2 Kings and a Carpenter

Mom was Right

It’s Christmas, a magical time of year.

The decorations, the parties, the food, and the presents.

The angels came and declared “Peace on Earth”

Why, then, is this the time of year that strikes terror in the hearts of husbands around the world?

One question will turn the strongest knees to jell-o.

When your wife asks, “What did you get me for Christmas?”

Is there a scarier, harder question that is as important to answer and answer right?

Sara and I agreed early on in our marriage not to exchange Christmas presents. Right! Don’t fall for that one guys.

It makes sense. We were poor seminary students, then we had kids. “Let’s spend our money on the kids.”

Let it be known, 34 years of marriage, I have never shown up empty handed.

Though some years I probably should have, it would have gone better.

Early on I was just dumb.

Appliances are generally a bad idea for a gift for your wife.

My heart was in the right place, it was practical the year I gave her a new, fancy cordless phone.

She spent so much time on our old one. I thought this would be great that she was not tethered to the wall while she talked forever to all her friends and family.

Here’s where I learned that my mom was really right.

You know what your mom said, “It’s more blessed to give than receive.”

It will make you happier. Sermon on the mount. State of contentment.

When you’re a kid, or just immature, you’re like, whatever! What am i getting for Xmas?

At some point, maturity happens, and the reality sinks in that mom was right.

When i get it right, which is not very often, and Sara loves what I got her, it means more to me than anything I could receive.

It’s not natural. That’s why it requires some maturity to get beyond the selfishness to get you to a point where there is a real sense of fulfillment at Christmas.

How many Christmases have you left empty b/c you didn’t get exactly what you wanted.

Or, maybe you got exactly what you wanted but as soon as you started using you realized the marketing people had fooled you and it really would do what they said it would do.

When your perspective is to give the right gift you’ll never leave empty no matter what you get.

B/C, it really is more fulfilling to give than to receive.

This morning, we’re looking at the stories of 2 kings and a carpenter. Herod the Great, Jesus, and Joseph where mom got her truth.

First, we’re going to look at a lesser recognized, but major player in the Christmas story. He’s never depicted in a manger scene. But, he plays an important role with those who do.

King Herod the Great

Herod started out as a military leader. He was known for his successful campaigns on behalf of Rome.

As a reward, he would receive promotions; first military then political and governmental.

Eventually, he left the military and was given charge of a small region, like being a mayor or commission chmn.

That went so well he was promoted to being in charge of a larger region. After several promotions, he was finally put in charge of a large region that included Judah and Jerusalem.

He was super impressive. A rising star.

He was also an architect. Some of the buildings he built are still some of the most impressive among the ruins.

Early on he earned the title “Great”. He didn’t choose this for himself. It was given to him b/c he deserved it.

Then, when he given charge of Judah, Rome also gave him the title of King. King of Judah. King of the Jews.

So, then it was King Herod the Great.

Fast forward a little bit when the Magi show up they say they are looking for the king of the Jews born in Bethlehem.

Competition? Conflict that will need t/b dealt w/.

I’ll get to that.

All Rome wanted from regions like this was peace and taxes.

And Herod was a master at these 2 things.

He was a master b/c he was ruthless.

If anybody stirred up trouble, it was a capital offense. In fact, he’d execute a few extras.

Just like a surgeon removing a cancer, he will take a little extra to get a clean margin.

Take some healthy tissue just to make sure he got all the cancer.

You didn’t want to be close to Herod.

If you worked your way up the ranks and became one of his close advisors and he suspected you at all of insubordination he’d quickly have you killed.

Military, political, even family. He didn’t care if you were a family member. If He had any hint that you were plotting something, he’d have you killed.

It was an art form. He was dangerous.

He had 10 wives and 14 children.

He had 2 of his wives killed and 3 of his own sons. All b/c he suspected them of plotting something against him.

All of his marriages were political arrangements. He didn’t marry for love. He married so that he could expand his territory command more for himself.

One wife he did fall in love w/. Merriamne. Her father was part of the ruling family in Judah. He married her so that her family would still be considered royalty and less likely to undermine his authority in the region.

He loved her but didn’t like her family. There’s a news flash. The in-laws don’t get along.

They were a ruling family so he didn’t trust their loyalty. He feared competition, conflict, a coup.

So, he had her brother killed.

That upset Merriamne. But, he was able to calm her down temporarily.

Her father got upset and got a little uppity. So, he had him killed. That upset her mother. You guessed it, he had her killed. Then, Merriamne is beside herself and he’s had enough. Even though he loved her he had her killed.

Herod was completely self-absorbed, self-centered. And, insecure enough that any hint of insubordination would be addressed w/ an execution.

This is who the Magi showed up to visit to announce they had come from Persia (Iran) to worship the King of the Jews.

Herod was in no mood for this.

They saw a star in the sky, well, everybody knew there were millions of stars. So, they saw a star.

Herod was 70 years old and terminally ill w/ a serious disease that effected him physically and mentally.

Herod had contracted Fournier’s Disease. Or, Fournier’s Gangrene. It was a particularly nasty form of a STD.

If you get the name and what it’s about you can connect the dots if you want to.

You get what was going on w/ Him.

He was in no mood. He would have been in a particularly nasty mood and the disease would push the boundaries of his sanity; that is if he had any.

2 things he did that demonstrated this beyond the Christmas story.

There was 1 failed suicide attempt.

And, later, when he knew he was close to death, in order to ensure mourning throughout the region after he died, he had all the beloved and influential men rounded up and held in an arena until his death.

His orders were to kill every one of them. Just to make sure everyone was sad when he died.

After he died they defied the order and let the men go.

Completely self-absorbed. All about him. Little or no concern for anybody else. His life was dedicated to what he could do for himself.

How much wealth, territory, authority, and influence he could take for himself.

This is who the Magi showed up to visit to announce they had come from Persia (Iran) to worship the King of the Jews.

A competitor, conflict, a coup.

Herod was in no mood for this.

They saw a star in the sky, well, everybody knew there were millions of stars. So, they saw a star. Whatever.

This is the context.

You know the story. I’m going to read a few select verses from .

Matthew 2:1–3 NIV

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

Matthew 2:1–5 NIV

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

When Herod was disturbed, everyone was disturbed. He called his officials together, including some Jews who told him there was a prophecy a special child would be born in Bethlehem.

Matthew 2:7–8 NIV

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

Matthew 2:

Bad things happen in secret and Herod was filled w/ bad intentions.

Matthew 2:12 NIV

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Matthew 2:

Never underestimate what the HS is doing in someone else’s life. They didn’t know, but God knew and redirected them to give Joseph time to get his family out of town.

Matthew 2:13 NIV

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.”

Again, God at work accomplishing his plan. The people didn’t need to try to figure out what to do. They just needed to follow God’s directions.

Matthew 2:16–17 NIV

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. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

Ruthless, mind and body riddled w/ disease, completely self-centered, ordered the murder of every boy toddler in the region.

Really makes you want to add a figurine to your nativity when you get home, doesn’t it!

Absorbed w/ his own self-interest. The STD is one small product of his selfishness. It was a nasty disease that killed him.

His physical disease, as bad as it was, was a product of a much worse disease he suffered from.

In fact, this is a disease we all suffer from and Jesus came to deliver us from.

Selfishness, self-centeredness, is an eternally fatal disease that robs us of the life God intends for us.

That leads us to the coming of the 2nd King. He was the first King in history, but the 2nd King of this story.

While King Herod the Great did the unthinkable in a selfish way; King Jesus did the unthinkable in and unselfish way.

King Jesus

2 people, same title: King of the Jews

2 Kings w/ 2 vastly different approaches to life

Philippians 2:3–11 NIV

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:3-11

This is King Jesus. He was in heaven. A place we all hope to get to.

The presence of God. No pain nor suffering. No tears. All joy.

Paradise.

And Jesus left to save you and me.

He could have shown up. Several times in the OT he just strolls up onto the scene.

But, this time, when He came to save us, He came as a baby.

He could have just left, walked away, ascended before the cross.

He wouldn’t have saved us if He did, but we didn’t deserve it anyway. He could have avoided all the pain.

And, he didn’t just die, but He allowed Himself t/b tortured to point he was unrecognizable.

And the brutality w/ which the Romans killed him was legendary.

He gave up heaven for our benefit. This is the ultimate unselfish act. Any one step in the process would be considered unthinkable. But, the entirety of what He did for us is unimaginable.

It’s one thing for Jesus to do this for us. Then, He calls us to the same for Him.

If you want to live, then die.

If you want to be the greatest, then be the least.

If you want to follow, then pick up your cross daily and deny yourself whatever you want.

He calls us to a different way of life and not be self-focused.

This is especially hard in a culture that constantly focuses us on ourselves. We are swimming upstream on this one.

It’s easy to fall into the disease of self-absorption b/c of our culture.

We are more than encouraged to pursue more for ourselves. Get more, take more, do more for yourself.

But, remember, mom was right.

When our culture screams that we will be more fulfilled if we get more, the memories of our moms whispering we’ll be happier if we give more can be drown out.

If you really want to live, die to yourself and give more.

I don’t know what Joseph’s mother told him, but I know what the HS told him.

He believed it. He had faith. That’s the only way he would have done what he did for Mary.

It cost Mary a lot. Joseph, not as much. But, he still had the opportunity to walk away and would have been justified in anybody’s mind to do so.

Before he understood exactly what Jesus did for him, he did the unselfish thing for Mary.

He was the carpenter that was effected by the actions of the 2 kings.

The Carpenter

Real life is never black and white. It’s complex w/ shades of Gray.

Joseph faced a dilemma.

Would he be selfish like King Herod?

Or, would he be unselfish, like the son God was asking him to raise?

Joseph struggled when he got the news of his young betrothed’s pregnancy. It would have taken an act of God for him to marry her and not divorce her.

Or, would he be unselfish, like the son God was asking him to raise?

Fortunately for all of us, that’s exactly what happened.

Matthew 1:

Matthew 1:18–25 NIV

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

His life and reputation was on the line, too.

Sex before the ceremony was still adultery even though they were betrothed. And the penalty for adultery was stoning to death.

But the baby wasn’t his. Then, he’d be seen as foolish. No man in his right mind would follow thru and marry a woman who was carrying another’s child.

So, most would assume the baby was his. They’d believe him to be an immoral, irresponsible, and undisciplined man lacking any self-control.

And the irony. They didn’t consummate their marriage until after Jesus was born. Incredible self-control. But, it was secret.

This is the complexity of real life. Joseph, thinking unselfishly of Mary, planned to divorce her privately, quietly. He didn’t want to make a public spectacle of her which would severely hurt her reputation and endanger her life.

But, the bottom line of this thought is selfish. That he would consider divorcing her at all is b/c he was concerned for himself, first.

What would people think? What would the say? What would this do to his business?

Who would come to him to build their furniture if they believed he lacked the discipline to do it right!

Joseph’s question; What’s the right thing to do?

Last week we looked at Mary’s 2 questions.

Is Jesus worth what it will cost me?

And, Can God do it?

What’s the right thing to do? He thought he was doing right by her. Then, Gabriel showed up.

He took the ridicule. His reputation would be trashed.

But he trusted God, he had faith to do what God led him to do as the right thing.

He was vilified at first. Vindicated later.

And, he faithfully raised Jesus as his own son. He was the first step-dad in the NT.

When your perspective is to do what’s right no matter what it costs you. Make every effort to give the right gift and not be concerned at all about what you might receive, good or bad.

Then, you will be fulfilled and fully embrace the gift God gave you at Christmas.

Realize the fulfillment God intended for you all along.

When your perspective is to give the right gift you’ll never leave empty no matter what you get.

B/C, it really is more fulfilling to give than to receive.

Application

Do something unexpected

Do something unexpected for somebody this season.

Do something that will cost you.

Complement somebody unexpectedly.

Humble yourself and apologize.

Forgive somebody, even if they haven’t asked for it.

Speak only in complementary terms for the month.

Don’t gossip. Don’t tear anybody down w/ your words to their face or behind their back.

Only positive words.

No matter what anybody else in the room may be doing.

Write a note of encouragement.

Write a check of encouragement. (Pink Ribbon).

Do somebody a favor, anonymously.

Shovel their driveway.

Deliver a loaf of bread.

Reset your perspective. Rather than counting on expecting to get something this Christmas, expect and look for opportunities to give something.

If you haven’t found out already, you mom was right.

It is more blessed to give than receive. That is, you’ll be happier, more content in your life.

Jesus is your role model.

You could never give as much for anybody else as he gave for you.

But, if look out for the interests of others, not just your own, you will have a Merry Christmas.

And, don’t ask me what to get your wife. I have no idea.

I’ll let you know how this Christmas goes for me, though.