Come Quickly!
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The Great King’s Salvation
1.1.23 [Matthew 2:13-23] River of Life (1st Sunday of Christmas)
It’s better to be Herod’s pig than Herod's son. This was the view of a friend of Herod “the Great” as historians have dubbed him. From his throne in Rome, Caesar Augustus had his eye on what was going on in Herod’s kingdom of Judea. Approximately 10% of the Roman Empire was of Jewish roots and so what happened in Judea was of great significance to the emperors of Rome. As the frontlines against Arab and Egyptian advances, Judea was of strategic importance, too. Rome recognized that Herod had a knack for keeping the peace and keeping their coffers filled—so they were not compelled to meddle.
But they also recognize that Herod’s tactics were habitually ruthless. Herod was an astute political mind, but also very, very paranoid. Herod’s father was the second most powerful man in Judea. Until he was poisoned by his enemies. When Herod rose to power, he had as many of those enemies executed as he could find.
Though he was raised in the Jewish culture & traditions, most Judeans viewed him as a half-breed. The Pharisees loathed him because he wasn’t a descendent of David and was too loyal to Rome for their tastes. The Sadducees detested him because he was always trying to make the high priest his puppet—and when the high priest wouldn’t comply he had them killed or replaced. When the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jewish people, didn’t fall in line, he had 45 of the 70 of them executed. But it wasn’t just his political enemies that Herod had executed.
Herod had ten wives and each of them had sons with aspirations of succeeding him. Herod was paranoid that they wouldn’t wait for him to die of natural causes. When his sister told him that his favorite wife was scheming against him, he had her executed. Then her mom, too. A little while later, he had her two sons strangled for plotting against him. In all, Herod had three of his sons executed for “treason”. This is why Caesar Augustus said It’s better to be Herod's pig than his son.
Even as he grew very, very sick and was in so much pain that he tried to kill himself with a dagger, Herod was still paranoid. He gave instructions to his sister—the only one he felt he could trust—to assemble all Jerusalem’s noblemen in one place, under guard of his henchmen. Herod feared no one would really mourn his death, so he told her to have all the leaders of Jerusalem killed before his death was announced so that that the city would actually mourn.
It’s better to be Herod’s pig, than his son. If that’s what Caesar Augustus thought, it’s no surprise what we read in Matthew 2. (Mt. 2:12) When the Magi, having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, go back to their country by another route, Herod is incensed and orders the annihilation of all the baby boys in the Bethlehem area.
It’s hard to read that and not have your heart break. It’s hard to think about the mothers weeping for their sons and refusing to be comforted.
Even the fact that—because Bethlehem was a very small town—most historians estimate the number of boys killed in the dozens is of little comfort. It all feels so heinous and unnecessary. Why doesn’t God step in? Why doesn’t the Lord Almighty strike Herod dead on the spot?
He could have. In fact, that is exactly what we are told happened to Herod’s grandson, Herod Agrippa in Acts 12. When he claimed to be god, (Acts 12:23) an angel of the Lord struck him down and he was eaten by worms & died. So why doesn’t God do that here?
Of course, this isn’t the only time in human history we could ask this question. Anytime heinous crimes or tragic events happen we wonder why God doesn’t prevent them. Stop evil in its tracks.
Part of this yearning is righteous and reasonable. God hates evil. God values human life. (Gen. 9:5-6) He made mankind in his image and demands an accounting anytime that life is taken without just cause. In fact, God values human life so much that (Ezk. 33:11) he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He wants people like Herod to turn from their evil ways. At the same time, the Lord mourns with Rachel, the mother-figure of Israel, over these victims.
But this yearning also exposes our ignorance and arrogance. Think about why Herod did what he did. He was jealous. Threatened by this new king. Insecure & worried. So he wielded the power that was at his disposal to put his fears to rest. The manner in which he did this was cruel and violent, but his desire is very, very human.
Survey history’s most atrocious genocides and you will discover that again and again those in power felt paranoid and threatened So they lashed out. They hurt & killed. They sanctioned unspeakable acts. They did reprehensible, monstrous things to keep their power.
That's how the sinful nature reacts when its power is threatened. And that same desire dwells in every sinful nature. It’s a main reason why 6-900,000 babies are aborted each year in the U.S. Would be moms and dads see new life as threatening their ideal lives.
But it’s not just a desire that darkens our views on new life. Your sinful nature may not order others to slaughter baby boys—but that’s because it doesn’t see any benefit or advantage in that.
Where we experience this tension is in living like Jesus is Lord. It is easy for us to say and sing that on a Sunday. But living it from Monday to Saturday, that’s another story. Living like Jesus is Lord means that you do whatever he commands with joy & without hesitation.
Do you live like Jesus is Lord when he tells you to (Mt. 5:44) love and pray for your enemies—people who do not think or live like you do? Living like Jesus is Lord means when misfortune comes their way you lead the charge to help them, not laugh.
Do you live like Jesus is Lord when he tells you to (Lk. 12:22) not be anxious but rather content with what you have, whatever your lot in life may be? Do you live like Jesus is Lord when he tells you to seek not your own comfort (Lk. 12:31) but his kingdom first? Or do you spend the best of your time & energy pursuing your will first?
Do you live like Jesus is Lord when he tells you to (Lk. 9:23) deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow him? Do you make sacrifices that don’t make sense to your sinful flesh or even your own understanding but that fall in line with the Scriptures? Are you glad to be put to shame for his name when you’re among your friends and family? Do you yield to Jesus when he says (Lk. 11:28) Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it?
Time and again, we fall short of thinking & living like Jesus is Lord. We don’t carry out all God’s orders. If Jesus were a king like Herod, what would he do with dreadful and disobedient servants like us?
But Jesus is not a king like Herod was. He doesn't wield his power to put those who threaten him to death. He did not even (Mt. 20:28) come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus is our Lord of life, our King of love.
And he demonstrated that by living perfectly in our place. All the commands that we were given in the Holy Scriptures, he carried out perfectly. Jesus loved and prayed for his enemies, even as he was being crucified. Jesus preached the coming of the kingdom of God and pursued it personally with gusto. Jesus denied himself many pleasures and comforts and took up the cross for us—even when Peter, his disciple tried to talk him out of it. Jesus gladly meditated on the word of God daily and obeyed in perfectly in thought & word, actions & reactions. Our Lord lived for us.
This is the perfect Son that God sent into this world to redeem us from all of our wickedness. We may find it reasonable to ask why God didn’t do more to stop Herod from killing the baby boys of Bethlehem. But it is even more staggering that God took the action sending his only beloved Son into this world of violence & wickedness. It is unimaginable that he tasked this Son with taking on our sin and enduring crucifixion and the pains of hell in our place. While in this moment, Jesus escaped death by fleeing to Egypt, he would not evade it forever. In fact he came (Jn. 10:18) to lay down his life. (Rom. 8:32) God did not spare his one and only Son but gave him up for us all. Jesus also had the authority to take his life up again. That is what he did in rising from the dead. By triumphing over the grave, he gave us confidence that he truly has the power to seek and save sinners eternally. This is the Jesus who is our living Lord, our King of love.
And he does not merely give us commands to carry out and tell us to figure it out on our own. We have Jesus, the Author and Pioneer of our faith going before us—showing us how to live: how to show love to those who do not know the love of God, how to forgive, how to confront those who are caught up in sin, how to comfort those who are grieving, and how to pray. The Lord of life gives us strength and encouragement. He assures us that (Eph. 2:10) we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do these good works. He encourages us when we are weary, saying: (Mt. 11:28) Come to me…I will give you rest.
And people who are not perfect in thought, word, and deed like the Son of God are capable of doing these things. We see that in Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph. Think about all the difficult things that Joseph had to do. Take a pregnant woman home as his wife, when he knows that he did not impregnate her. Joseph cared for Mary as she carried that baby. He exercised self-control in (Mt. 1:25) not consummating their marriage until after she gave birth to that son, so there would be no doubt of his divine origin. And he gave that son the name Jesus. Why did he do all these things? Because the Lord gave him these commands. He followed orders joyfully & without hesitation.
After that dream, Joseph got up and took Jesus and Mary and left for Egypt during the night. He didn’t linger. When he received another dream instructing him to go back to Israel, he did what the Lord commanded. When another dream told him to go back to Nazareth, that’s what he did. Because he knew who was commanding him—the Lord Almighty. Gal 4 4-5 When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that those who could never live up to the law on their own or earn the Father’s favor might receive adoption to sonship. That’s what our Great King has done for us. Made us family. And it’s better to be God’s Son, than anything else in the world. Amen.
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