A Troubled King And A Troubled City

Introduction

Read Matthew 2:1-3

I grew up in a home where I was lovingly chastened when I did something wrong. Sometimes my mom would address it, but sometimes when I made really bad choices, she would tell me to wait until dad got home. Now when my Dad’s car pulled in the driveway as he came home from work, a feeling of dread would creep over my heart. I was troubled, you could say. I knew that the time of reckoning had come and I was about to get my reward for my behavior.

In our passage of Scripture, we read about a troubled king and a troubled city. They experienced some of those same feelings of fear and dread. Herod was troubled when He heard that another King had been born. Jerusalem - the centre of the Jewish world - was troubled also.

We think of Christmas as a time of celebration and a time of rejoicing! And it seems that the wise men thought it would be a time of great rejoicing for Jerusalem as well. A King had been born! Why wouldn’t the Jews be excited? Instead, what they found was a king and a city that was not looking for a Messiah and was not ready for His coming.

Troubled - means to be filled with fear or dread. Used elsewhere in the New Testament:

When Jesus walked on the water:

Matthew 14:26 - And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

Mark 6:50 - For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

When an angel appeared to Zachariah and announced that he and Elizabeth would have a son:

Luke 1:12 - And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

This morning we are going to see several ways that the words of the wise men troubled Herod and the city of Jerusalem:

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Herod was troubled because of what he heard

Herod didn’t have much of an appetite after he heard the message of the wise men. He didn’t have much rest. He only had fear in his heart because of what he heard.

As a junior camper going to Bible camp, I remember sometimes dreading the evening rally. It was scary! The rally was the evening service where the evangelist got up and preached - and he really preached at night time. I can still imagine walking into that building before the service and thinking to myself, “oh boy, here we go again.”

Someone would be playing the piano and I’d sit down and wait for that preacher to have at it. I didn’t like that feeling of conviction. I especially didn’t look forward to the invitation - that was the worst part of all! I couldn’t wait for it to be over. Why? Because I was hearing the truth and my sin was being exposed. I was troubled because of what I heard.

Does that fear of God’s Word describe you this morning? Are you ever troubled by what you hear when God’s Word is opened?

Perhaps you feel like Herod and you are troubled by the truth of the Word of God. Instead of embracing it, you resist it. I can tell you from personal experience: that is a miserable way to live!

John 10:10 - I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

One thing is certain: you are not living the abundant life if you are miserable every time you hear preaching. In Psalm 100, we are told to “serve the Lord with gladness: Come before his presence with singing.”

It begs the question: Why does the Word of God trouble you? Why do you dread His presence instead of sing in His presence?

We find a pattern in Scripture that the only people who dread hearing the Word of God are those who are not willing to obey it. Those that are ready to obey are happy to hear it.

Acts 2:41 KJV 1900

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

That is true whether you are saved or whether you are unsaved. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you are not willing to obey the Word of God, you will be miserable every time you are exposed to it.

Application: Christian, is the Word of God unpleasant to you? Is the Bread of Life bitter every time you taste it? The problem is not with the Bible. The problem is with your heart. There is something that you are not willing to make right with God. There is something that you need to correct. There is an unwillingness to say, “yes” to the Spirit of God. The Bible does not need to be changed. It doesn’t need to be updated or modernized. Your heart needs the change. You must choose to embrace the Scriptures. You can walk out of here with peace by deciding that you will simply obey the Scriptures as best as you know how. The Word of God becomes much sweeter, yea, even precious to you, when you are willing to obey it.

Don’t be like Herod who was troubled when he heard the good news of the Savior’s birth.

Herod was troubled because of what he heard and secondly...

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Herod was troubled because he saw the Messiah as a threat

If you’ve ever worked around people who are desperate for the next rung on the corporate ladder, who are desperate for the next promotion, then you can imagine what Herod may have felt like. Jealousy. Distrust. Anger. Herod wasn’t going to give up his throne without a fight!

Notice what Herod demands to know in verse four. He wanted to know where Christ - the Messiah - would be born! Herod understood, this may be more than just the birth of a king, this could be the birth of the promised redeemer of Israel. This was a threat to Herod’s reign! The only person that Herod cared about was Herod.

Demanded: imperfect tense - to keep asking

The imperfect tense indicates that verse four occured during a period of time, maybe even over the course of a few days. Herod gathered the religious authorities together because he had a question and he needed answers. He did not ask simply about the birth of royalty, he wanted to know about Christ and what the prophets foretold of His coming.

Herod felt that Christ was a threat to his lavish lifestyle, to his power, and to his money. The throne was Herod’s and he intended to keep it!

We look at Herod and we are amazed at how hard his heart was. We look at him and wag our heads and say, “I can’t believe it. How could Herod hear about the birth of Jesus and feel threatened by this young child?”

Application: We marvel at Herod, but we miss the hardness of our own hearts. How sad it is that some Christians are so attached to their life, to their goals, to their American dream, that they are too busy to care about the things of the Lord. They feel threatened every time the Holy Spirit pricks their heart and says, “I want you to serve Me.” How sad it is when Christian parents feel threatened when the Holy Spirit says, “I want you to surrender your son or your daughter to serve Me.” How sad it is when teenagers feel that their future is in jeopardy if they surrender to the will of God!

We condemn Herod for his attitude but we sometimes show the same thing towards the work of God in our hearts! God’s will is never a threat to the surrendered Christian.

Don’t let your goals get in the way of God’s plan. Don’t let your desires get in the way of God’s desires for you. If the Holy Spirit touches your heart during a message or during your quiet time alone with the Lord and says, “Son, daughter, this needs to change in your life. It is for your good.” As you continually surrender to the Spirit of God, you’ll slowly discover that His desires and His plans for your life are far better than yours. God’s plan for you is not a threat to you; it is for your good.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

If only Herod had been submitted to God’s plan for the Messiah. His life could have brought much glory to the Lord.

Herod was troubled because of what he heard and because he saw the Messiah as a threat to his reign, and thirdly...

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Jerusalem was troubled because the Messiah was a threat to the Establishment

We hear a lot about “the establishment” in America today. That’s a term we probably all know by now. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the Establishment is “a group of social, economic, and political leaders who form a ruling class.”

That was Jerusalem. Jerusalem had its religious and political leaders that were jointly interested in keeping the status quo. Sound familiar? They didn’t want anything to change. As long as Jews from all over the Roman Empire would annually come to Jerusalem and make their sacrifices to God at the Temple, the sale of sheep, oxen, and turtle doves would continue booming, and money would flow into the coffers of the Elite.

John 2:13–16 - And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

Countless numbers of animals were slaughtered every year at the Temple, but especially at the annual celebration of the Passover. It was a good business for the merchants that sold the animals and for the ruling class that taxed the merchants.

The coming of the Messiah was a threat to this whole operation.

They were inconvenienced by His coming.

They didn’t have time for the Messiah.

They didn’t want anyone to shake the applecart by provoking Rome. If the Messiah came and a legitimate heir to the throne of David was born, that would not sit well with Herod but especially with the imperial government in Rome. The status quo in Jerusalem would be threatened that ensured their continued power and profits was threatened.

They weren’t ready. Of all people, shouldn’t the Jews have been anticipating the birth of the Messiah? Yet here came wise men from the east seeking for Him! The Jews, who had quick access to the Old Testament prophets, were blinded by their lust for wealth and status.

We look at Jerusalem and we consider those Pharisees and the Sadducees. They completely missed it! They had the writings of the prophets in their very hands but they weren’t ready to receive the Messiah when He came.

Application: As terrible as that is, something far worse is that there might be someone here who isn’t ready for when Christ returns. There could be someone here with a Bible in their lap who still hasn’t trusted Christ as their Savior. You’ve heard the true story of how Christ came to earth as a baby. You’ve heard that He was born to die. You’ve heard that He died in your place for your sins. You’ve heard that He rose again. But you haven’t placed your faith in what Christ did to save you. During the invitation in a few minutes, you’re invited to come and let someone show you from the Bible how you can be saved.

Christian, we believe that Christ could rapture us out of this world at any moment. The problem is that even some Christians won’t be ready. Just like the Jews weren’t ready to receive their Messiah the first time, there will be some Christians who won’t be ready at the Rapture. They will wish that they had served the Lord. They will experience regret because they didn’t have time for Him. Don’t be that Christian. Today, maybe you need to renew your focus on the eternal. Maybe you need a spiritual wake-up call because you are not spending any time with the Lord. That can change today. Confess it before the Lord. Agree that it was wrong. Restore fellowship and get up and walk with Him.

Conclusion

On those days that my dad’s car pulled in the driveway and I had done wrong, I was troubled. But when I had been obedient and had done right, I was excited. I looked forward to his coming home. As you leave this service, make sure that you are not troubled if He comes today.

Invitation