Christians today proudly proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior. But there are still
those who have not yet been able to decide. In typical worldly fashion, the
question of whether or not Jesus even existed can usually be conveniently set
aside until some better, more opportune moment. If you're one of those people
or if you are a Christian who is trying to witness to this type of person, let
me bring someone to mind.
At the time Jesus was born, the Romans were in possession of the land of Judea.
The Hebrews were under Roman rule and content to remain so. The Romans had
worked out a good plan for ruling their conquered people. Let the people rule
themselves, but send the money to Caesar. When Jesus was born, Herod had been
declared by Rome to be King of Judea. Except for giving his allegiance to
Caesar, Herod ruled without interference from the Roman Government.
Herod was a ruler from a state outside Judea and cared little about the
history of Judea but sometime in his life, Herod might have heard of the
expected coming of the Messiah, a future King of the Jews who would be
annointed of God to free His people. He may not have ever heard the name,
"Jesus" but he must have known the word, "Messiah." Because he admired the
Greek culture, he may even have heard the Greek version of the same word that
we know today, "Christ." But he certainly wasn't expecting this coming Messiah
to show up in His lifetime.
What a terrible day it must have been for Herod to learn that a caravan of
wise Men, kings from the east, were in his very household, asking where they
would find the King of the Jews whose star they had seen and followed to
Jerusalem. What a horrible thing to realize that all those things he had heard
but barely paid attention to, probably
considering them to be fanciful legend, or common folk tales told among the
uneducated and wretched. Of course, he knew that the prophesies were read over
and over day after day in the temple, but had never begun to consider that this
thing could actually come to pass! A King had been born to the Jews? But here
were these men from another country, certain of the sign they had seen. What a
terrible quandary for a leader to be faced with! If indeed this so-called King
actually had been born according to all that had been written, his position as
King could be jeopardized, not only with the Jewish population, but
with the Roman Senate as well!
Unless immediate action was taken, the nation of Israel would surely
be massacred. His mind must have whirled with the possibilities and
consequences. Undoubtedly the astrologers had traveled all over
Jerusalem asking where the new King had been born, so the news was
already being spread about. In an effort to be able to plausibly deny
the rumors, he called his scribes and the chief priests, those men who
knew of the ancient prophecies and who could confirm or deny what these
astrologers from the east had told him. His worst fears were realized
when the men he had consulted said that the prophecies all indicated
that the coming Christ would be born in the town of Bethlehem.
His course was set and it was logical. Whether or not this so called
"King" was the actual Messiah spoken of in the prophecies, the baby was
still young enough to get rid of easily and quickly before Rome heard
and came down on his head or before all of the nation of Israel heard
and pledged themselves to the usurper to his throne. He needed to find
out exactly which baby in Bethlehem the wise men were seeking so he
could have it killed.
From our perspective of historical hindsight, we can see that Herod's
priorities were badly misplaced. We know that he had come to value his
position as governor of Judea and he carefully maintained his standing
with the government in Rome. What is never mentioned, however is
whether
Herod ever gave any thought to God. For instance, you would think that
he might at least recall that the nation of Israel considered itself
God's chosen people and that God had always chosen and anointed
Israel's
kings. And except for Saul, the kings of Israel had always come from
the
line of David. You would think that he might consider that the town of
Bethlehem was called the "city of David," so the new King of Israel
would very probably be born in David's city, to David's descendents.
These things may have entered his mind, but Herod chose his own way.
He had a potential problem and it had to be taken care of. Very
quietly,
he sent for the Wise Men to find out exactly when the star had appeared.
Then he told them to look for the baby in the town of Bethlehem and
when
they found the new king to come and tell him so he could worship the
baby as well.
Of course, we know today that Herod had decided he couldn't let the
baby live. We also know from the scriptures that God brought the kings
from the east to worship a little child, who was by that time about 13
months old. What a wonderful night that must have been for the wise men
to see the star stop and stand still over a house, then to enter and
see
that precious baby reach out with wonder to take the pretty gifts they
held out to him. What a horrible night that must have been to learn in
a
dream that they could not share the news with Herod and the rest of
Israel or this precious baby would be killed.
As we meditate on this story and see Herod's quandary and subsequent
decision to kill the Messiah, we are shocked and saddened to see how
Herod solved his problem. When the astrologers didn't return and report
on the baby they had been sent to find, Herod was furious. He felt he
had been mocked and therefore felt justified to have all the male
babies
killed who were two years old and under, not only in the town of David,
but also in all the surrounding area. Herod died a few years later
thinking that the troublesome question of the Messiah had been solved.
You might be surprised to know that Herod's quandary is not all that
uncommon. God calls to each one of us to acknowledge the King of the
Jews. Like Herod, we have each come to know that we can accept and
worship this King as Lord of our lives, or we can deny Him. We can
"maintain the status quo" by choosing to live our lives without him,
essentially "killing" off the possibility of having to face the fact
that the Messiah even exists. Like Herod, we are each responsible for
our own decisions. We can be logical and sensible and terribly wrong in
our choice, but the choice is ours to make. We can ignore all the
prophesies, or argue against them, calling them "someone else's
interpretation." But the fact still remains.
The Prophecies were told. The Star was seen. A baby was born. His
name is Jesus and he was born to save us from our sins.
It's a quandary isn't it? Will you worship him or kill him?
By the leading of the Holy Spirit and to the Glory of God
Merrellee Moore © January 14, 2000
Will you Worship Jesus
by making Him the Lord
of your life today?
Just Pray this simple prayer:
Jesus, I make you Lord over my life.
I turn from sin and
follow You.
I believe in my heart that God raised you from the
dead.
I give myself to You.
This day, ______, I confess
You as Lord;
therefore, according to Your Word, I am saved!
Thank you for making me new and for giving me eternal life.
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