True King/False King

Thank you all for being here with us on Christmas Eve, it is a joy to be together and to celebrate the birth of our Savior. To celebrate this season of hope and joy.

One of my favorite parts about Christmas is Christmas music, especially Christmas Carols. I just love the good news that is celebrated in these songs, I love the hope that they bring, and the joy that comes from singing those familiar lyrics. One theme I have recognized comes up often in Christmas Carols is Jesus as king. “Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king”. “Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king”. “This, this is Christ, the king”. Notice how early on in these songs they mention that Jesus is king. They invite us to worship and glorify this baby and to recognize Him as our Lord and Savior. They want us to see a major theme throughout the story of Jesus’ birth and an essential aspect of His character, He is king. In fact, when the Wise-men visit Herod what they say to him is “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?”

The people of Israel had been waiting on their king for a long time. Not just any king though. They had dealt with bad kings from the very beginning. Saul was too prideful to admit his mistakes, David was a man after God’s own heart but also a murderer and an adulterer, Solomon allowed greed to rule over him. From there the kings continued to get worse until Israel was eventually lost in exile. After every new king they must have thought “this one will be different, this will be our “Prince of Peace”. But every time they were left in sorrow. The Gospel writer Matthew understands this struggle. He knew that the people were looking for an eternal kingdom, a Savior who would reign forever, and a king who would bring relief to their sorrows. Matthews see’s Jesus as God’s presence with His people, as the beginning of the kingdom of God, and as the one who will bring forgiveness of sins to all the people. That is why he gives us this story of the wise men and Herod. Because when these wise men come to Herod they proclaim they are looking for the “king of the Jews”. Both Herod and the people of Israel would have known what that meant. This meant the promised king that they have been waiting for. Herod the Great knew the significance of this phrase because the Romans had given him the title of “king of the Jews”. From an outside point of view he had given them what they wanted. He was able to bring peace in Israel... by force through suppressing the people. He was also able to bring incredible wealth... to himself, he was able to build incredible fortresses... for himself, and he even rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem. So- as Jesus enters the world we have this contrast of two kings. Jesus and Herod. Jesus reveals to us what we look for in our true king, while Herod shows us the dangers of those in whom we can often put trust in, who we can call “king”. A picture of hope and demise, of salvation and death, of a simple servant and of selfishness.

It reminds us of what Isaiah says in Isaiah 11:1-4 “Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight will be in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, he will not execute justice by what he hears with his ears,”

Isaiah envisions the Messiah as one who can bring what other kings couldn’t. In Jesus and Herod we have one who brings true wisdom and the other human foolishness, one who delights in fear of the Lord and the other than fear of man, one who executes righteous judgment and the other oppression. Jesus was the king that the Israelites were seeking, and Matthew presents us with these characteristics that help to reveal Christ as this true king.

A true king seeks to serve the Lord

Throughout history kings and rulers have always seen themselves as gods and as those given a divine appointment. It was not chance, it was fate. Look no further than Herod the Great. When he heard of this king he didn’t rejoice that the savior had come, he didn’t see this as a sign of blessing. He told the Magi he wanted to know where this king is so he could worship him. But he wasn’t looking to worship anyone, he wasn’t looking to “receive” this good news.

We often give glory to those who don’t look out for us, who do not seek our good, who take and take but but never give back. Or we assume that a company or a celebrity will really care about us if we give to them. We ASSUME others have good intentions. But all they desire is our money and our time so that we can help THEIR interests, not ours.

But Jesus came to do exactly that. He came not to be served but to serve as the Gospels said. When we find Jesus in our story we don’t see him being served by by the masses, not greeted by trumpets, not worshiped. It was not one other than Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the animals. Think about it, the first people to come and express worship to him wasn’t Herod or Caesar, not the wealthy, not the high priests of Israel, it was shepherds. Those considered the lowest of society, to be a shepherd was to be an outcast. They are the ones who were sent to worship Jesus.

God coming down to earth as a baby was the most incredible act of service the world has ever seen. It would be like the president voluntarily becoming a garbage man and giving away all of his authority and wealth. That is essentially what Jesus did. He gave away everything so that he could bring us salvation. Throughout Jesus’ life, what he shows us is a Savior who came to bring hope to those suffering, and to bring peace to those in trials. His life was marked by constant service to and for others.

A true king does not view others as a threat

Herod was known to be incredibly paranoid. He saw everyone as a threat to His throne. Caesar Augustus famously said that he would rather be Herod’s pig than his son. Because Herod feared so much that someone would seek his throne he killed several of his sons, several of his wives, and even his own mother. Then once he gets word of the “king of the Jews” it says that he was “in turmoil”. He is in such turmoil he kills every newborn boy in Bethlehem in order to protect his throne. This does not show how powerful he is, rather it reveals just how threatened and scared and fearful he is that he may lose his power. It is quite sad really, because it reveals that he knows the delicacy of the authority he owns.

But it also said that all the people were fearful! It reminds you of the Israelites in Egypt who would have rather gone back slavery than walk through the desert. Because Christ can often be a threat to our way of life, to what we have gotten comfortable doing. But true power is not threatened or fearful. We can often see others as threats to us. We see pictures of people’s great families and great vacations and it is a threat to our life that we “thought” was happy” that we “thought” we were content with, but then we see this other person and we need to show that our life is better than theirs. We work or we serve with someone else and when that person succeeds or when they get a promotion, rather than be happy with them we find a way to undermine them.

We play a lot of board games at our house, and I have a history of running my mouth whenever I am playing well. And on more than one occasion I have had another person make a move that does nothing to improve their chances of winning but just serves to keep me from winning. It is very infuriating to me, especially because it doesn’t mean anything for winning! It is just for me to lose! But isn’t that how we are? We don’t like to see others win, we feel threatened by others even when it is something as small as a game of Monopoly. Maybe instead of trying to “one up” on another we try and serve others, we seek to help others see the beauty of the Gospel through our actions rather than to make their lives more difficult.

But here we have this king who is not threatened by others but in fact comes down to be with them. Who comes to bear their burdens, even for those who did not recognize him as the one true king. He knows His authority as God is not threatened by man, but He comes in a humble form to prove the authority of His Father.

God from the very beginning could have viewed man as a threat, because we have sought to challenge him at every turn. In the Garden, Adam and Eve sought to be like God. Humans created the tower of Babel so that they could “reach God.” Pharaoh challenged God with his magicians, believing they could perform just as God did. The king of Assyria said to Israel “So will the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?” But God was not threatened by humans, in fact Jesus coming as a baby shows His desire for us to know Him and to be called “sons and daughters of the living God”. Instead of seeking to remove our power He seeks for us to inherit His kingdom WITH Him. He seeks to share HIS power with us, not take it away.

A true king comes bearing the truth.

When the wise men come to Herod he deceives his priests and scribes and he tells them that he wants to worship this child. He deceives in order to get what he wants, to secure his authority. He isn’t seeking the best for his people that he rules, he doesn’t want them to hear the good news of the king who has come. He wants to suppress the truth, he wants to silence this true king.

There are many authorities in this world who deceive and suppress the truth because it doesn’t serve their interests. But the thing about suppressing the truth is that people don’t know what they are missing if they don’t hear it. We don’t know the good news that we haven’t received. But without this good news we are left without hope, we are left searching for answers. This is what it means to live in darkness. To live without the good news of the Gospel. When we have faith in a false king we don’t always know what we are missing. There are many false kings in our world, false kings in religious leaders, in political figures, in jobs, in sports, in wealth.

It is just like what Jesus says of being careful of wolves who come in sheep's clothing. False authorities do what is best for their campaign or do what will help them keep their job. They lie in order to to get people to vote for them. They pretend to show favor and kindness so that others will look favorably on them.

But Christ comes as the light of the world. He brings the Good news of great joy for all people, the True Word, so that we may inherit the kingdom of God. He does not come seeking to deceive and manipulate, He comes so that we may know the truth and have life by it.

Do you know how we know the news Jesus brings is true? Because he doesn’t sugarcoat it. He tells us that we are wretched sinners. And He doesn’t say “follow me and you will have wealth and you won’t suffer and you will always be happy. No, the Bible says “you’re life will be like your Savior who came humbly and who suffered and died.”

But he also tells us the beautiful, good, and true news of the Gospel.

So the decision you have to make today is this. Which king are you going to follow? Are you following the Herod’s of your life? Who cheat and steal, who seek to destroy and to profit off your well-being, who will throw you to the side so that they can protect their own authority? Who seem very good on the outside, who show us bright shiny objects, the pleasures of this life, earthly security. Or the true king? The king who seeks our best interest, the king who doesn’t feel threatened by us but loves us, the king who will always tell us the truth even when it is difficult, and security for eternity.

See this baby is the true king, He is the everlasting God, the prince of peace, and He has come to be the light of the world, to be our hope. To anyone here today who has never confessed faith in Christ, what I want you to know is that this baby, this king, this Savior, is exactly who the Bible said He is. I want you to know that if you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. I want you to know that this light brings direction in a confusing world, and it brings hope in a world of hopelessness, and it brings joy in a world of pain and sorrow. Maybe you have felt overcome with darkness recently, maybe it has felt like light can’t get through. Maybe you hid yourself from the light because you just aren’t sure if this Jesus can be as good as He is made out to be. But He is the light of the world, and if you haven’t confessed that I would be overjoyed if you did that tonight.

We light our candles as a reminder that the world needs to see the light of the true king, and that He is coming again. And as we light our candles together I hope anyone who has felt like they are darkness will see these lights and know that these are people who have been changed by Gospel, and that we are to be this light to one another and to the whole world. That we we know that Jesus is the light, and the darkness cannot overcome Him. So as our deacons and elders come up we will pass our lights on to one another, as a reminder that this light can spread for all to know this good news.