Real Men Carry Their Crosses – Encounter of the Kings (Matthew 2)
“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” ~ C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (1949)
Matthew’s second chapter tells of Jesus’ birth and the visit of the Magi. Of particular interest to me in this passage is the reaction of Herod the king to Jesus’ birth. Why? Because our fallen nature reacts to Jesus the same way.
Without going into a really detailed history of Herod, let me just say that Israel was under Roman occupation, and Herod was made king over Israel by Rome (37BC – 4BC). In those days, Rome allowed its citizens to practice their own religious and philosophical views, but maintained strict control. Jews were allowed to govern themselves according to their law, but they reported to the Roman-appointed King Herod, know as Herod the Great. This Herod began the Herodian dynasty of “client kings” in Rome (37BC – 92AD). He was known for his fondness for opulence, his many spectacular building projects (including the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem), and his cold brutality in protecting his position and power, even banishing and executing several members of his own family. Though Herod wasn’t Jewish (probably of Idumaean descent), he knew the Jewish scriptures well and was very familiar with their customs and beliefs, including their anticipation of the Messiah, the one who would be born “king of the Jews”.
Enter the Magi. These guys were probably magicians or astrologers from Persia. Their understanding of Jewish scripture is probably traceable back to Daniel’s time when the Medo-Persian empire conquered Babylon and inherited the Jews that were in exile there. They showed up in Jerusalem asking, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:2)
When Herod heard this, he was “troubled”. In fact, this was such big news, the entire city was “troubled”. The word here gives us a picture of agitated or roiling water. The always power-oriented Herod, the current king of the Jews, freaked out at the threat of a new king on the scene. Herod called the Magi in and told them to find this anointed child so he could go and worship him too. They found Jesus, but God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod because Herod’s real intention was to kill this new heir to the throne.
When Herod realized the Magi weren’t coming back, he sent his troops to Bethlehem and had them kill all the baby boys in the area who were two years old or younger, just to make sure he got the one who threatened his throne. He didn’t even get Jesus, because God told Joseph to take the family to Egypt.
Now, the fallen nature in us is just like Herod when we encounter Christ.
Jesus threatens the rule of our sinful nature over us. We are held captive by a brutal king like Herod, one who is willing to kill and destroy to protect its reign. This king is sin. The throne of sin is our heart. When we oppose it, sin rises up with such ferocity and brutality, shaking us from one extreme to the other, shouting and screaming at us to do what it wants, that we are powerless to do anything other than what it demands. This is the state of humanity without Christ.
But when Jesus calls you, when He arrives in your city as the One promised to deliver you from sin, the One to save His people from their sin (Matthew 1:21); when Jesus shows up, the true King of kings (Revelation 17:14; 19:16), the sin-king is threatened mightily. Sin in us trembles in terror when Jesus shows up. Jesus has ultimate power, the power to destroy sin in anyone, and sin recognizes certain death when it sees it. The last thing it wants is to give up rule over you to Jesus. So, like a cornered animal, it attacks and tantrums and makes a terrible racket so you’ll back down and not welcome Jesus Christ as the true king of your life.
This enemy inside tells you Jesus doesn’t want what’s best for you. It tells you He’s a liar and a thief, robbing you of all the fun you could have if you run your own life. It tells you it will share power with you. It tries to entice you with sex and money and power and the admiration of others. It intensifies internal conflict, trying to make you feel bad by telling you that you’ll have to reject friends if you surrender to Jesus. It tells you that you’ll hurt people, that you’ll be alone, that you’ll be a loser. It tries to focus you on the wounds you’ve already received in the world, telling you that now it’s time to look out for yourself, that it’s not the time to give yourself to someone else as king.
Like Herod, sin tries to wipe out all threats to its reign in your life. It keeps you under such oppression and such a heavy burden that you can never really control yourself.
It amazes me that in our society, we laud self-governance and the freedom to choose for ourselves so much that we rise up and bluster with indignation at anyone who suggests we submit ourselves to anything, and yet we don’t realize that we can’t even control our own lusts for sex, money, power, or even something so ridiculous as that last piece of cake!
Just like the Magi didn’t see Herod’s real intention to kill Jesus instead of worship Him, we don’t see sin’s intention and control over us. We think we’re in control of ourselves, that we’re “good people”, but if this were true, why do we hurt loved ones when our pride is threatened? If this were true, why is obesity such a problem in the West? If this were true, why do “good” men stand aside and allow evil to happen in their communities because they are too busy being “good” in front of the television set, at the office or on the golf course? If this were true, why are our children so often victims of negligence, why do families break up, why are our daughters used and destroyed by “good” men? We equate peace in our personal spheres and emotional comfort with being in a good place, and we equate the ability to discipline ourselves in daily tasks as being in control of ourselves as though these daily tasks aren’t a means to satisfy our own desires for “stuff”. But when you’re at peace with your internal “king Herod”, you’ll be emotionally comfortable; when your daily tasks are to exalt yourself, your internal “king Herod” will applaud your discipline.
This is why it appears that some don’t struggle. Look at their lives. Are they opposing sin in the heart, or are they going along with it? Even a brutal dictator is happy with you when you do what he wants.
Let me illustrate this with a story. A God-fearing man went duck-hunting with his boss. Their truck got a flat tire, and while the man was changing the tire, he hit himself with the tire iron. Cursing under his breath, he noticed the boss observing and apologized. “I’m an atheist,” the man’s boss began, “and I don’t have trouble with my tongue like you do. You’re a Christian. You’re not supposed to talk like that. What’s the deal?” The man, humbled, said he had no answer. Later, they shot two ducks. One fell dead into the water, but the other fell and scrambled into the reeds. They collected the dead duck but the wounded duck was never found. On the return trip home, the man looked at his boss. “I have an answer for you now,” he said slowly and thoughtfully. “I’m the wounded duck. You’re the dead one.”
If you have received the free gift of life in Jesus Christ, the struggle with your sinful nature will reflect the desire of your new heart to kill sin in you. You won’t be perfect, but you’ll be fighting against your “internal Herod”. You won’t let him back on the throne, but by the Spirit of God that Christ gives, you’ll resist your old nature and kill it, bit by bit, battle by battle. The absence of war between you and your old nature is a very bad sign. The peace and discipline that results from peace made with sin is a counterfeit peace and counterfeit discipline. Keep waging the war against the illegitimate king, dear brothers and sisters, by the power of the Sovereign King. Jesus has conquered sin; now you’re in a “mop-up” operation to clear it all out.
God wants what’s best for you. He wants you to be free from the shackles and ugliness of sin. When He says, “Don’t”, it means, “Don’t hurt yourself, Dear One. I love you.” When Jesus says, “Come to Me all you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest…” (Matthew 11:28-30), He means to give you freedom and rest from sin’s heavy oppression and deception, and from its ultimate consequences. We don’t have to be under submission to the dictator “Sin”, but freedom from sin means surrender of the throne of our hearts to the gentle Warrior-King, Jesus Christ, who has fought for and who has won our freedom by His death and resurrection.
Don’t react to Jesus like Herod did. Impeach your internal “Herod”. Dethrone him. In Jesus’ name, cast him down and throw him out, and recognize Jesus as your king!
at His feet,
jae
