What Kingdoms Are You Seeking to Preserve?

The Lord can use even the common cold for spiritual purposes. Tonight was our Christmas celebration with our congregation at Crossroads Church with wonderful singing, prayer, and scripture reading. Because of the cold I developed yesterday, I was unable to participate in the singing and was left to simply listen. Along with being enraptured by the beautiful voices with which the Lord has blessed our people, I was also stirred by the scripture story of the birth of Christ and the words of the songs that were sung. Matthew 2:1-4 tells us “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.”

Have you ever stopped to think about Herod’s reaction to the announcement of the wise men? I once preached a message entitled, “The Foolish Wise Men”. The point of the message was the foolishness of the chief priests and scribes for knowing and understanding the prophecies concerning the Christ, and yet, apparently none of them or Herod went to find the Christ after the inquiry of the eastern wise men. What an odd response from the chief priests and scribes who were supposedly awaiting the coming of Messiah! The key to everyone’s seeming lethargy might be found in Matthew’s comment in v. 3 concerning Herod’s attitude after hearing the announcement. Of course all Jerusalem was troubled when Herod was troubled. Heads usually began to disappear from people’s shoulders when Herod became troubled! Doubtless, his vexation would have caused quite a stir within these religious leaders, however there is another cause afoot that would also account for much of the trepidation of the religious leaders. Herod’s reaction later in Matthew’s narrative alerts us to the true cause. Matthew 2:13 & 16 Now when they [the wise men] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."…16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Herod was intent on protecting his Kingdom!

We find the same attitude in the chief priest and religious leaders much later in the story of Christ’s incarnation. John 11:47-50 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish." Ah hah! What a man will not do to protect his kingdom! That is exactly what Herod and the religious leaders were doing. To go and find the Christ, the “King of the Jews”, would have required worship and giving up kingdoms to the rightful King. Herod wanted all to know that He was king of the Jews; the chief priests and scribes wanted everyone to know that they were the leaders of the Jewish religion. So, whether it was a physical kingdom or spiritual leadership these men were unwilling to seek the true King of kings and Lord of lords.

As I sat among the congregation tonight, I wondered how many people across our country and around the world will feign a desire to worship Christ at this Christmas season, but inwardly refuse to worship because they are unwilling to part with their kingdoms. While few of us will ever have the power of a Herod or even the religious prominence of the chief priests, we all have our kingdoms. We have the kingdoms of our homes; are we willing to have Christ as King there. What about our families, our work, our leisure, or our money. Perhaps our friends or our secret pleasures keep us from worshiping Christ. Whatever kingdom we try to preserve or withhold from the King of kings, whatever keeps us from genuine worship, that is our idol; it has become king of us. We can never be kings of our kingdoms, only slaves of those things which rule us. So, this Christmas season think carefully about your kingdoms you are seeking to preserve; consider what might keep you from seeking the Christ as the true wise men. Consider it all rubbish as Paul did that you might gain Christ in this life and for all eternity.