Even the king needs Jesus ...

Do you imagine Donald Trump is a Christian, that is, a follower of Christ?  How about George Bush (jr)?  How about Bill Clinton or Barak Obama?  I cannot remember a President of the United States who did not also claim to be a Christian.   Most all of our elected leadership makes this same claim.  I should imagine even the kings and queens of Europe would follow suit.  But then, do we remember these heads of state for their terms in office, or for the lives of Christianity they have lived in front and behind the camera’s lens.  Scrutiny may well be the enemy of Christianity.  Examine the life of anyone, and you are sure to find sin as much or a bit less than you find grace.  We try to be quiet about our sin, but it plagues us nonetheless.  And when our sin hits the public’s eye, we are often remembered more for our errors than our love.  To be honest, sometimes those errors are awfully large.

It would seem that while people rule, their lives are defined more by what they do to/for/against their nation, than what they do in the name of love.  We don’t elect them to love.  We elect them to lead.  So perhaps they are only doing what we expect them to do, at least if they ever want our votes again.  It seems to be different once a President has left office.  When Jimmy Carter was in office, I believed our nation had never seen such an ineffective President to that day, nor would I ever see one after that.  Boy was I wrong.  I had no idea what would come.  Or how bad, bad could be.  But as Jimmy Carter has left office, I find he has defined the meaning of Christian in actions and deeds.  Jesus may have no better representative in the “ruling class” than Jimmy Carter has been for now decades.  And the best news, is that both George Bush and Bill Clinton appear to be following in Jimmy Carter’s footsteps.  Though they may not have done as much yet, they were able to put aside deep political differences and still begin important works of charity throughout the world.  It gives me hope that maybe someday Barak and Donald might even join this trend. 

It strikes me that Americans complain a lot about rich people.  We, the poor, and middle class, are not happy that those with great wealth (or fame), seem to live by a different set of rules than we do.  We debate constantly how much tax the rich should pay.  But our complaints deepen even more when we see justice applied between rich and poor.  Money buys lawyers, influences legislation, and failing both purchases jets to fly to non-extradition countries where great mansions can still be procured as if putting coins in a vending machine.  It just does not seem fair.  Why should so few people have so much influence where it comes to how we live, how we are entertained, and what we consume.   We, the consuming public, made up of mostly the poor and few middle class, are bombarded routinely by an advertising methodology designed to tell us what we want, where we can go to get it, and why getting it is a good decision.  Seldom will what we consume in entertainment ask us to ponder the differences between rich and poor, and whether this is fair or not, just keep consuming no matter what.  The ruling class then, has much influence over not only how they live, but how we think about it.  But sometimes, what the masses think on their own, has the reverse effect.

When even though no marketing campaign was ever developed, and no edict was ever issued, the great masses begin to develop similar thinking on any topic; the rich will stop to take notice.  How the world of believers thinks about Jesus Christ is just such a topic.  I have no idea if the we the collective body of Christ had any influence on Jimmy Carter, or George Bush and Bill Clinton – but it is possible.  It is possible that people who have long professed Christianity begin to take notice of their own lives, compared with Jesus, and how wide that difference is, particularly when you are rich, or in charge.  Nobody wants to be left out of heaven, even less enjoy the idea of hell of any kind.  So perhaps for fear, if nothing else, what a great mass of people believe might be enough to crack the ivory tower of power and penetrate how even the most “elite” begin to think as well.  And in those rare moments of self-reflection, sometimes even the king realizes he needs Jesus perhaps most of all.

Luke relays this phenomenon of reverse influence on one of the most powerful characters who lived in the time of Christ.  Herod the tetrarch of the Galilean area had already been influenced by the popularity of John the Baptist, and in general by the Jewish faith.  He had not performed well from either perspective.   His great sin in killing John haunted him.  And he was not at all popular with Jewish leaders, living in the shadow of his father who killed all the young male children in Bethlehem just to keep away any Messianic challengers to his own authority.  After Herod the Great had died his kingdom was split three ways for each of his sons, but none of them were able to control the people as well as their father who built great temples for them.  Each of the sons were too greedy for those kind of expenditures.  They lived lavishly and under far more Roman scrutiny which invited far more Roman troops into the province to savagely put down even the notions of rebellion by blood and crosses.  This made the puppet leaders even less popular with the people.  But while the best Herod (the son) might have mustered was infamy.  The fame of Jesus was growing wildly, with no support from the Temple leadership.  It was a grass roots movement that had a life of its own in spite of the Temple.

Luke picks up in chapter nine of his gospel letter to Theophilus beginning in verse 1 saying … “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. [verse 2]  And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.”  The fame of Jesus was already widespread, but by gathering His disciples and sending them out with the same kind of power to heal across entirely different areas of the countryside, the fame of Jesus exploded.  By giving his disciples power over demonic possession, not even Satan could stand against the progress of the gospel message of Jesus.  This was unheard of.  No prophet before in Jewish history had ever been able to deputize disciples with the same relationship with God they had.  That generally took a lifetime to accomplish like Elijah and Elisha.  Not ten minutes like Jesus and His disciples.  The difference was the Jesus was way more than any mere prophet or good man, he was the Son of the Most High God, as even the demons recognized.

Luke continues in verse 3 saying … “And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. [verse 4]  And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart.”  Jesus again enforces the ideas of total dependence upon God for everything.  The disciples were to take nothing with them on their journeys.  No supplies of any kind, not even extra clothing or walking staffs.  No money at all.  No food at all.  They were to get what they needed from the charity of others.  The very roof over their heads was to be provided by the charity of others.  People open to hearing the message of Jesus Christ and his gospel would be moved by a spirit of Love the likes of which had never been seen in Israel up to that point.  Keep in mind these were the worst living conditions the Jewish nation had ever faced under Roman oppression.  They were poor, dirt poor.  Yet they shared what they had to give to the apostles of Jesus, to enable them to share the messages of Jesus with them while they tarried in any given town or village.

But the name of Jesus Christ was not popular with everyone.  And decidedly not popular with Jewish religious leadership.  The Sadducees hated Jesus because their own ideas of no resurrection were blown away in the examples Jesus had already conducted of them with those He raised from the dead.  The Pharisees and Scribes hated Jesus because He knew the scriptures better than they did, and understood them far better.  They were jealous and wanted a control over the people that only Jesus was ever intended to have within church walls.  Jesus knew that sewing the seed of the gospel was not always to be in fertile loving ground, some would encounter stone like resistance, with hearts to match.  So Jesus offered counsel on what to do when the disciples encountered such resistance as Luke continues in verse 5 saying … “And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. [verse 6]  And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.”

You will notice that even in the most extreme resistance to His disciples, Jesus offers a symbolic gesture intended to prick the conscience of the wicked long after they have left the town.  Shaking the dust off their feet when they leave was meant to show these resisters that what they did was significant and needed to be undone.  It was NOT a permanent condemnation.  It was a PRESENT gesture to show the seriousness of rejecting Jesus at any time in our lives.  It could be undone by simply pursuing the gospel, seeking it out, to find it, and accept it back into our hearts.  But when we reject what the Lord sends, we sometimes need to seek for it later to find it ourselves.  Not every opportunity may pass by again after it departs.  And letting an opportunity depart is not trivial, it is serious.  But notice too the back half of those texts, the disciples went out across the countryside and had great success in their mission to point others to Jesus Christ the true Messiah, and our true savior.

Herod could no longer sit in his palace and avoid the news of Jesus Christ.  It was everywhere.  Along with the stories of great miracles up to the resurrection of the dead.  Herod was no Sadducee.  He believed the dead could come back, and perhaps this was exactly that, perhaps this was Elijah.  Or worse, perhaps this was John the Baptist back to haunt him in person.  Herod had never met Jesus, and his fear would drive him to know what kind of supernatural phenomenon he was facing.  Luke continues in verse 7 saying … “Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead; [verse 8]  And of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again. [verse 9] And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.”  If this was John back from the dead, the terror in Herod would know no end.  Herod had never repented fully, nor had he changed how he was living with his brother’s wife.

So the king decided he needed to see and meet Jesus for himself.  And that is how it begins.  No matter the reason behind it, no matter how misplaced his thinking, the first step in our salvation always begins by deciding we need to meet Jesus for ourselves.  For even the king needs Jesus.  You will note our doctrines are often completely wrong when our journey begins, as you might expect “before” we really meet Jesus.  The heart of Herod the king was not full of love yet.  A heart full of love would not even be possible until after you met Jesus, not before it.  Being in harmony with the Law of God does not happen because we will it to be so.  We do not even understand obedience properly without the transformation Jesus brings to our hearts of stone, turning them into hearts of flesh, moved by the plight and needs of others.  But an encounter with Jesus does start the process for those who are willing.  And a second step cannot happen until a first step is taken. 

I do not know what first moved the heart of Jimmy Carter after his presidency.  His wife was long rumored to have engaged a Satanist witch for advice even in the Whitehouse (though this was only rumor, never proven).  But despite his surroundings and perhaps history, his life of service began.  It has been a life of inconvenience to wealth and ease, but a life of giving to those who needed his gift.  Carter is no saint, far from it.  But the king decided he needed Jesus and what transpires next could easily look like this.  I don’t know if the charitable acts of George Bush and Bill Clinton stem from guilty conscious’ over what transpired during their elected rule - or whether each of them independently encountered Jesus and have been moved to give because they could do no other.  And I do not know if the hearts of Obama and Trump will ever walk this same road at some later date.  What I am certain of, is that Jesus loves each of them like His very sons they all are.  To that end, the salvation of even kings and presidents, is as high on the mind of Christ, as it is for each person torn down and lost in the gutter of our cities this morning.  His love for us is equal no matter who we are. 

I would hope our churches as the body of Christ can develop ministries for the rich and powerful just as we develop ministries for those in greatest need on the streets.  Ministries not intended to extract money from those who have it; but to insert love into all who need it.  Those on the street can easily see their needs.  But those in the ivory tower have even greater needs, and see that need far less often.  Let us bring the kings and presidents our love, as we would the one in the gutter who needs us now.  If we are to love like Jesus, we must see all mankind as Jesus does, and let our preconceptions of social standing go extinct in our hearts forever.  Our homeless need us, and so do our leaders.

 

Third-Party Verification ...

We use E-Verify to help others be certain we are who we say we are; and we are eligible to work in our United States.  We have documentation like our driver’s licenses, our birth certificates, our social security cards to provide further evidence.  Our systems are built to trust paperwork.  Our systems nearly always require the word of a witness to that same paperwork.  But just the “word” of someone else, is rarely enough.  Even when that person claims to be our best friend, having known us our entire life.  A parent’s “word” is also rarely effective.  Mom and Dad can rarely help establish who we are, and our right to work in this country must require something beyond the words of those who know us.  Our identities hinge on documents like passports and birth certificates to make us solid.  In a digital age this trend will only continue.  The “person” of who we are gives way to the digital footprint of who we are.  And while the means have changed, this method was no less effective in the days of Jesus.

Matthew is determined to illuminate the Old through the life of the New in Jesus Christ.  From His ancestry to His birth Matthew begins to tie the prophetic of the Old, with the reality of the New.  Matthew does not just do this through a first-person account of what he himself has witnessed and been told; but he does this through a careful comparison of scripture and its fulfillment in Jesus.  The documentation trail is set in motion.  The audience Matthew is determined to witness to through his Gospel, will be quick to argue with only the words or opinions of Matthew.  But that same audience will be slow to discount the prophecies of Isaiah, or of David.  When the prophets of Old, the prophets of ancient days begin to speak: the penitent become reverent and listening becomes an art.  The documentation of scripture begins to validate the circumstances of the life of Jesus Christ.

But the gospel of Old is not constricted to the land of Judea and the city of Jerusalem.  As much as a proud Jewish nation might have wished it to be so; the disobedience of the past planted seeds of a Messiah in lands of captivity.  Yet before the Babylonian captivity would spread the gospel of a Messiah to every nation in the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar; King David would pray for his son Solomon, and without realizing it, would prophecy of the coming Messiah.  The reference can be found in the book of Psalms in chapter 72.  David begins by asking for blessings, and then transitions into what the coming of Messiah will be like.  Verse 4 speaks of the salvation of the “needy” and of breaking in pieces the oppressor (arguably Satan, not Rome as the Jews would misinterpret).  Verse 10 however is what Matthew is intent upon focusing on now.  Verse 10 speaks of the … “the kings of Tarshish, and of the isles, shall bring Him presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.”  It follows in verse 11 … “Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him”. 

So, years after David sleeps with his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, captivity does what an informed people would not; it spreads the gospel.  Nebuchadnezzar and Darius both make proclamations that the God of Daniel shall be worshipped throughout the land.  The scriptures would be copied in pristine form and sent to the far corners of the earth.  Every nation would be exposed to the Jewish faith.  Every nation would hear the prophecies of the coming Messiah.  And some of them, would be led by the Holy Spirit to know the truth of the mission of the coming King; a mission of redemption from our slavery to sin.  There would be converts in the East who were not looking for a solution to the Roman problem.  Those converts only awaited the longed-for hope of the ages, the promise handed down since Adam and Eve, soon to arrive in the land promised to those who first sought our God. 

The people of the east were not distracted by the religious power brokers in Jerusalem.  They did not need to submit to a central religious authority.  Their wisdom was given of the Holy Spirit, and their own interpretation of scripture and of the prophecies was correct.  In addition, they were given a sign in the heavens to reward their faith.  This symbol would lead them to the baby they had so long waited for, and so long hoped for.  It was a sign that they would follow, coming out of all the major lands of the East, where the hope of the Messiah had not been given over to misinterpretation.  Each night the star would lead them West.  As they traveled their company grew.  More and more of the wisest men would join, bringing gifts fit for the Giver of all Things.  This story was a reality of the New that was foretold by David in the Old, and Matthew was determined to share it.  Only Matthew would ever reveal these facts.

In chapter two of the Gospel of the Hebrews, Matthew writes beginning in verse 1 saying … “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, [verse 2] Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”  Imagine the disconnect.  The company of kings from the east, the wise and noble men who had journeyed so far, have finally arrived at the city of Jerusalem.  They expected to find it a-buzz with excitement and delight as the time of the Savior’s birth had arrived.  The star in the heavens had led them here, after hundreds, and perhaps even thousands of miles, they were here at the center of it all.  They had arrived at the city center of where the worship of the Messiah was to take place.  And the only ones excited about it, were them.  Everyone else was completely unaware.  Everyone else was oblivious.  Even the priests were dead to the idea.  This day was like every other for the people of the Messiah.  No one knew, no one seemed to care.

How could this be possible?  How could people not born to this, actually care about it more than people who were raised with it from birth?  Perhaps the better question is, are we repeating the very same behavior today?  People raised in an Advent movement, a movement spanning many protestant churches and generations; that the time of His second returning was near at hand, have grown tired and asleep at the wheel.  New converts seem more excited about this than we do.  New converts seem to experience Jesus in a way us long-timers seem to have never experienced.  And we, like our Jewish forefathers, who claim to worship in the right churches, doing it the right way, have lost all passion for the soon coming of His return.  We have collectively decided that “soon” is a relative term, and frankly does not elicit much response in us.  Just like the deadbeats the Magi found in Jerusalem; people who have a real relationship with Jesus find in us.  The same responses, the same apathy.  This day is just like the last one, just like the next one.

The effects of a centrally controlled religion seem to have chilled the passion for God, then and now.  It takes an uproar to finally elicit a response.  Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. [verse 4] And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.”  The Magi were determined, excited, and not going home, or giving up.  They made such a commotion.  They awoke an apathetic people from their malaise.  Even the King heard about this, and demanded to know an answer.  Ironically, he demanded to know something, from the source who should have known it, should have cared about it, but were keeping largely silent.  No one can imagine why, at least the group of nobles from the East could not imagine.

Matthew continues in verse 5 saying … “And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, [verse 6] And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.”  Think of the context of this for a minute.  The same star that guides the kings of the east to Jesus is visible to anyone else who looks up at night.  The star had to be low enough to earth to provide guidance, and bright enough from earth to outshine other objects.  It moved slow enough and settled where it needed to.  Jews could have seen this.  Jews might have been just a bit curious.  But even in the face of an astronomical miracle, the leadership of the church seems totally unconcerned.

Then think about the context of preparation.  The Magi have traveled great distances in time to witness a miraculous birth.  They have prepared extensively.  They were not planning on just picking up some trinket at the last minute at the airport and giving that to Jesus.  They brought great wealth a great distance, guarding it, hiding it, and carrying it with them.  They were prepared as they could be.  The priests, who knew this answer, and could see this star, made ZERO preparations.  No one was looking for Jesus.  Literally NO ONE, except a group of kings from the east, representing nearly every nation outside of Israel touched by the message of the Messiah.  No preparation at all by those who claim His name.  The people of Jerusalem were actually “troubled” by what these kings were saying.  Imagine the new guys were aggravating the old guys with their incessant excitement and anticipation.  And it is not as if anyone started preparations late, still nothing got done.

But Herod had his own ideas on this topic.  Matthew continues in verse 7 saying … “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. [verse 8] And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”  Here is where the crafty old king gets lazy.  Instead of sending his own guy with this delegation to report back, Herod decides to trust these kings will report back as ordered.  And in fairness, they would have done just that without the interference of God to redirect them to another path home.  Herod, it would appear though, is the only one making preparations.  He is preparing to kill the competition for his own throne.  It does not matter that a child born then would take long enough to grow up that Herod was not really threatened at all.  Despite the star, despite the kings from the east, despite scripture and prophecy; Herod is intent on killing Jesus at the get go.

Matthew continues in verse 9 saying … “When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. [verse 10] When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.”  Witness the disconnect once again.  The kings continue to follow the star, which incidentally goes to Bethlehem as predicted in scripture.  The kings of the east are again elated at these events.  The star moving forward again coming to rest over the new baby and His mother; are earth shattering events of joy for this delegation from the nations of the East.  And yet Matthew records not a single Jew joining the delegation, or sharing in the great joy of the arrival of the Messiah.  The eastern kings entered Jerusalem, stirred up quite the commotion with their questions and their implications and news, and yet once they leave, all the deadbeats go right back to their lives without the slightest change.  Are we any different?

Then must come the fulfillment of the documentation, the witness to it, the third-party verification of the authenticity of who Jesus is.  Matthew concludes this section in verse 11 saying … “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”  David said the kings of the East would fall before Him, and bring Him presents.  And the fulfillment of scripture is retold by Matthew in his Gospel.  Years before the captivity, the servant of God prays for his son, and prophecies of events that would take years further to come to pass.  Babylonian and Persian edicts, copies of scriptures, the leading of the Holy Spirit, a journey of great distances following a star of miracles, and a virgin who has recently given birth to the Messiah.  The culmination of these things provide a testimony, a verification of who Jesus is.

E-Verify is not this accurate.  No documentation we have in place today can coordinate itself over centuries, generations, and thousands of miles on foot and camelback, with timing accurate to a week.  As far as third party verification systems go, this one was in a category of its own.  In modern Christianity, we assume it was only three wise men, because there were only three gifts cataloged by Matthew.  But earlier studies suggest it may have been as many as 12 representatives from just as many countries who made up the final delegation who sought to witness the birth of the Messiah.  But these men we call Magi returned to their native homelands and their faith did not die on this journey.  It was affirmed.  The good news of the gospel was spread far and wide in the East long before disciples could carry it there.  It has been suggested that even as far as the Mongol empire where Genghis and Kublai Khan would emerge that Christianity held roots with no benefit of missionaries beyond the descendants of the Magi who sought the baby Jesus so long ago. 

Uncorrupted from a set of religious leaders who sought only control, the Magi would return home spreading only the good news that the Messiah had come.  God was with man.  The salvation of our souls, of the “needy” as David had identified was upon us.  The Magi had the benefit of the prophecy of David, combined with the witness of their own eyes.  Their passion could not be squelched.  Ask yourself, are you the passionate convert troubling the hearts of the established believers; or are you troubled by the questions you hear today by those who seem to seek only the love of Jesus …