for you A PROPHET LIKE ME from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”
When Jesus fed the 5000 with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread, people made the connection. In John 6:14-15 we’re told:
“Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, ‘This is of a truth THAT PROPHET THAT SHOULD COME into the world.’
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.”
And in Acts 3:19-23 Peter preached to the crowd that gathered after he healed the cripple at the Temple and he explained that Jesus was the prophet Moses had spoken of:
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you— even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you A PROPHET LIKE ME from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’ (Acts 3:19-23)
Now – a prophet was a man who called God’s people to holiness and purity in their lives. That’s why, when Peter introduced Jesus as the prophet mentioned by Moses, Peter begins his message by calling the people to “REPENT!”
Jesus (as Messiah) is our prophet. He calls us to “repent” – to change, to live our lives in more purity and holiness. But not everyone is comfortable with that.
ILLUS: Some time back another preacher told me about a sermon where he condemned several TV shows by name from the pulpit… one of which was “Two and a Half Men”. The preacher essentially said that no Christian that loved Jesus would ever watch such shows.
Later that week, he happened to be in the basement of the church building as a ladies Bible study was going on. And he just happened to be listening in as one of the woman huffed.
“That preacher thinks he can tell me what shows to watch! Well, I never! I’m just as good a Christian as he is and if I want to watch “Two and a Half Men” I do just that!”
(pause) Now outside of the fact that the preacher was right… and she was sinfully wrong… her attitude toward the preacher really reflects her attitude toward Christ. She only wanted holiness/purity in her life when she felt it to be “reasonable.” If she didn’t think it was reasonable – neither a preacher/elder - nor even Christ Himself would be able to convince her that HER standards were not the right standards.
ILLUS: Her attitude reminds me of the story of the young preacher who believed a false doctrine
Another preacher confronted him with Scripture that proved it was false doctrine, the young man responded: "I don’t know what that verse means, but it doesn’t mean what it says!"
When people get to that point in their “religion” – where they stop listening to Jesus as prophet. When they reach the point, where Jesus is there to meet their needs but not to make demands on their holiness. When they reach that point, Jesus just becomes a little baby doll being carted around in a red wagon. Jesus doesn’t even get to pull the wagon – He’s just along for the ride.
These people want Jesus around… they just don’t want to LISTEN to Him.
When Peter, James and John were up on the Mt. of Transfiguration, a bright cloud surrounded them “and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Matthew 17:5 (ESV)
(PAUSE)
So, first Jesus came as Messiah to be our Prophet – to call us to purity and holiness.
2ndly – as Messiah Jesus came to be our King.
This ramps up our relationship to Jesus a few notches.
When you and I became Christians we pledged our loyalty/lives and possessions to our King. We called Him Lord and Master. You and I gave Jesus full authority over our – not just our TV viewing, but also our books, our homes, our Families…. Whatever!
Now you can do that with confidence with Jesus. Because He’s the Messiah. He’s not going to hurt you… but you wouldn’t want to give that kind of authority to just ANY King.
One of the problems with the kind of Messiah the Jews of that day were looking for was that they saw such a ruler as a mortal man. Mortal men have one inherent flaw… they all ultimately die. And as benevolent as their dictatorships may be, eventually they are going to be replaced by leaders who aren’t as interested in the common good anymore.
ILLUS: My dad used to say – “the most effective form of government is a benevolent dictatorship… and he was willing to volunteer for the job.”
But in reality, very few dictatorships are truly benevolent.
Just Consider The Rulers Of Jesus’ Day
* 1st there was Augustus, the emperor in Rome when Jesus was born. He was the first Roman Emperor and was known to have taught his people that he was a god/ a deity.
* He was followed by Tiberius: the Roman Emperor during Jesus’ ministry. He was influenced by a bad advisor and he put to death many of his rivals.
* Herod the Great: Was the merciless ruler in at the time Israel. He led Israel in some impressive building projects, but he wasn’t a safe man to be around. He was insanely jealous of his position and had his sons murdered because he saw them as being threats to his throne. And of course he had the babies in Bethlehem slaughtered because he’d learned of the potential king that had been born there.
Rome regarded Herod as too powerful, so when he died, his kingdom was divvied up amongst his 3 sons.
> One was immoral (Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist beheaded).
> The 2nd was insane (Archelaus)
> and the 3rd was incompetent (Philip)
Now notice the contrast between THOSE kinds of Kings… and Jesus:
* Those Kings were born in palaces
Jesus was born in a stable
* Those kings were outrageously wealthy
Jesus was born in poverty and never had many possessions
* Those Kings thought themselves gods
Jesus was God
* Those Kings put their rivals to death out of fear
Jesus allowed Himself to be put to death for others out of love
* Those Kings listened to bad advisors
Jesus listened to His heavenly Father
* Those Kings were suspicious
Jesus was forgiving
* Those Kings built buildings
Jesus built disciples
* Those Kings abused power for themselves
Jesus used power for others
* Those Kings abused people
Jesus healed people
* Those Kings...well, their kingdoms no longer exist
But His Kingdom will last forever
As you can see – Jesus was far superior to the rulers of His day. In fact, He’s far superior to the rulers of our day. One of the fallacies of our society is to believe that if we can just get the right man/woman into office – that will solve all our problems. There are Christians who believe that the right politics will ultimately save our nation.
But the sad truth is – all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
And the ONLY ruler you’ll ever be able to totally count on is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus didn’t come as our Messiah just to rule and reign over us. He didn’t come to abuse us or take advantage of us. He came to guide, protect and lead us in triumph. He came to be a servant King, who would change lives for the better… for eternity.
Now, one more thing.
As Messiah, Jesus came to be our Prophet & our King.
And if Jesus had just come to become my Prophet and King He had the right to do that. Jesus had a right to those things. He’d ALWAYS had a right to those things.
But He could have been our Prophet from heaven. He didn’t need to come down in human form to gain the right to tell me to live a pure life!
And He could have been our King from heaven. He didn’t need to be a baby in a manger to have the authority to rule over our lives.
But the one thing He could NOT have done from heaven, was the last anointed office He had as our Messiah: He came to be our High Priest.
In the OT - High Priests had one principal responsibility they had to offer a sacrifice once a year for the sins the people had committed. If the High Priest ever failed to do this sacrifice, the people’s sins would NOT be forgiven.
They would die in their sins.
They would die without hope.
They would die without God’s forgiveness.
But there was a problem with the sacrifices THOSE High Priests offered up. Hebrews 10 tells us “…it (was) impossible for the blood of bulls and goats (offered by these Priests) to take away sins.” Hebrews 10:4
The bulls and goats hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t their fault these people had sinned. And they hadn’t volunteered to be sacrificed for ANYBODY.
But God used the imperfect nature of those sacrifices to point FORWARD to a greater sacrifice. A sacrifice that would take care of sins for all time.
A sacrifice whose blood was so pure and holy that it could heal our sinfulness, remove our guilt and shame and allow us to live in the joy of God’s presence… rather than in the fear of our past.
That was what Jesus accomplished in becoming our High Priest.
He not only offered up the perfect sacrifice.
He WAS the perfect sacrifice.
CLOSE: Christmas is really a great holiday.
But there are times that people forget what it’s about.
They get caught up in Christmas presents, and Christmas trees and garland/tinsel and a harmless little baby in a manger. But they tend to forget WHY that little baby was born to begin with.
A few years ago, I wrote a Christmas song for our quartet that addresses all that, and I’d like to sing part of it for you this morning:
Verse 1:
“One foggy winter morning, I went out into the field, looking for a tree for my home
I searched that field all over, just to find the perfect tree… to decorate for Christmas morn
I found what I’d been looking for, a tree both strong and tall
I decorated – strung the lights – and placed her down the hall
But somehow, there was something wrong… my pretty Christmas tree
Couldn’t show me what I longed for to see
CHORUS:
Looking for a Christmas Tree, with a meaning that says love to me.
I want more than tinsel and garland bright
Yes I’m looking for a Tree.
Verse 2:
There was a baby boy, born on Christmas Day,
in Bethlehem so many years ago.
He was a gift to all mankind, wrapped up in swaddling clothes.
Given so that God we might know
There were no decorations
No reindeer in the yard
No Currier and Ives portrait on a Christmas Card.
The manger smelled of sheep and goat and cattle in their stall
There was no Christmas tree down the hall.
Verse 3:
The Story of that baby Jesus still can make me smile
But the little baby soon became a man
And the crowds that once had cheered Him on
Became a howling mob
“Crucify Him” was their demand
They nailed Him to a rugged cross
Stained with dirt and mud
The only decoration on that tree was His blood
But there upon that Christ filled tree
We saw God’s gift of love
The True gift from the Father up above.”
Jesus could have stayed in heaven and been our prophet and King
But becoming our High Priest required Him to step down out of His splendor.
It demanded that He allow Himself to humble Himself and become a child in a humble manger stall.
Literally Jesus was born to die. That is the true reason for this seaon.
And the true Christmas tree, was the one Jesus died on 33 years later.
The Gospel message is that Jesus came and died for you and I. That He was buried in agrave rose from the dead on the 3rd day. And because He died, and rose from the dead… you can live with Him for eternity.
That is the true Christmas gift of the season.
INVITATION
PS: Though I disagree with his ultimate conclusions (millennial kingdom) this site had some interesting insights I could not use, but it was intriguing enough I want to make you aware of it: http://www.godward.org/new-millennium/november97/jesusprophet.htm
