A King For All Seasons

Fulfilled
December 11, 2022

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶“‘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 shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. —Matthew 2:1-12

²“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.” —Micah 5:2

⁴He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. —Micah 5:4

Christmas is a celebration that our KING has arrived.

1. HUMBLE

¹⁵Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. ¹⁶He warned them not to tell others about him. ¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁸“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

¹⁹He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.

²¹In his name the nations will put their hope.” —Matthew 12:15-21

2. INCLUSIVE

³Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn. —Isaiah 60:3

⁶Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come,
bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. —Isaiah 60:6

3. WORTHY

We can respond Like
HEROD WITH HOSTILITY

I want atheism to be true, and I made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God, and naturally, I hope that my belief is right. I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God. I don’t want the universe to be like that. My guess is that this cosmic authority problem is not rare. —Thomas Nagel

We can respond like
THE RELIGIOUS WITH INDIFERENCE

We can respond like
THE MAGI WITH WORSHIP

¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. —Matthew 2:11

JESUS IS A KING THAT IS WORTHY OF OUR WORSHIP.

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. —Philippians 2:5-11