Hoping – You Are The Reason For The Season

Matthew 2 (click on the pic to listen to the message)

After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.  Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸ “A cry was heard in Ramah—
weeping and great mourning.
Rachel weeps for her children,
refusing to be comforted,
for they are dead.”

Everyone in Who-ville loved Christmas. Everyone, that is, except the Grinch. The Grinch hated Christmas and made up a plan to spoil the joy of Christmas in Who-ville. His plan was to dress up as Santa Claus and go into Who-ville and steal all of their Christmas presents, all of their Christmas trees, and even the food for their Christmas dinner. He wanted to destroy Christmas.  Why did the Grinch hate Christmas so much? Well, according to the story, it was because his heart was too small! He was so selfish that he hated to see anyone else who was happy and enjoying themselves. But, as you know, the Grinch’s plan did not work. Why? Because the people in Who-ville knew that the real joy of Christmas does not come from the presents, decorations, and food — it comes from a heart filled with love.

The hope in Who-ville was rather sickening. But at the same time they were not going to let one person ruin their hope.

Herod was the Grinch that almost killed Christmas. Herod was a clever and cruel man. He was powerful and brutal. He removed anyone who got in his way. Over the years he killed many people. He killed anyone that was a threat to his power. He killed his brother-in-law, his mother-in-law, his wife, his two sons and 100’s of others. They say it was the murder of his wife that drove him mad. He killed her because he thought she was a threat to his power. But he never got over her. Even though he was only 44 when he killed her, and even though he lived to be 70, her murder was the beginning of the end.

Herod’s heart was too small. He was selfish and he wanted to destroy anything and anyone. I am sure Herod was a pretty smart man. He became a ruler at age 25 and was feared by the world.

But Jesus was a threat to Him.

As I was thinking about this …… why would a king be threaten by a baby?  Jesus as a baby was  a threat? Unless …. he believed the prophecy was true. The prophecy that said  Jesus was really going to become king. Herod only killed people who were a threat to his throne.  Herod totally misunderstood what kind of king Jesus was coming to be. Jesus didn’t come to establish an earthly kingdom. He didn’t  come to be an earthly king. He didn’t want to rule the world. He wanted to be the ruler of our life!

He wants to establish His kingdom in our heart.  For him to be able to do that you must first recognize him as a King.

For many people we like to keep Jesus like a baby wrapped in strips of cloth. Babies are warm and cuddling. They are  soft and gentle. They are a threat to know one. But as everyone knows they grow up. (all of us at one time were cute cuddly babies and then we grew up).

Its tough watching your kids grow up and letting them go to go make their mark on the world. Every parent knows that day is coming when they have to let their kids grow up and let them go make their mark in the world. They are cute. They do cute things. You raise them. Discipline them. You do what you believe is necessary to prepare them for the world. Then all of sudden they are going to college learning how to be an adult. They start making their own decisions.  And the process starts all over again. We want to keep them as infants and toddlers because they are sweet and nice. But we know it isn’t possible.

There are some who want to keep Jesus in the manger. We don’t want Him to grow up. If we only recognize Him as a baby in the manger, if all we did was celebrate the spirit of Christmas all the time, we will totally miss the point of why He came.

Herod knew he was more than just a baby. He had the prophecies explained to him. That is why earlier in the chapter he asked the Magi to come back and tell Him where the baby Jesus was for he too wanted to worship him.  The magi skipped town and escaped without Herod’s knowledge. Herod, whether he believed the prophecies were true or not, was not taking any chances. He had every two-year old and under boy in the area slaughtered.

Jesus was a threat to Herod because He knew there was something different about this baby. Magi from the east were coming to him talking about following a star. After he met with the magi he met with his religious officials to put it all together.  The scriptures in Isaiah spoke of a shoot that was going to come from the line of Jesse. There was something special about his baby. Herod knew it. My guess is that he knew Jesus was the One. The Messiah. The One who was coming to establish a new kind of kingdom. The only thing Herod had wrong is that Jesus wasn’t coming to set up an earthly kingdom. Jesus wasn’t coming to knock any king off their earthly throne. He was coming to set up a kingdom in people’s heart.

God’s intention was never to make Jesus an earthly king. But Jesus was still a threat to Herod  had to know what the scriptures and prophecies said. Jesus was going to turn the world upside down. He knew that Jesus was going to grow in wisdom and stature. He was a threat NOW.

Jesus is always a threat to the world.

There are many people who have given their life to make him known to the world. Have you ever asked yourself why Jesus is such a threat? Such a threat that many governments and kings and other religions find him and his teachings a threat. How is someone who wants to bring hope and peace in the world a threat? I think the answer to that question is because they know He will grow up. He wants to be more than a baby in a manger He wants to be the ruler of people’s  lives.

No matter where you go in the world there is still opposition to the hope that Jesus has to give. You saw an example of this this past week of someone who spoke his convictions – and did you hear the opposition. If you are a Duck Dynasty fan you saw Phil Robertson get hammered this past week in an interview he made in GQ magazine.  The way he presented his case was a little vulgar but it gives you a pretty good picture of how much of a threat Jesus is to the world.

Whenever you speak about Jesus there is going to be opposition. He is a threat to any culture. The gay culture, the church culture, and the many other sub-cultures that exist. Whether  you are gay or straight or black, red, or white, rich or poor there will be opposition.   Before anyone makes Jesus the hope of their life, he is a threat. At one point in all of our lives Jesus was a threat.

Jesus is a threat because he is counter cultural. When you meet him he will change your life. He will change the way you think. He will change the way you are living your life. He will make your heart bigger.  Until you meet him and enter into a relationship with him you are like Herod. He is a constant threat in your life. It is much easier to conform to the patterns of this world than to be transformed. We are afraid of what He might do to our life. He will turn your life upside down.

Jesus is a threat to our world because he wants to do more in our life than we want him to.

He wants to give you more than a good worship song. He wants to do more than make you feel good. He wants to give you more than a warm and fuzzy feeling on Sunday morning. He wants to give you more than an answer to prayer. He wants to be more than a baby wrapped in strips of cloths in your life.

Those are the things we want and desire. We want the warm and fuzzies. We want the answer the prayer We want to feel good. We want Jesus to stay a baby. We don’t want him to grow up in our life. We want to keep him as baby because babies aren’t a threat to us. Babies are dependent on us.

If all we see Jesus as is a baby in the manger and we never let him grow up in our life he will never become Ruler of your life and like Herod you become a threat to him.

Jesus is a threat to us because He wants more from us than we want to give him. We want to keep Him in the manger because He is less threatening to us. We want to keep in the manger because he can then control him and tell him what to do. He wants to make our hearts bigger and more compassionate.

Jesus is a threat to us because he wants to be more than a part of our world. This is why we are in a constant battle with Him. We do things we shouldn’t do and we don’t do things we should do. It is a never-ending battle.

Many want Jesus to be a part of their world.  Jesus doesn’t want to be part of our world. He doesn’t want to be one of many things in our life. He wants to be the only thing in your life. He wants to be the Alpha and Omega in your life. He wants to be the Author and Perfector. He want to be the Way, the Truth, and The Life in our life. He wants to be the King of your world.

You are the reason he came as a baby in a manger. He does not want to be one of many things. He certainly doesn’t want to be your enemy. He wants to be King of your world.

Will you let Him grow up?