Matthew 2 - A Tale of Two Kings and Two Kingdoms

We study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel.

And we do have some extra copies.

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The network that we have here at the Village Shovel.

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But anyway, if you would like to uh uh jump on the network there, I think a password is there for you.

And by the way, I love that uh uh concept in the announcements in in Kim's Prayer.

You also heard about Room in the Inn, which I think is such a great ministry.

We've been doing that for a number of years uh on Super Bowl Sunday.

And evidently uh this year uh a lot of us will have some free time uh around that uh particular evidently, so some of you know what I'm talking about.

Yeah, so there we go.

Um we are studying the gospel according to Matthew, and I love that we're in Matthew chapter 2, not too long after Christmas, because I usually have to preach this passage during Christmas season.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

I love what G.

Katchester used to say.

He says, you know, we get all excited on the ramp up to Christmas, and nobody talks about Christmas much after Christmas.

And I think there is uh that tendency in us.

So I'm really glad we're here in Matthew chapter two.

If you want to turn there in your Bibles, our study of Matthew is titled The King in His Kingdom.

That's what this book is basically about.

And today we will title this study of Matthew chapter two, um, A Tale of Two Kings and Two Kingdoms.

As we read, you'll discover that we really don't know how many wise men there were.

I sure hope I'm not smashing anybody's dreams, hopes, and all that sort of thing.

So if you have a crutch at home and it's got three little wise men, sorry.

No, there's they weren't there.

And we also don't know if they were kings.

That's the other thing.

You're gonna find some stuff out here today that you thought was, you know, we three kings.

Well, we don't know that there were three, and we don't know that they were kings.

We really don't.

Um we don't know with much clarity precisely what this star was.

And I think all of the efforts, and I've made some of those efforts, to figure it out, to see when the comets were passing by, to figure out when the stars aligned in such a way that it might have appeared as something like this.

I'm just, I think we're kind of looking really hard to find a natural explanation for something that happened in a very supernatural kind of way.

And our tendency is to do that, and I think it's good to recognize that.

And uh, while I can't really explain to you exactly what happened with the star and how it was that God made this whole thing happen, I'm just gonna tell you that this is what the Bible declares.

And since it opens with, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing.

I don't think it would be much for the God that can do that to do something like this.

Um so remind you of that as we get into reading this whole thing.

Um, we need to be reminded that Jesus was likely a toddler at the time of the visit of the Magi.

So in his twos.

Don't know if Jesus had a terrible twos kind of life, you know, his little family in it.

Don't know if he, you know, we just don't know a whole lot about that.

I don't think he had a terrible twos thing.

If he had gotten mad and had the power to do virtually anything, um uh who knows what could have gone wrong there, or but it didn't, evidently, and we're not told any of that.

We don't know a lot about his childhood.

Uh, there's a lot of uh tradition surrounding an explanation to his childhood, but what is here, I think, is what God wants us to know.

And so we mustn't say more than we should, and we mustn't say less than we should.

Uh let me pray, Lord.

Um give us eyes to see what we may not have seen before.

Help us to uh know some things perhaps this day that we hadn't known before, to learn.

Um Lord, make us who we are not now, but you want us to become.

So transform us and let this not just be information, but may there be transformation as we study your word, unique in its source, timeless in its truth, broad in its reach, and transforming in its power.

Amen.

Matthew chapter two, about a year and a half, maybe two years uh after what we just read, Matthew chapter one, which was the, in short, the genealogy of Jesus.

And then from verse 18 down through the end of chapter 1, verse 25, there, uh the conception and birth of Jesus announced to Joseph.

Joseph is encouraged to go on ahead and marry, uh, take for a wife, Mary.

And uh uh he, I think, is a pretty honorable man.

That last verse says he arose from his sleep.

This angel appeared to him in a dream, and he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took her as his wife, kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus, just like the angel had told him.

This man is eager to obey the Lord in a way that I wish I would be.

Um maybe you find that challenging as well.

He's not a perfect man, he fades from the scene, but in Matthew chapter 1 and 2, this is the most we know about Joseph, the legal guardian of Jesus, but not the biological father of Jesus.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, and that's the southern third of Israel, in the days of Herod the King, he reigned from, this is Herod the Great, he reigned from 37 BC to 4 BC.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, and some of you are going, wait a minute, if he reigned till 4 BC, how is it that Jesus is born after that?

And that's because in the 5th and 6th centuries, there's a man named Dionysius Exiguus who put together the Western calendar.

And we know more now about the life and death of Herod the Great than he did back then.

And so while he fixed the Western calendar, we have refixed it and understood, to understand at least when it is that Jesus probably was born in what we now call 5, 6, or 7 BC.

Um, which I just love that kind of thing.

I'm a total geek and a nerd on these kind of things.

So I love that.

Um, but here come these magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who has been born, king of the Jews?

For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.

And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Now he's a tyrant king, he is a client king, Herod the Great was, of uh of the Roman Empire.

He worked for the Roman Empire, and he was from 37, like I say, to 4 BC.

He was over this region, this area as king, or he was appointed king.

So here come the Magi, and who were they?

We we don't know.

It doesn't say kings there, you noticed that, right?

Doesn't say three there, you noticed that, right?

And it does say, though, that they came to Jerusalem.

Why?

Well, because that was sort of the capital of that region.

And so they're following a star, but the star hasn't taken them to Bethlehem yet.

And so they're sort of in some combination of science and some kind of compelling drawn by God, I think, to the region there, perhaps uh informed by some ancient scrolls that were left in Babylon during, you know, the time that the Jews were 70 years were in Babylon, and perhaps these guys were uh scientists and astrologers and historians, very evidently wealthy enough to travel 500 to maybe a thousand miles, as a lot of Bible commentary suggests, and to take the time off to be able to go do that.

And they're curious and interested enough to make that journey without a motor coach or an airplane.

And they come and they're eager to what?

Worship the one who is what?

Born king of the Jews, not appointed king of the Jews by the Roman government, but the one who now is born king of the Jews.

And this troubles Herod, verse 3 tells us, and all Jerusalem with him, and that's because tyrant kings, when they are troubled, all of their subjects should be trembling.

And that's exactly right.

We're gonna see how dark this passage gets, and how you know it really would have caused them great fear.

When Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, all Jerusalem would gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began to inquire of them where the Christ, and that's interesting that Matthew tells it that way, not where the baby king, born king, but where the Christ, which would make Jesus the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises.

And Herod and these religious leaders would have known that.

They said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, then he quote, from Micah, you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah.

Uh, for out of you shall come forth a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel.

And what's interesting to me is that the wise, the these, these magi, uh, these educated but non-Jewish, educated and probably wealthy men, travel 500 to a thousand miles because they're drawn about what they've heard, what they've seen in the heavens, it's drawing them in such a way they know we've got to go worship this baby king.

And here is Herod and the religious leaders of his time, 10 miles away.

And they're not even looking into it.

And so they say, the religious leaders say to Herod, it's Bethlehem, and they quote from Micah, which they knew clearly about that.

And Herod secretly called the Magi and ascertained from them the time the star had appeared.

So now he's triangulating all his data.

Um, but he's not really interested in the Messiah.

He's got another, he's not got another thing in mind, right?

So he ascertained from them the time the star appeared.

He sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go make careful search for the child.

When you have found him, report to me that I too may come and worship him.

Now he is an out and out liar.

Imagine that, a politician that's a liar.

I just I I've never can't imagine that that's crazy, isn't it?

Yeah.

Um, having heard the king, these magi, go on their way, and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them.

So now evidently it picks up its motion, they're tracking it, until it came and it stood over where the child was.

I cannot explain, I can't, I you you have questions about that, I have questions about that.

I know that when I look up in the heavens at night and I I might see Arcturus or I might see uh one of the planets, uh, certainly the moon, whatever.

There are people hundreds and thousands of miles away from where I am at that look up in the heavens and they're actually seeing the same thing I'm seeing, just from a little bit different, very slight, minuscule different angle, but they're seeing the same kinds of things up.

So, how did they know that this particular brilliant light in the heavens is standing over where the child was?

I don't know the answer to that, and I'm okay with that.

I just know God wanted them there, and that's what's important in the book of Matthew, that Matthew, the accountant, given to detail and precision, this is what we were meant to know.

Okay.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy, and they came into the house, not the stable, remember, not the manger.

This is they're coming into the house now, and saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him.

And opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And this is likely where somebody somewhere down through church history got the idea there were three kings.

And maybe these gifts represent Jesus, prophet, priest, and king.

Maybe they do, maybe they don't.

I don't know.

Um, all I'm saying is um they have brought some pretty expensive stuff, and they have bowed the knee to this baby in a house.

I mean, lots of toddlers at that time, I'm sure.

But this one in particular has drawn men who aren't even Jews.

This international, you know, cod.

This this group of people have traveled so far, and what they do is worship him.

Again, 10 miles up the road, Herod and the religious leaders of the time not traveling even 10 miles to see if it's true.

Well, having been warned by God in a dream, and by the way, we'll read in a dream four times in this chapter, and we we've read it already in chapter one, but in a dream, God is doing some speaking and some revealing.

I don't know if you have dreams.

Sometimes I have weird dreams.

Maybe you have weird dreams too.

Um can God speak through dreams?

Yes, he can, but I want you to be aware of this.

So can bad pizza and bad meat and bad.

So you want, that's why we're glad we have this book, because this book can help us lead us and guide us if we want to know whether or not something we dreamt is true or is worthy of taking heed of, we're gonna find something in this book that's gonna help lead and guide us.

The scripture is our standard for belief and behavior.

That's why we study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel.

Having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, they, the Magi, departed for their own country by another way.

And this is a great metaphor, great sort of analogy if you prefer that way.

But this is what happens when you come to Jesus.

You leave differently.

And that's a beautiful thing.

These guys are warned in a dream by God not to return to Herod, not to go to him and give him the information.

God is literally shepherding time and the motion of individuals within time within this nation to make things happen a certain way.

And watch, here's another one of the details that God is shepherding.

Verse 13.

Now, when they had departed by another way, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, second of four times, saying, Arise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, remain there until I tell you.

You ever sense the Lord saying, Do this until I tell you?

In other words, he's in charge.

Do this, he's in charge until I tell you.

He's in charge of timing too, which frustrates me sometimes.

Does that frustrate you?

I'm in a hurry a lot.

I I like microwave sort of living.

And uh God is never in a hurry.

His brow is never sweating, his palms are never wrinkling.

If I could use those anthropomorphisms, he's never in a hurry, but he's always right on time, isn't he?

Yeah.

And so he tells Joseph in a dream to arise, take the baby, take the uh Mary, and go to Egypt and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.

Again, contrast that with the Magi.

They come all those miles, all that effort to worship.

Herod is 10 miles away, won't even come.

And when he does, when he sends his representatives, it will be to murder.

Wow.

That's quite a contrast, isn't it?

So he took, uh Joseph arose and took the child and his mother by night.

In other words, immediately.

And he departed for Egypt and was there until the death of Herod.

That what, and a lot of time could have passed here.

I don't know how much time.

Uh, in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, say, and by the way, fulfilled is a key word in the book of Matthew, over and over and over again.

This Jewish man who's an accountant is connecting the dots between Old Testament prophecy and its fulfillment in Jesus.

So he says, fulfillment like a dozen or more times in the book of Matthew.

So that this is what was spoken, that what was spoken of the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, Out of Egypt did I call my son.

That's from uh Hosea, I believe.

Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the Magi, okay, now what he realizes, this tyrant realizes that the Magi have not come back, he became very enraged, not just enraged, but very enraged.

And he sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its environs, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the Magi, that that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, A voice was heard in Ramah, just out, this is Ramah, just outside of Bethlehem, weeping in great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children.

She refused to be comforted because they were no more, her children were no more.

You have to, I mean, I know most of our Christmas preachments are meant to be uplifting and all that, but you have to understand that Jesus chose not only to be born into poverty and obscurity, but he chose to come in a time when there was great pain and suffering and grieving.

I mean, if this if if this if you can imagine what might this might have been like if you lived in Bethlehem or its regions, and the soldiers came in from Herod, from Jerusalem, from Herod and literally ripped away the children from their parents.

I mean, I just I can't even imagine that.

What a horrible man Herod the Great was.

I'm sorry, but this is exactly right.

Not only did he do this heinous thing, the murder of the innocents, but Herod the Great killed his, he had ten wives, he killed his actually his favorite wife, believe it or not, he killed her.

He killed his own mother, he killed some of his own sons, three of them, I believe.

This man was paranoid that somebody was trying to take his throne, and the idea that somebody might be born the king of the Jews, that might come to pass at some point that this little baby might actually take away Herod's throne, that enraged him so much that he did this kind of thing.

When Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to in a dream, by the way, third or fourth time.

Third, third of four times, appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise and take the child and his mother and go into the land of Israel.

For those who sought the child's life are dead.

I love that the Lord is again uh uh superintending the the flow of history and and the and the span of life for this evil, wicked king, Herod.

Uh and there is an appointed time when he wants Joseph and Mary and Jesus to come back to Israel.

And so he goes and tells them that they can go there.

This this evil king is dead.

And here's Joseph again, responding immediately.

He arose and took the child and his mother and came into the land of Israel.

When he heard that Archelaus was reigning, and this is Archelaus is uh one of the sons of Herod the Great.

When Herod the Great dies, he's the king of all of that area.

His kingdom will actually be split up between three of his sons.

Archelaus is one of them.

So in um when Joseph heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea, that's the southern third, in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.

And being warned by God in a dream, fourth time, he departed for the regions of Galilee.

What's in Galilee, people?

Nazareth.

Yeah.

And came and resided in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might Be here's our word again, fulfilled.

He shall be called a Nazarene.

Oh, there's so much in this uh chapter, and it, I mean, there's there's some amazing stuff, and then there's some really heartbreaking stuff.

Um, but there's also a lot of gospel hope here.

Um uh as I say, not quite natural for people to wonder about the star.

We get sidetracked by a lot of these.

If you can't explain that, then I'm not gonna believe.

Well, my answer to that is if you can explain your own existence, or the existence of any of us, or the existence of other minds at all.

If you can explain all of that, then you might as well be God yourself.

Um, I can't, I the answer, why is there something rather than nothing?

The answer to that question has, which, and that question has been rolling around through the centuries, nobody's got a good answer for that other than the one I read in the Bible, which is in the beginning, God.

That makes sense to me.

Too well-ordered, too beautiful.

Is it fierce?

Is it dangerous?

Yeah, it is.

That's the price of beauty sometimes.

That's the price of awesome sometimes.

And God is awesome and amazing.

And uh, and so while there are some questions we might have about this particular chapter, and they're it doesn't mean it's wrong to ask the questions.

It just means are we humble enough to accept the fact that we can't know everything?

Is that the disposition of your heart and your mind?

Or are you kind of drawing a line and saying, if I can't know everything, then I'm not gonna trust anything, or I'm not gonna believe anything.

Um, you will never believe anything if you're waiting around to know everything.

Because you'll not, you don't have capacity for this.

We're talking about an infinite God here.

We are finite creatures trying to understand, comprehend things about an infinite God.

And by definition, finite cannot fully understand infinite, unless infinite chooses to reveal some things to us.

And that's what we have here in these ancient scriptures.

I'm so excited about them.

So we have here the story two kings and two kingdoms, I think, in chapter two.

Two kings, Herod the Great versus Jesus, the servant king.

Two kingdoms, the kingdom of this world versus the kingdom of heaven.

And the thing I want to highlight for us as we consider this, uh, even um this morning, is you have a choice as to who will be your king.

But once you make that choice, please understand, you will be living in the kingdom of that king.

So weigh both both thoughts very carefully, especially the first one.

Who would you like to have as your king?

In this particular story, we have Herod the Great who lived in a palace with all the privileges and power of the Roman Empire, contrasted and compared with Jesus, the servant king, who's born in a stable, grew up in obscurity, never even owned a home.

He owns the whole universe, by the way.

But he didn't own a home.

Never had a mortgage.

Herod the Great came to power via appointment by the mighty Roman Empire.

Jesus, the servant king, invaded his creation by divine appointment as a baby born to a poor Jewish couple.

He is Emmanuel, God with us, Messiah, life and light, king of the Jews, Prince of Peace, Lord of Lords, King of Kings.

Herod the Great is uh earthly power and authority, cruel tyrant, control freak.

Jesus, the servant king, heavenly power, authority, and this is what's beautiful about Jesus, too.

Not the cruel tyrant and control freak, but rather somebody who used his heavenly power and authority to perform these miracles that not only affirmed who he was as the son of God.

If he's the son of God, you would think he could do things like walk on water, heal people, open the eyes of the blind, all that stuff.

But he used his power and authority to not only establish his identity, but also simply to say, I love broken people.

And I'm here.

And this is the beginning of the great reversal.

Put your trust in me.

So his wisdom and his teaching, his compassion that's on display, and the fact that he is, he brought truth and grace, whereas Moses brought the law.

What a great contrast between Herod the Great, who literally tried to control everybody with his edicts, and Jesus, who taught in parable.

And the parables are beautiful because the parables both reveal and conceal.

He who has eyes to see will see what's in the parables.

And Jesus is even so gracious with his disciples through the book of Matthew as we study.

You'll see him take time with his disciples even to explain some things that they struggle with, maybe answer some questions for them.

But it's because their hearts are inclined to belief.

They're not standing there in some kind of obstinate, don't prove yourself to me, or I won't believe it all.

You know, it's not like that.

Herod the king, his character marked by narcissistic self-obsession, fear, paranoia, and violence.

Jesus, the servant king character marked by selflessness, humility, love, and kindness.

Herod the Great died in infamy.

In other words, he was famous for being bad.

His earthly kingdom completely dismantled.

Archelaus, Herod Antipas will be the one who will rule up in the north.

And when Joseph decides not to go to the south because of Archelaus, Archelaus already has the reputation by this time of being evil, mean, and wicked, just like his father, Herod the Great.

So Joseph decides, let's go up to the north into Nazareth.

And Herod Antipas is up there.

Not much, I gotta say, not much better.

I can kind of see where, in a way, those guys are feeling a lot like some of us feel.

You know, when we have to make a choice in an election, it's really, I'll just take the worst of two.

I mean, the best of the two worst or whatever, you know.

That's kind of what he had to, that's the choice he had to make here.

Where am I gonna bring my family?

It's gonna be the best of these worst choices that I have.

And so he ends up in Nazareth.

But of course, that's also to fulfill prophecy.

Jesus' servant king died, his death, he gave his life for others.

His death began the great reversal.

His kingdom will have no end.

It's said that when Herod the Great, just before he died in 4 BC, he actually had a hundred Jewish males thrown in prison and gave the command that upon Herod's death, all of those 100 Jewish males were to be put to death because Herod the Great, in his complete paranoia, wanted to make sure that Jerusalem wept on the day that Herod the Great died.

Fortunately, from what I've read, once he died, they decided not to obey him anymore, which was great for those hundred men for sure.

But I mean, that's how paranoid this guy was.

The kingdom of this world, as you compare the two kingdoms, you see that the kingdom of this world is overcome by darkness, violence, poverty, oppression, injustice, evil, cruel loss, crushing grief.

If Herod is your king, you see, you do horrible, vile things like they did in Bethlehem with all those children, the murder of the innocents.

You live like if Herod's your king, you live like he does, you're constantly paranoid, you're constantly fearful, you're constantly trying really hard to cover the bases.

Is that any way to live?

Choose your king carefully, because you will live in that king's kingdom.

Two kingdoms.

The kingdom of heaven, on the other hand, rescued by the light of the world, Jesus, who has dispelled the darkness, now offers eternal life to all who repent and believe in him, the redeemed of God live their lives on a pilgrimage of joyful worship.

I love this.

Magi come all that distance eager to worship.

You know what you're really longing for, whether you know it or not, what we're all really longing for is to actually worship God.

That's why we take time with these creeds.

Because these creeds help us ask those basic questions again.

What's the chief end of mankind?

Oh, to worship God, to enjoy Him forever.

It's really good for us to push, reset, and get back to that again every now and then.

Because we forget that.

We're so busy out here building our own little kingdom, building our own brand, building our own name, building our own following.

And then that becomes our decisive validator, and it just turns in on it.

It's like Herod's king.

We're just constantly nervous, constantly unsatisfied, chronically angrier at others, and oftentimes cruel toward others.

But with Jesus as our king, we're rescued by the light of the world.

And we have now, um uh in as you contrast it, in this world, you're dominated by the privileged and powerful, regulated by the self-serving, ruined by the increasingly competitive struggle for position and power.

So dominated, regulated, and ruined.

Wow.

That's what happens if Herod, if you go that approach, if you go by some king of this world.

Those are the kinds of things in smaller or greater degrees, whatever, that will happen.

But with Jesus as your king in the kingdom of heaven, you're ruled by a servant king, one who came to lay down his life, one who came to serve, not to be served.

Those are his own words.

And so you're ruled by a servant king.

Who wouldn't want that?

You're part of a diversity of people from every nation's social, educational, economic background.

I mean, these magi are not Jews.

So from the get-go, just out of the cradle, as a toddler, Jesus begins a transformation of the entire world, right?

And um yes, he came into uh Israel and to the chosen people first.

But man, this gospel of his is for the entire world.

It's the most inclusive religion on the face of the planet.

Kingdom of heaven invigorated as a formerly uh wrecked and ruined, now redeemed people of God who eagerly gather to worship and follow their servant uh King Jesus.

All right, so um let me just a couple of other little things that you've probably heard.

These make plaques, but they're actually still really true.

Wise men and shepherds still seek him.

These guys, these uh magi, they're wealthy, they're probably well educated because of what they can do.

Look up in the stars, track the motion of the stars, and and think through these scrolls that they might have read and all that sort of thing.

And and then they must be wealthy to be able to travel like they did.

And that's dangerous.

That's you know, a long way to go in that world, in that day and time.

When some of us, you know, we think in our own day and time to even walk outside at night could be dangerous, you know.

And so these guys are traveling all that distance to worship him.

The shepherds we read about in uh Luke's gospel.

And what's interesting is to compare and contrast those two groups, too, right?

They both receive revelation from God, and their response is actually the same.

Let's go! Let's check it out, let's worship him.

And I love that.

So, wise men, and if you just measure their lives on a worldly scale, these guys were at the top, you know.

Social status, wealth, all education, all that stuff.

Shepherds, they're likely the more blue-collar, more less educated, less wealthy.

In some ways, that that's one of those professions or vocations in that day and time that would have been looked down on.

And yet both come to seek him and to worship him.

So, whatever way you come to Jesus, you always leave another way.

You always leave changed.

Good news.

You get to choose your king.

Reality check.

Whoever your king is, you're gonna live in that king's kingdom.

Really important for us to know.

Napoleon Bonaparte is supposed to have said this.

Alexander Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires, but upon what did we rest the creations of our genius?

Upon force.

Jesus Christ alone founded his empire upon love, and at this hour, millions of men would die for him.

That's pretty sharp contrast.

Um, Fleming Rutledge, in her own day and time, is a theologian and author.

She has a book called Means of Grace, which is a collection of some of her old sermons.

Only a faith forged out of suffering can say with conviction that the angels and monsters will not coexist forever.

In other words, one of them is gonna go away, that the agonies of the victims will someday be rectified, and that the unconditional love of God in Jesus Christ will be the last word.

Somebody say amen.

Yeah.

I mean, you don't have to go all Pentecostal on that amen, but I want at least, I want at least a Methodist or a you know, Nazarene, amen, on that one.

That's just so brilliant.

Because what that's acknowledging is the reality of the brokenness of the world, where that kind of wickedness that Herod committed with the murder of the innocents happens.

And we don't sweep it under the rug.

We weep.

We weep over the injustices in our world, but we rejoice because we know where all of this will end up.

M.

Robert Mulholland has uh been emeritus professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary, author of several books.

He said, it should be obvious by now that putting on a new nature is far more radical than attitude adjustments and behavior modifications.

Remember when we used to do attitude adjustment?

Some of you are old enough to remember this.

And in youth group, that was your cue to yell, praise the Lord, you know, or something, right?

Um it should be obvious by now that putting on the new nature is far more radical than attitude adjustments and behavior modifications.

The life hidden with Christ in God is one of such growing union with God and love that God's presence becomes the context of our daily life.

God's purposes become the matrix of our activities, and the values of God's kingdom shape our life and relationships.

God's living presence becomes the ground of our identity, the source of our meaning, the seat of our value, and the center of our purpose.

All this will be up online.

That's a long quote, but it's a really rich uh quote, and I really appreciate what he's saying there.

So many people are striving.

Just look up there at that last slide.

So many people are striving for the ground of their identity, the source of their meaning, the seat of their value, and the center of their purpose in life.

Is that you?

Is that somebody you know?

And here's here's the king, Jesus, the servant king, inviting you to come and enter his kingdom.

Who's ready right now to trust Jesus as your king?

Who's ready right now to believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead and that he is indeed the Son of God?

The only one really qualified to save, the only one who could save us.

I hope that's you.

Um, in a minute, we're gonna sing, though the nations rage, kingdoms rise and fall, there is still one king reigning over all.

So I will not fear, for this truth remains that my God is the ancient of days, none above him, none before him, all of time in his hands.

For his throne it shall remain and ever stand.

All the power, all the glory.

I will trust in his name, for my God is the ancient of days.

You have a choice today.

I have a choice every single day when I awake.

You have the same choice.

Who will be your king this day?

Um, Pastor Charlie Dates, I think he's up in the Chicagoland area.

This is just a brilliant quote.

I'll close with this and we'll close in prayer.

But he says, you do not come to see who you really are until you come to see who Jesus really is, this servant king.

Okay.

Anyone who will not see Jesus as he truly is will always make more of themselves than they truly are.

Herod was that way.

The religious leaders were that way.

We couldn't even be bothered to go 10 miles to figure out whether or not this was from God or not.

Um eager are you to respond in worship to the one who has come as the servant king to lay down his life for you, to offer you a free gift of salvation by grace, through faith, in Christ alone.

Let's pray.

Lord, we uh are fascinated by all of what we just read there in Matthew chapter 2.

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

Real people on the ground, struggling, many of them, weeping so many of them, brokenhearted so many of them.

Thank you that you draw near to the brokenhearted.

You save those who are crushed in spirit.

And that may describe some of us this morning.

It may describe some of us in a month from now.

We just don't know it.

But we would like to choose you as our king this day, to recognize you, to give you our allegiance, to bow the knee before you, to honor you, to respond to your overtures of unconditional love toward us.

The self-sacrifice.

You took our place on the cross.

We bow our knees with gratitude, open the empty hands of faith, and receive from you what we cannot earn ourselves.

Receive from you life in his name.

We pray.

Amen and amen.