Matthew 2:1-8
Two Very Different Kings
One of Mark Twain’s classic stories is The Prince and the Pauper. The story centers upon two young
men. The first is a young man
named Tom Canty, a poverty-stricken young man who lived in London with his
impoverished family. The other is
Prince Edward the VI, son of King Henry VIII. One day the two young chanced to meet, and finding they
looked identical, decided to change places. The course of the story is very interesting, as they both
gain a new perspective on life by trading places with the other. Prince Edward, of course, in the end
becomes a much better king because of his experience living on the street as a
pauper.
This morning we study Two Very Different Kings, from
the story of the magi’s arrival in Jerusalem, looking for Jesus. In this story we find two kings – King
Herod and Jesus, the King of Kings.
Herod could have used an experience similar to Edward the VI, because he
was a brutal king.
What a contrast we find in King Herod and Jesus. Both carry the title of king, but that
is where the similarities end.
I want to draw some comparisons between the two kings this morning as we
study this passage from Matthew’s gospel.
Jesus and Herod both had power, but very different types of
power.
There is nothing quite like political power to draw people in and
hold onto them. Power, even more
than money, is what people most desire.
Herod began his political life at a fairly young age – in his early
20s – and was addicted to power. Herod was absolutely intoxicated with power
and would do anything to keep it.
He reigned for almost 40 years, so he knew how to survive politically.
But Herod had become very distrusting and paranoid about challengers
and potential challengers to his power, so he would go on murderous
rampages. He arranged the
assassinations of one wife – his favorite, actually – her mother and at least
three of his sons. The Roman
Emperor Augustus said it was safer to be one of Herod’s pigs than to be his son
(Barclay, p. 29). So when Matthew
writes, in verse three, that not only was Herod disturbed to hear of the birth
of a king, and all Jerusalem with him, there was very good reason for
the people of Jerusalem to be disturbed, because Herod wielded his power
ruthlessly.
Jesus stands in stark contrast to Herod. Many of the words and deeds of Jesus had very strong
political overtones, but he was never captivated by the use of political power
to accomplish his mission and never aligned himself with a particular political
party or point of view.
I believe that we should have something to say about the issues of
the day, but I also believe we must recognize the danger in aligning the gospel
with a particular political persuasion or partisan position. When people proclaim there is a
Christian position on health care or defense spending or other political
issues, I start getting nervous. I
think there are principles that we glean from Scripture, and those principles
ought to guide us and remind us that we are to call our leaders to account to
some basic principles that ought to be practiced.
The prophetic tradition of Scripture, for instance, always
pronounces judgment upon the tendency to favor the rich to the detriment of the
poor. It is important to remind
those in positions of political power of the vulnerability of the poor and our
calling and responsibility to see they are neither forgotten nor
victimized. The book of James says
religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in
their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Isaiah 10:1-3 says woe to those
who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the
poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster
comes from afar? To whom will you run
for help? Where will you leave your riches?
There are powers greater than political power. On June 4, 1989 an historic photo was
taken. You may not remember the
date, but you will remember the picture.
The Chinese government was cracking down on dissidents who were
protesting in Tiananmen Square, and on June 4th tanks began to roll
into Tiananmen Square. The picture
is of an anonymous young man who stepped in front of a row of tanks – and the
tanks stopped. When they tried to
go around him, he again stepped in front of them and they stopped again.
That episode represents the real shortcoming of political power – in
some ways it’s not all that powerful.
To trade spiritual power for political power is a negative
trade-off.
Without underestimating the sufferings of those living under
political tyranny, we can say there is a greater power than the might of
tyrants and dictators. The
God-given power of the human spirit to resist political tyranny creates an
energy that has time and again brought down empires. In our own lifetimes we have seen examples that perhaps we
never thought were possible – the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union
fell. The power of the human
spirit yearning for God-given freedom proved stronger than any political or
military might that sought to control them.
Herod exercised a power based on fear, intimidation, subterfuge,
tyranny, and military might. Jesus
exercised a power based on love, which means that,
Jesus and Herod drew different responses from people.
People do not respond very well to coercion. People loved Jesus and flocked to him;
people feared Herod. Historians
record that as Herod knew his life was drawing to a close, he made a tragic
decision. Recognizing that few
people, if any, would mourn his passing, he had a number of leading citizens
arrested. He gave the order that
upon his death those individuals were to be killed, ensuring that the day of
his death would always be a day accompanied by great mourning (Barclay).
Jesus never used coercion upon anyone. Never. Love
neither seeks to control or to coerce people. Again, this is one of the shortcomings of political
power. You can force certain
things upon people but in the end you know that force is the only reason they
listen and obey.
One of the evidences of the power of Jesus was his ability to draw
love and commitment from people.
Both Peter and Thomas pledged their willingness to die for Jesus (John
13:37; 11:16).
This is the difference between the cold and ruthless power of
politics and the power of the love of Jesus – Herod was willing to take the
lives of others to gain and hold his power; Jesus was willing to give his life
to demonstrate the power of his love.
This means that,
Nothing much has changed; yet everything has changed.
That sounds like a contradiction, but it’s really not.
Some things don’t change.
People still worship power.
Kings, tyrants, and political leaders still seek to coerce people into
doing what they want them to do.
They still find that force is necessary to get what they want from
people and so the never-ending cycle of violence continues.
When Herod assassinated a political rival there was another waiting
in the wings; when he squashed an uprising in one area it popped up in
another. These things never change
in terms of earthly power.
Here, though, is where we find the genius of the love of Jesus. Things did change because of
Jesus. Though much appears to
remain the same in the world, everything has changed. The love of Jesus broke the back of oppression and
hatred. The remnants are still
alive and active in the world but they will one day diminish and come to an
end. Millions of people now see a
crown – a crown of thorns – as a demonstration of love rather than a symbol of
tyranny and force.
But we mustn’t let things return to how they used to be. You know how entropy gradually winds
down the best of intentions, so we must continually remind ourselves that while
nothing much has changed, everything has changed.
And if there is a manifesto to go with the kingdom of Jesus, the
King of Kings, it is surely Philippians 2:1-12. This is the Magna Carta, the Constitution, the Declaration,
of the kingdom of God –
Therefore if you
have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his
love, if fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then
make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in
spirit and purpose. Do nothing out
of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better
than yourselves. Each of you
should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of the
others.
You attitude
should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something
to be grasped; but made himself nothing, taking the very nature
of a servant, being made in human
likeness. And being found in
appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became 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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.
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