The Contrast of Two Kings of Christmas
Matthew 2
I. King Herod WAS:
A. preoccupied with power, prestige and possessions
B. preoccupied with paranoia and self-preservation.
II. King Jesus IS still:
A. filled with promise.
B. filled with peace and paternal glory: Nazareth: “the guarded one”
C. reigning as King.
III. Wise Men and Women still
A. seek Jesus.
B. become “undone” in Jesus’ presence.
C. worship Jesus.
D. present their gifts and their lives.
Matthew 2 is actually a postlude to the HOLY DAY of Christmas, which we celebrate as Christ’s birthday, and includes the visit of the “MAGI” or Wisemen. If you read the story of the “Magi Visit”, it doesn’t say that they went to Bethlehem, as a matter of fact, Jesus was probably not IN Bethlehem.
Remember, Joseph and Mary had come from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register, where Jesus was born. Eight days later, he and Mary took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to be presented and witnessed by Simeon and Anna and then they returned to Nazareth. This is what happened, probably a year later in Matthew 2:
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east (Probably princes or wise men from the area of Babylon and traveled 900-1,000 miles, a 6 month journey) came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.”
4 “When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6 " '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.' "Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9 “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.”
(They probably followed the star all the way to Nazareth (68 miles from Jerusalem) according to Luke 2:39, “When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.”)
10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. (WORSHIP)
Matthew 2:13: “When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
19 “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."
On Christmas Eve, we considered Matthew’s historical approach in chapter 1 as well as God’s fulfillment of Promises and Predictions at Jesus’ Birth, and in the second chapter we see more overwhelming evidence of the same! After 400 years of Silence during the time between the Old Testament and the New, between “B.C.” and “A.D”., God speaks loudly and clearly through His Son.
King Herod
The story of Matthew 2 displays the extreme contrast of two kings. There is much history recorded about King Herod. He was known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple). It is a well-known historical fact that he was preoccupied with his power, prestige and his possessions. He never was satisfied with his personal wealth and seemed to have a rather poor self-image in spite of his position.
He was a man who was preoccupied with paranoia and self-preservation. He was always afraid of losing his prestige, power, and position, and murder was often the way he dealt with his fears. His title of Herod “the Great” was widely disputed since he was also described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis,” even though he was a convert to the Jewish religion.
His notoriety for infanticide, killing the baby boys of Bethlehem, did not protect his power and prestige, but actually paved the way for his own death. Many people question why God did not just kill King Herod instead of allowing Herod to kill those children and I can’t fully answer that question. It is evident from our passage that Herod was used by God to fulfill Old Testament prophecy. The claim is often that those children were innocent and did not deserve death, but that is not entirely true. They were still born in sin and deserving of death.
The main point is that God preserved the Messiah for the mission to which He was called: to be born, to minister and prove He was the Perfect Son of God, who endured temptation, a gruesome prescribed death on a cross, a glorious resurrection and ascension as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. On the other hand, King Herod was a proud, paranoid, egotistical murderer, whose kingdom died… and so did he!
King Jesus
Whenever you attempt to hold on to power and prestige, you always end up TAKING from others, and in the end, you lose! King Jesus is STILL filled with Promise because, not only did He fulfill prophecy, but He is STILL fulfilling His Promises. Promises are all about fulFILLment TO others. Promises are about FILLING OTHERS, not taking from others.
Remember the word “fulfill”? One of the meanings is to be filled to the brim. When you’re filled to the brim, full-FILLed, you spill over. Jesus already is FILLED with every good and Godly thing, and He promises to give ALL perfect things to us. Jesus doesn’t take from others in order to satisfy Himself: He gives to satisfy you so from His fullness you will be filled. Jesus doesn’t TAKE anything from us except our sin and His promise is to GIVE you, not just SOMETHING, but all things necessary for you to be filled with GOODNESS from God.
King Jesus is still filled with peace and paternal glory. If you can imagine this, Herod killed his own wife and two of his sons. To say that Jesus is just the opposite is a gross understatement! The exact contrast would be that Jesus did NOT kill His loved ones, but Jesus went infinitely beyond that. (It’s impossible for Jesus to be anything but INFINITE in every way that He exists.) He actually GAVE UP His own life for His loved ones.
Jesus is infinitely, eternally, and perfectly protecting and providing His children with Holy Power and Purpose. Matthew chapter 2 ends with these words, “He will be called a Nazarene." If a person took the vow of a Nazarite (Num. 6), it meant that they were set apart for God’s purposes. The word “Nazareth” means “the guarded one”, and in this story, Jesus was certainly guarded and protected by, not only Joseph, but by the Father who also protects us. What a tremendous contrast to King Herod, who really resembles the prince of this world.
The prince of this world, the devil, comes to seek and destroy. He comes to deceive, if possible (and it’s not!), even the elect, God’s chosen children. The devil twists the truth of the Word of God every chance he gets and in doing so, He tries to obstruct the way to the Heavenly Father’s love (“satan” in the Hebrew means adversary, resistance, opposition.) He tries to dethrone King Jesus by doing everything he can…but Jesus is still reigning today on His Heavenly throne.
Many people today deny that Jesus is reigning as King now, but to do so is to deny that Jesus is Lord and Christ. Ephesians 1:18: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”
Understand this: the Magi story is much more than a contrast of two kings; It is the contrast between two distinct kingdoms. It is the contrast, between the kingdoms of this World and that of the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ! Jesus IS reigning and shall reign forever and ever.
Where is Herod? Historical fact records that Herod received word of Jesus’ birth when he was already old and in failing health, but he was still crafty, cruel, calloused. He demonstrated how he was totally unlike the wisemen because Herod sought to reject and destroy the Messiah, as does most of the world.
Wise Men Still Seek Him.
Today though, WISE men and women still seek Jesus from all corners of the Earth. Isaiah 55 is a powerful chapter of warning as well as comfort, Verses 6 & 7 say: “SEEK the LORD while He may be found ; Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts ; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” (not about not getting sick but everything concerned with the pardon and forgiveness of sin.)
Wise people will still search God’s Word and seek the Savior. WISE people do not discard or discredit God’s Message but listen to His warning. Ephesians 1:14 says: “For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, (you who are spiritually sleeping) And arise from the dead, (Don’t be eternally and spiritually dead!) And Christ will shine on you." 15 Therefore be careful * how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
Verse 11 of our text said: “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down (they fell on their faces)”. What would cause Princes to fall on their faces before a young child in the home of a carpenter? In John 18:6, the same thing happened to the guards who were trying to arrest Jesus of Nazareth: “He said to them, "I AM HE," they drew back and fell to the ground.” They worshiped him.
It’s what Jesus said in Luke 10:18 "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning!” He saw the UNHOLY fall from the presence of the HOLY ONE.
It is what Mary, Jairus, the leper, and the blind man did in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene.
It is what Paul did on the road to Damascus when the voice from heaven bellowed: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (Acts 9)
It is what Isaiah did when he saw the Holy, HOLY, HOLY LORD sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, when he cried: “"Woe is me, for I am ruined ! I am disintegrated, because I am a man of unclean lips.” (Isa. 6)
It is what John did before the presence of the Holy Jesus in Revelation 1.
It is what the 24 elders did before Jesus’ Heavenly throne in Rev. 4.
It is what the very STARS of the HEAVEN WILL ONE DAY DO in the presence of His Holy Wrath.
The ONLY WAY that these Magi would possibly fall face down before THIS BABY was if God had revealed to them that they were in the presence of the HOLY MESSIAH, and so they DID what we should also DO in His presence: THEY FELL DOWN AND WORSHIPED HIM! THAT IS WHAT WISE MEN and women STILL DO in the presence of the HOLY ONE of HEAVEN. The only possible response to a HOLY God and a HOLY Savior is with a Holy response.
Today, Wise Men still seek Jesus ….and foolish ones reject Him. Jesus is worshiped in all the nations of the world… but also, everywhere wounded. The way that true worshipers ascribe authority, dignity, and honor to the Christ, IS TO SERVE HIM. WISE men and women still present their gifts and their lives. It is not optional; it is our logical and sensible response. Herod hung on to his life and lost it. He refused the wisdom of God when the message of the Magi was delivered to him.
God said in Proverbs 22:17: “Pay attention (one of the translations says “bow down”) and listen to the sayings of the wise (or wise ONE); APPLY YOUR HEART to what I teach.”
