Jesus Disturbed the Worldly But Drew the Wise (Wednesday, Week 3 of Advent 2011)

What Did Jesus Do?

Behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is his who has been born king of the Jews?”
When Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Matthew 2:2-3

If you don’t know who “Coach K” is, you have absolutely no interest whatsoever in college basketball, and you are obviously not from Tobacco Road. Down here in the Old North State everyone knows Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, even if they don’t all like him. When Mad Dog Radio held a special live broadcast with Coach K on Sirius XM Radio, fans no doubt listened in from afar. But, just a few miles from Durham, in Chapel Hill, home of Duke’s bitter rival, the University of North Carolina, news of the Coach K show probably disturbed people more than it drew them to tune in. Long ago, and far away from Tobacco Road, news of the birth of Jesus disturbed the worldly who lived just a few miles up the road from Bethlehem, but drew the wise from afar.

Kings of the world, like Herod, and people invested and all wrapped up in the kingdoms of the world, such as most of the people who lived in Jerusalem long ago, typically find news of a new, rival king, and the establishment of a new, and rival kingdom, disturbing, even frightening. Since kingdoms usually have but one throne, the presence of more than one king presents, well, a problem for those who like the throne, and who have no intention whatsoever of sharing it with, much less vacating it for, another.

So it was that, when the news of the birth of a rival reached Herod, who was about as despicably and destructively worldly a king as we could ever imagine, it upset him something terrible, and pretty much all of his capital city of Jerusalem along with him. Herod was one upon whose brow the crown did not rest easy. Paranoid to the extreme, Herod suspected coups and conspiracies all around him throughout his long and bloody reign. No one was safe from the sword when even the slightest rumor, or hint of a rumor, of a rival for the throne, reached the ears of Herod, as Herod’s wife and sons could attest. Well they could have attested, except that Herod had them executed because he feared they planned to remove him from the throne and take his place as ruler of Israel. The extermination of even imagined rivals was almost an everyday occurrence when Herod was king. With all the bloodshed and violence around him, it is no small wonder that all of Jerusalem was disturbed at the news of another rival to Herod, for, surely, the sword would once again be unsheathed against any and all who dared to threaten Herod’s rule.

Of course, the news of the royal birth of a rival might not have reached and disturbed Herod at all, if not for the arrival at his court of some wise men from the distant east. (Matthew 2:1) Drawn by a celestial sign which announced that a new and great king was born to the Jews, the wise men had been irresistibly drawn west until they came to Jerusalem, and to Herod. For, who better to know of the birth of a future king than the one who currently occupied the throne? But, when the wise men inquired as to where the new-born king could be found, it was news, disturbing, fearful news, to Herod.

The worldly and the wise still have different reactions to news of the birth of Jesus. Just today, I read on the internet about atheists in California who are so disturbed by the celebration of the birth of Jesus that they have gone to great lengths to try and stamp out Christmas. (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/13/atheist-messages-displace-california-park-nativity-scenes/?test=latestnews) But those atheists will be no more successful in killing the true celebration of Christmas than Herod was in killing the new-born King whose birth is what Christmas is truly all about.

Here, in the middle of the third week of Advent 2011, is the perfect place for all of us to contemplate what the news of the birth of the King of the Jews means to us. Are we disturbed to know of the One who was born to save us from our sins, or are we drawn to him? Regardless of how far we might imagine ourselves from the Lord, true wisdom is still found in seeking him.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4