WHERE IS HE
WHO IS BORN KING?
Matthew
2:2: “Where is the one who has been born
king of the Jews? ...”
So calm. So matter-of-fact. So, how
come you don’t already know? Wouldn’t
you have loved being present when the Magi faced King Herod when announcing
their mission coming to Jerusalem—and then watch him freak out? Scholars often get caught up in their own
world. People in the “real world” aren’t
even a blip on a scholar’s radar.
With their languages being
light-years apart, it’s a wonder that these two worlds can even communicate. But King Herod heard “king of the Jews” loudly
and clearly. He knew that they weren’t
talking about him!
How come Herod’s scribes and chief
priests, whose whole existence is Scripture-immersed, didn’t give Herod a
“heads-up” warning? Can you imagine
Herod’s bulging neck veins when he confronted them and they admitted, “Yeah,
Bethlehem, in Judah, what’s the big deal?”
Maybe they read Micah 5:2 to Herod, “But
you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of
Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be shepherd of My people
Israel.”
The years preceding Jesus were a
dark time for Israel. And before God’s
light would shine into their world, it would get even darker. If Israel thought they suffered under Roman
oppression, they hadn’t seen anything yet.
Herod’s fury would not quench until
every child two years and under was killed.
He ordered hundreds killed just to blot out that one baby who is born to
unseat him as king. He groped around the
darkness of his self-made prison, lashing out at every imagined threat.
How their question haunted
Herod! “Where is the one who has been
born king of the Jews?”
Many people today exist this
way. Whatever or whomever is their god,
shines no light into their dark world. Where
is He who is born King in their lives? Who,
and where is their Lord? We might ask
ourselves that same question when we’re down and out.
Who can predict where God’s Spirit
leads? Who understands the depth of love
our Heavenly Father has for His children?
Have we yet reached the point that apostle Paul bewailed in Romans 7:24,
“Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
Take Home Nugget
Only Jesus can. Only He got a new star as a heavenly birth
announcement. Only He got a chorus of
angelic hosts worshipping His birth. Only
He humbled Himself to come as a man. Only
He suffered and died for human sin. Only
He is the One who was born to be King.
Be King of my life,
Jesus. You were born to be my Lord, King
Jesus!
This devotion is adapted from We Saw His Star from 2015 Advent
Devotions. Lutheran Indian Ministries. Sternbeck. December 24, 2015. Wisconsin.
J.D. Griffith
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