Pride and Humility

Isn't that awesome?

I want to say thank you, Church at the Grove, for giving, making things like that possible, and that we could make an impact in our community.

So thank all of you.

I think thank you as a church.

And just whether you give on a regular basis, we're so grateful.

We're so grateful.

Well, Merry Christmas.

Man, can you believe it?

That's just crazy how how fast this season comes.

I've got a couple famous, I've got a couple, you know, favorite Christmas movies.

And some of the best movies and stories in general are the ones that have beloved protagonist and really terrible antagonist.

And so let's look at Christmas movies that have some of these protagonists and antagonists.

Home Alone, and you can help me out if you know this.

Kevin versus Harry and Marv.

Yeah, Wonderful Life, George Bailey versus Mr.

Potter.

That is the best movie in the world.

Where have you been?

That is my favorite.

A Christmas story, Ralphie Parker versus Scott Farkas.

The Grinch, Cindy Louhu versus The Grinch, yes.

Come on, let's get the Christmas spirit, right?

A Christmas Carol, Bob Cratchit versus Ebenezer, Scrooge, and Diehard.

John McClane versus Hans Gruber.

That's pretty bad, isn't it?

So the listen, protagonists are love, antagonists are hated throughout the movie.

But what all the antagonists have in common, whether they're animated or whether they are actual persons, they portray the same thing.

There's a spirit of power, pride, greed, hatred, and jealousy.

And ultimately, all we hold special at Christmas, all we hold special in Jesus goes against those things.

We love these stories because there's great conflict, but more than that, it reflects the story of civilization.

And so to some level, we can connect and relate all these stories and the conflict that take place.

We can relate to these opposing forces at work.

Charles Dickens, who also wrote the Christmas, who wrote the Christmas Carol, he also wrote The Tale of Two Cities.

And the opening of the book, if anybody's had English lit, you know this quote, or you're familiar with it.

What does he say?

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.

It was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

We had everything before us, we had nothing before us.

We were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.

And so, in one sentence, Charles Dickens sums up really our present reality in the history of civilization.

There is good and there is bad.

Let me say it this way: there's good and there's evil, there's light and there's darkness.

There's good times and there's bad times in life.

This is our true life experience.

There's a job promotion, and then there's being away from your family.

There's financial blessings, but maybe deteriorating health.

And so the Bible describes the story of God and gives us a picture into ancient history.

And he does a beautiful job describing this all of these dynamics we're talking about.

And so within the pages of Scripture, we read at the very beginning there are opposing forces that are at work.

There's this beautiful life that God has created, and there's a great enemy.

And it's not fake, it's not a movie, it's not a story.

And this enemy wants to bring death.

And so this morning we're beginning this two-week series called The Tale of Two Kingdoms.

And our goal and prayer is that the Lord would wake us up.

Listen to this: that the Lord would wake us up to the reality of these two kingdoms.

And that the Lord would be, and he would work in our heart, and we would choose to press into the kingdom of God, and that we would push back against the kingdom of darkness.

And so if you were living during the historical period of Jesus or mostly specifically around his birth, 40 BC to 4 BC, you would have known one of these kingdoms quite clearly.

It was evident by the behavior, by the buildings, by the power, and by the wealth.

It was also a kingdom known for being dominant, for being controlling, and for being evil.

The other kingdom, opposing darkness, was really an obscure, possibly not even quite known yet, except for maybe a small number of people.

And you've got to realize during this time, the Jewish religion had not had a prophet, they had not had a revelation from God for 400 years.

Imagine the darkness.

And it seemed as if this kingdom, the kingdom of God, was quiet, maybe gone altogether, except for a few religious leaders going through the sacrificial system.

In the quiet darkness of this time, right into obscurity, a kingdom was stirring in the most unsuspecting places.

From our perspective, we see it.

We look back.

You know that God's will is clear clearly seen through the rear view mirror.

Pretty much all the time.

We look back and we're like, oh, oh, yeah, I can see it.

But imagine being in this historical moment.

Two kingdoms at odds, maybe going largely unnoticed.

Here it makes me wonder, what are we missing out on right now?

I sit here in this room as we sing these songs.

And I think, is this how we would be if we were standing before Jesus and the throne and the heaven and the before God Himself?

And we sit here sleepily going on with religious activity.

Singing songs about the King of Kings with our arms crossed.

That's not in my notes.

But we we we there are kings at war all around us, but we sleepfully go about our business day in and day out, potentially missing out on God's plan for us in this day and this time in history.

God is up to something.

God is doing something, and I don't want to miss out on it.

It might be a bit obscure, but I want to be right in the middle of it.

I don't want us to miss out on what God has for us, and especially your role in it.

So here's the scripture, Matthew 2, 1.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the reign of, let's say it together.

King Herod.

That's the text.

Luke 1.5 says, when, let's say it together, Herod was king of Judea.

Let's just stop there.

So today, like every day, it's about Jesus.

But before we get to Jesus, let's look at this character that is the complete opposite in character from Jesus, and it's building another kingdom during this time in history, 40 BC to 4 BC.

He's building a kingdom that is completely opposite to the king that Jesus is going to build.

Herod the Great ruled over Judea for 33 years, and he produced during that time and even to this day, a legacy of massive building projects that would transform the landscape of the ancient land of Israel.

In addition to his most renowned achievement, it was the expansion and the reconstruction of the temple in Jerusalem.

This is a sketch I hope we have that we're able to show you.

Now, listen, nobody knows exactly because they didn't have photography, but historians pretty much know what the what the Temple Mount looked like when Jesus was alive.

Herod turned the temple into this.

Now the the basic footprint is still there.

It's there.

As a matter of fact, there's a there's the a mosque called Al-Aqsa Mosque, and there's the Dome of the Rock over there.

It's probably the most tense religious place in the world.

And so Herod turned the small temple, which is the higher, taller building, and the wall around that, he turned it into a massive, massive complex.

He also conceived and realized elaborate palaces and fortresses and public buildings and pagan temples and even entire cities.

King Herod's rise to power was tightly intertwined with the rise of the Roman Empire, whose culture he admired greatly.

And here's what we see all through history: dark kingdoms tend to align themselves together.

Herod was a massive builder whose architectural designs and buildings included the Temple Mount, but it also included his massive winter palace in Jericho.

And there's just this that's a that's a look down at the ruins.

That's the ruins from today.

This next picture I took this past June.

And it's it's you see the little round thing kind of in the uh upper right middle.

Uh that that was a bathhouse.

That was a bathhouse.

And so, is there another picture?

There's not, it's not there.

Um, all right, we'll we'll move on, forget the one I took.

Um uh so Caesarea Maritima, where he built a port, a port that was ahead of its time, a sports complex, a palace on the Mediterranean Sea.

This is a pool.

This is the swimming pool.

Now you could go online and you could look at what what what what architects or designers have kind of built, what they what they imagined that he built over this, but a palace would have been over this.

And as it juts out over the sea, it's it's it's it's it's incredible.

The whole area there in uh Caesarea is just incredible.

He also built his unique and opulent palace upon the huge Masada structure in the Judean desert along the Dead Sea.

And so that's uh that's the aqueduct.

He built this aqueduct that is massive.

Look at the people standing.

That aqueduct brought water to Caesarea from desert places, uh the the wadis in the desert.

This is the ancient Mosada.

You're able to to to travel, you're able to go up, you can hike up, or you can ride a trans, a car, um and and and see this ancient structure he built.

He built to be a place where he could find refuge in case there was an attack.

This this huge complex became famous, is famous today.

It is hugely significant in the life of Jewish people because in the during the Jewish revolt of 70 AD, um a thousand Jewish people took refuge after they revolted against the Roman Empire.

The Romans drove them out into the desert.

They took refuge on top of Masada.

The Romans built a ramp.

The ramp is still there.

All the encampments, you can, as you sit stand on Masada from 2,000 years ago, you can see the encampments outlined where they had built walls and camped.

Probably a couple of years, the siege last.

And close to a thousand Jews chose suicide over slavery to the Roman Empire.

And so, but I want to I want to share with you the crown jewel.

I want to roll the video if it's there.

I want to roll the video of this um, the crown jewel that certainly is in Herod's eyes was his own man-made mountain that was built in eyesight.

Eyesight from where Jesus was born, a small distance from Bethlehem.

You see a view here of this large man-made structure from Bethlehem's manger square, just not really far in the distance.

Um, Flavius Josephus, the famous Jewish historian that was alive during that time, he writes about it.

He says, but but while he thus perpetuated, perpetuated the memory of his family and his friends, he did not neglect to leave memorials of himself.

An artificial rounded hill, 60 furlongs from Jerusalem, was given the name Herodium after himself.

But more elaborate embellishment.

The crest he crowned with a ring of round towers.

The enclosure was filled with gorgeous palaces, the magnificent appearance of which was not confined to the interior of the apartments, but the outer walls, battlements, and roofs, all had wealth lavished upon them in profusion.

He had at immense expense an abundant supply of water brought into it from a distance and provided easy ascent by two hundred steps of purest white marble, the mound, though entirely artificial, being of a considerable height.

Around the base he erected other palaces for the accommodation of his furniture and his friends.

Thus, in the amplitude of its resources, this stronghold resembled a town in its restricted area, a simple palace.

Now, if you look there, you'll see those are where on the side is where those marble steps were placed.

Down toward the bottom, you'll see highlighted, you'll see that Herod had built his own theater.

Yes, man caves were around long before the 21st century.

Herod died in BC.

He died in 4 BC.

I'm sorry, he died in 4 BC, and this is obviously during the younger years of Jesus, and a lavish funeral procession that he planned himself in full detail started in Jericho and led to the Herodium where his tomb, and that was his tomb that was highlighted, his tomb remained hidden until 2007.

Discovered by Professor Ehud Netzer on that slope of the Herodium.

The entire complex easily covers 60 plus acres with additional buildings and living quarters on the outside of the man-made mountain.

And you see in this video the vastness of the project.

As modern day life, you saw vehicles, as modern day life and ancient life meet and go on as if it's just a normal part of the landscape.

Notice that large pool that was there.

Enough for small boats to be put in it with an island right in the middle.

Russ, I'm here to hear about Jesus.

I know you are.

Why is it important to know this much about King Herod as we enter this Christmas season?

Because his earthly kingdom stands in stark contrast to the eternal kingdom of a divinely conceived baby during his age and history.

Identifying the historical accuracy and the nature of Jesus' birth at this time, it was important to Matthew and Luke.

And I believe being able to contrast these two kingdoms at odds with one another was important as the Holy Spirit led these disciples to chronicle the events of Jesus' birth.

Here's the big idea for this morning.

I don't want you to miss this morning, I don't want you to miss next week.

The incarnation of Jesus brought God's kingdom to earth in human form.

In 2007, they found Herod's tomb.

And Herod was buried there, and his remains were there.

Look at the opulence of his kingdom, but it was temporary.

The incarnation of Jesus brought God's kingdom to earth in human form.

Herod's kingdom was earthly and temporary.

Jesus' kingdom is eternal.

It's forever.

It's never ending.

Luke writes in chapter 1, in verse 26, he says, In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary.

She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.

It's more history.

Gabriel, angel, appeared to her and said, Greetings, favored woman.

The Lord is with you.

Confused and disturbed.

Now this is after 400 years of silence.

Who does Jesus show who does God show up to?

He doesn't show up to Herod, does he?

He shows up to an obscure teenage girl.

She's confused and disturbed, but Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

Why is she confused and disturbed?

She's pregnant.

Although she's never been with a man.

Don't be afraid, Mary, the angel told her, for you have found favor with God.

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus.

He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David, and he will reign over Israel.

Say it with me.

Forever.

His kingdom will never end.

His kingdom will never end.

Who said amen?

Now, as you read that last verse, you read a pronouncement from an angel that declares that Jesus would be great and that his kingdom will never end.

Imagine Mary as she sits.

As she sits and she receives this divine declaration, this miracle child would sit on the throne of David and reign forever.

He would be the long-awaited Messiah.

The Jewish people had awaited for, that they had longed for.

What do you think goes through Mary's mind?

We don't know for sure, but can can you imagine there was probably a grand palace, a massive throne, worldly riches, and incredible power?

Possibly.

The example that Mary most likely formulated in her head was one that looked similar to Herod the Great.

After all, this is what power and prestige looked like in that era.

However, the more we look into the life of Jesus, we begin to understand that his life looked nothing like Herod's.

Two contrasting kings.

We learn a lot from the birth of Jesus and the story.

Herod's kingdom was about power, authority, oppression.

Jesus' kingdom is about service and humility.

Just a few miles from this massive Herodium, this massive man-made mountain.

In a village called Bethlehem, the king of all creation is born.

And he's born in the humblest conditions we can imagine.

My friend, mentor, pastor, Andy Cook sent me this picture taken.

This is probably 1800s in Israel.

And so there are caves like that everywhere.

Not uncommon for even human beings to dwell in them.

Maybe temporarily, maybe permanently.

But it would have been probably something like this, where a bit of a wealthy man who owned an inn would have put his livestock to keep them out of the weather or to bring them in at night so they wouldn't be stolen.

And in something like this, Luke 2, verses 1 through 7, it says, In those days the decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

Luke 2:1–7

This was the first registration when Corinius was governor of Syria, and all went to be registered, each to his own town.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David, which is called, is called Bethlehem.

Because he was of the house and the lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the end.

So I think this is a powerful picture to etch in our minds.

Imagining the struggling family in a cave trying to care for this newborn baby without the comforts of modern medicine.

And the overshadowing being in lowly Bethlehem in one of in the shadow of one of Herod's palaces.

Approximately three miles away, stretching above the horizon, we see this massive structure.

While Herod sleeps with all of his luxuries available at this time in history.

A baby is swaddled, enclosed, and laid in a feeding trough, surrounded by animals and the smell of manure.

But I think this might be perfect.

It's the unique way for Jesus to reveal himself, for God to come.

He comes lowly.

How is it that the King of Kings takes a radically different approach to life even as we see his birth unfold?

This is the new kingdom.

It's new, it's different.

It goes against the grain.

Jesus is establishing a kingdom in his birth.

The God child has come.

God has come to earth in the form of a human baby.

The kingdom of the world has the kingdom of the world has been reigned over by leaders and this current leader, Herod.

And in the midst of all this, Jesus comes humbly to usher in a new kingdom.

Jesus lived his life as a model for us and how he loved, how he served, and how he sacrificed.

Remember the conversation?

Remember the play for power by James and John, the sons of thunder?

They wanted power and authority.

Jesus, who's going to be sitting on your right hand?

Who's going to be sitting on your left hand?

And Jesus has to remind them that his kingdom is not of this world.

It's not about power and titles and authority.

It's an upside-down kingdom, radically different from the world in which we live.

Matthew writes in Matthew 18, about the time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.

Then he said, I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

Now, all the children are going to be at 9.45, okay?

So as you go out, I want you to watch the children come in.

And the life, the excitement, I mean, the twinkle in their eye.

I mean, it's just, and here, and here we are.

A bunch of old fogies at the age 15.

I'm not looking at anybody.

Look at over here.

No old fogies over here.

So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And the Apostle Paul talks about the display of humility through his life and his death.

Philippians 2, 3 through 8.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count a quality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself.

Emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death and even death on a cross.

Jesus would surrender his life and suffer in his earthly existence to provide for our eternal life.

He resigned to give his life because he knew that there was a kingdom that was not of this world, and it was his kingdom.

He had a conversation with Pilate.

Matthew and John, John chapter 18.

John 18 · chapter mention

Then Pilate went back to his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him.

This is at the end, right before he sent to be crucified.

He says, Are you the king of the Jews?

And he asked him, and Jesus replied, Is this your question?

Or did others tell you about me?

Am I a Jew?

Pilate retorted.

Why?

Why?

What have you done?

Jesus answered, Listen, he says, My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.

If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders, but my kingdom is not of this world.

Jesus' kingdom offers something that is so in contrast to the kingdom of Herod or any other kingdom, any kingdom, any darkness.

Jesus brings us.

What does he bring us?

He brings us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, long suffering.

He brings us the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of God's kingdom.

So what does this mean for us?

Here we are in 2022.

We've kind of we've come through the pandemic.

We've come through a difficult time.

What does this mean for us?

How do we apply what we're what we've just read, what we're learning?

How do we walk or journey into this Christmas season?

Jesus invites us to be a part of his new kingdom.

And how do we become a part of his kingdom?

We do what Jesus says.

He says in Mark chapter 1, he says, He said, the kingdom has come.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

It's here.

Repent and believe.

So it's admitting that you need Jesus, believing that he lived and he died and he rose again.

And that he lives eternally forever.

And in John chapter 14, he says, he says, I'm going.

John 14 · chapter mention

I am going to prepare a place for you.

A place for you.

The disciples anyway, where are you going?

I'm going to prepare a place for you.

And he says shortly, he said, I'm the way, and I'm the truth, and I'm the life.

Secondly, if we responded to the gospel message, to follow Christ with our lives, Jesus now calls us to be his ambassadors and establish his kingdom here on earth.

Jesus has already done the heavy lifting.

He surrendered.

He suffered.

He suffered.

He was beat to within an inch of his life.

And they only kept him alive because they wanted to crucify him.

And he died for us.

And then he was bodily resurrected.

He did the heavy lifting.

And he has set the example for us.

And then he's given us the power of the Holy Spirit.

And this is why.

This is why he says you pray this way.

Your kingdom coming, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And C.S.

Lewis, C.S.

Lewis, I think he got a taste of this.

He had some insight to this.

C.S.

Lewis says, he says, if, quote, if we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.

So how can we celebrate Jesus' birth more like his kingdom in contrast to Herod's kingdom?

Sometimes this season seems to reflect Herod's kingdom more than Jesus' kingdom.

How can we change that?

What can you do to facilitate God's kingdom being established here on earth and push back the kingdom of darkness?

Because Paul says we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against the mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in heavenly places.

But I've I've stopped talking about sports.

I think sports are great, it's a great atmosphere to build character and discipline and all those things for people.

And y'all, there's no, and y'all know where my allegiance lies as far as I mean, I you know, I grew up here in Atlanta.

But I'm gonna tell you something that makes me sick to my stomach.

Is when I watch people express themselves like utter fools over a piece of leather being thrown around a field.

And then we come in here and act so stoic when King David says, I will worship God and undignify myself before the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.

Now you go back and celebrate.

I'm not against.

So don't don't don't get me wrong.

I'm I put a damper, didn't I, on things.

I'm not doing that, but I was like, you know what?

Let's just appropriately celebrate the King of Kings.

Why don't we do that?

The King of Kings has won the victory over the kingdom of darkness.

Herod's tomb is found, and his remains are there.

There is yet to be a tomb found with any remains of Jesus.

The tomb was empty, and it is empty.

And so he should be worshipped appropriately.

His kingdom is forever and forever.

You will be reunited with your loved ones who believe in Jesus.

There is hope for my friends that are in the hospital right now.

There is hope for people that are dealing with struggles right now.

And Jesus offers that hope.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you.

We thank you for being the king of kings.

This season is about you coming as a humble child.

And it says that we are to come to you as the same in the same way as little children, wide-eyed, bright-eyed.

God, realizing that you have won victory through your life and your death and your resurrection.

Herod holds nothing against you, Jesus.

No other king, no other president, no other power, no other kingdom.

They will all fall.

And Father, may we, may we bow our hearts.

May we celebrate.

Lord, I pray for that person here.

They're gonna be here.

They might be here at this 8:15 service, but they might end up being here at 9:45 or 11:15, and they need to repent and believe.

They need to simply admit they need Jesus.

And if that's you this morning, just come to come and say yes to Jesus.

Yes.

Yes, I will follow you.

I'll give my life to you because you gave your life for me.

God, we love you.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.