Sermon: The Most Hateful Character in the Christmas Story
Scripture Lesson: Matthew 2:1-12."Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: 6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ 7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” 9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.”
Introduction: What do you like best about Christmas? Is it the Christmas tree with its blinking lights? Maybe it's the beautiful music or the delicious Christmas goodies. Perhaps it's Christmas dinner with turkey and dressing and all of the trimmings. For some it might be all of the parties or visiting with family and friends. For many people the best thing about Christmas is the presents — both the ones we give and the ones we receive. Especially the ones we receive! Can you think of anything I have left out? Oh yes! It's someone's birthday, isn't it? Whose birthday, is it? That's right! It is Jesus' birthday. You know, sometimes we get so caught up in all of the decorations, lights, parties, and presents that we miss the real Christmas.
That reminds me of a story I heard about a little boy who had always wanted to go to a circus. One day he was walking down the street when he saw a poster in a store window. The poster said that a circus was coming to town and that a ticket to the circus cost one dollar. The boy ran home and asked his father if he would give him a dollar to go to the circus on Saturday.
His father told him that if he worked hard and got all of his chores done, he would give him a dollar to go to the circus. Saturday morning came and the boy got up early and did all his chores. "I have all of my chores done," the boy told his dad.
The boy's father gave him a dollar and the boy headed into town filled with excitement about seeing wild animals, trapeze artists, and all of the things that come with a circus. Since he arrived in town so early, he was on the front row when the circus parade started down the main street of town. The boy was thrilled when the animals and other circus acts paraded by.
At the end of the parade came the clowns and following the clowns was the ringmaster. When the ringmaster passed by where he was standing, the boy ran out into the street, took his folded dollar bill from his pocket, and handed it to the ringmaster.
"Thanks," mister, said the boy, "that was a great circus." Then he turned around and walked home. He never knew what he had missed. He thought he had been to the circus, but he had only been to the parade. If we are not careful, we can be like that little boy. We can get so caught up in the celebration, the decorations, and the gifts that we miss the real Christmas -- the birthday of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
One of things I like about the Christmas season is the Christmas movies, “A Christmas Carol”, “A wonderful Life” and The Grinch who stole Christmas and many more! When I was growing up always wondered if the Grinch knew where I lived. My family was poor and unable buy many toys! My stocking was usually filled with fruits and candy. A popular movie during those early days and even today, was “The Grinch that stole Christmas.” This movie was about an old cranky Grinch who hated Christmas more than anything. His heart was too small to embrace the joy of Christmas. Every year in a little village called Whoville, the Who would exchange gift and have a joyful celebration. The Grinch decide to ruin it all by stealing all the presents. He thought Christmas about exchanging presents, so to steal Christmas, the Grinch and his trusted dog Max, set out to steal every present. He managed to get all the presents but discovered it didn’t ruin their celebration. The Grinch finally concludes that Christmas isn’t about presents at all, and his heart has a massive change. His heart grew 3 times larger than its normally been. Instead of destroying Christmas in Whoville, He joined them in the celebration.
The Grinch was right, Christmas is not only about presents, but also about God’s gift of His son bringing, light, life and joy into the world. Today, I want to talk about the most hateful character of the Christmas story. Let’s look at Christmas from a different viewpoint. The most hateful character of the Christmas story is the notorious king Herod! I know comparing Herod to the Grinch is a stretch. King Herod played a key role in the Christmas Story. In a sense Herod tried keep the Christmas event from happening too. In our text, Herod used all the power at his disposal to identify the Christ child, find his location and then kill him. Everything he did and all his dervish actions could not stop the plan of God. Let’s look closer at the most hateful character in the Christmas story. There are three aspects of Herod’s life I want to consider.
1.Herod was disturbed king. “3 And when it came to the ears of Herod the king, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”
When we look at Herod’s life, reputation and general makeup, he was disturbed man. He ruled over Palestine with an iron hand. During his 40 year reign, he kept sedition under control. He was a violent man who was not afraid to use oppression, trickery and intimidation to gain an advantage. He was a power-hungry leader, with an enormous ego and a Master of Political intrigue. He used division and infighting to keep the Jewish Leaders under control.
He was insanely jealous and tolerated no rivals. He was overprotective of his possessions, power, property, and people. The Jews leader resented Herod and consider Him a half breed foreign king, who overthrew the rightful king, Hasmonean and took his crown. Herod was vengeful who executed the majority of the Sanhedrin Council at one time, so he could confiscate the property. Later, Herod killed two of his own sons and the High Priest because he saw them as a threat to His kingdom. Emperor Augustus was quoted as saying, It would be better to be Herod’s sow than to be his sons. Then, Herod killed his wife Maryann who he dearly loved because he thought she had conspired with her sons against him. The one event that takes center stage and demonstrates his ruthlessness was the slaughter of innocent children.
Matthew 2:16 “Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.”
The new of Jesus’ birth disturbed Herod. When Herod was troubled everyone around him was in trouble. The birth of Jesus, the sinless son of God still disturbs people today. There are those who are disturbed by the mention of His name in prayer, or a nativity scene displayed in a public space. There are others who guard their pride, self-indulgence and refuse to recognize Jesus as king of kings and Lord of lords. Just as the Grinch was disturbed by Christmas, Herod was disturbed. Secondly, Herod was deceitful.
2. Herod was a Deceitful King. “7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
Herod tried to deceit the wisemen to get the results he wanted. Herod wanted to use them, manipulate them and deceive them. His motive was to destroy the competition. As old man, sick and limited, He had not lost deceitful tendencies. Deceit still lurks around Jesus today. It is a sad fact some mask their impure motive, while pretending allegiance to Christ. They use deception to manipulate Christians into giving them what they want. Others pretend to be worshippers to land a worship leader position. Some wear the badge of Christianity but are not followers of Christ. The wise men avoided being deceived by being in touch with God. Now Herod himself was being deceived. Every man will reap what he sows.
A story of told a baker in a little country town who purchased his supply of butter from a local farmer, One day the baker suspected that the bricks of butter were not a full pound. For several days he weighed them and he was right. They were light and he file charges and had the farmer arrested. At the trial the Judge said to the farmer, “I presumed you have stales?” No, your honor.” Then how do you manage to weigh the butter you sell? inquired the judge. The farmer replied, That’s easy to explain, your honor.” I have balances and for a weigh, I use a one-pound loaf I buy from the baker.”
Herod waited for the wiseman to return, but God led them another. These wisemen were truly wise. They were wise enough to seek the Savior, wise enough to find him and wise enough to find him and worship Him and wise enough to change direction. They went out another way. Herod knew his plan had failed, he pulled out all stops. He sent a military army to kill every male child under two years old. That plan failed also. God has a way of exposing hypocrisy. Things done in the dark will be exposed. All deception will one day end, Not only was Herod disturbed and deceitful, He was dying.
3. Herod was a dying king. “13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
Unlike the Grinch, Herod never had a change of heart. He remained disturbed and deceitful, never realized he was going to die. Josephus writes a historical account of his final days sayings, “ After Jesus escape to Egypt, Herod’s health began to rapidly decline. At 70 years old, he was only a pitiful shell of the strong and powerful man he had once been. He suffered a horrible death. When he at his winter palace at Jericho, he slipped into eternity without Jesus and without hope. He died a sick and deranged old tyrant. Even on his death bed, the most hateful character of Christmas, remained unchanged and unrepentant. Fearing no one would mourn his death, He had the top Jewish officials arrested, to be executed upon his death to ensure weeping throughout the land.
There are many disturbed, deceitful and dying people who reject and seek to destroy Jesus just as Herod did. God sent His only Begotten Son, because the world was disturbed, swallowing in sin, deceive and blinded by sin and Satan. Sin caused all mankind to be death doomed and unable to rescue themselves.
John 3:16, 17 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[a] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”
During this Christmas, we celebrate God’s gift, Jesus Christ, the savior of all who receive him. He is the gift we did not earn or deserved, freely given from the heart of a loving God. Living in the most blessed nation in the world, many of us enjoy the rich blessings of life, good health, daily provisions, family and friends and an endless list of other benefits. Yet at death, we leave everything behind. Even dealing with the struggles of life, we enjoy strength to endure and help to overcome because God is good. Like all the Herods and every other human being we must face the judgment of God.
Hebrews 9:27 “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,”
The Christmas story is the good news of God providing a way out of darkness into the light; a way out of sin into righteousness; and a way out of death into life. Death is an unavoidable fact of this life. Even though Herod, with all his earthly power was powerless to stop aging, decline and death. He could not avoid it and neither can we. When the time comes, our eternal destination will be determined by the decisions we make about the Christ of Christmas. Herod was a disturbed man, living a deceptive life, who never considered his end. He was close to Jesus, sought Jesus and to find Jesus for the wrong reason. Herod died, but the Christ of Christmas still lives. Herod thought he had many good reasons for trying to stop Jesus Christ and stop the first Christmas. In reality, Herod’s heart was too small to make room for the Savior. He was consumed by power, position, and personal gain. What he killed to keep, he ultimately loss. Herod killed a number of Jewish Leaders, his two sons and his wife because he feared losing his throne. Trying to be the king of his life, Herod lost everything including his soul.
Some 2000 years later, we are faced with the same dilemma. What will you do will Jesus this Christmas? Will you deny His identity and resist his lordship? Are you disturbed, deceived and dying without hope? Jesus came to throw us a lifeline!
“They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.”
The most hateful character in the Christmas story could have been changed. If only he been willing to come into his presence, bow down and sincerely worship, open his treasures to Him and then leave a different way. This Christmas may you find the Christ of Christmas and a different way into a brand-new life as a child of God. Jesus came to save!
