Herod MISSED Christ

Have you ever missed an important event? Something that would’ve been a life changing part of your life? There’s a man I know who were going to call John. John was a married man who at the time of his second year being married he was expecting the arrival of their first child, a baby boy. Now, John really enjoyed living life for himself and what I mean by that is he really enjoyed going out partying and drinking. He enjoyed so much going out parting and drinking that the day his baby boy was being born he missed it. John was out drinking at a bar while his first son was being born. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of a trend for John. A trend that his wife was not going to put up with and she asked for a divorce when their son was only a few months old. When John’s son was 5 years old his son was super excited to start his first game of football, he was expecting his daddy to be there and even asked his father if he was going to be at his game. John replied, “yeahhhh buddy I’ll be there. You can count on me.” John was at the bar when he answered the phone, as you can expect. John missed his sons first game of football. As the years went by John’s son would call his dad and let him know when he was going to have important football games, graduations from one grade to another. John’s son became the star quarterback of his high school team. A five-star recruit as a senior in high school. John’s son was playing his last game of his high school career and called his father to let him know that he reserved a seat for him. John as always said, “yeaaaah buddy I’m going to be there don’t you worry.” The most important game in his son’s life. The state championship. John’s son before the game, kept peaking around the opening of the stadium to see if his dad was going to show up in the seat that he reserved for him. With as much hope as his son had, John did not show up. The game went on, Johns son and his team won the state championship. As john’s son was driving home late at night after celebrating the championship, he sees bright lights coming around the corner and BOOM… Johns son got hit by a drunk driver that night… That drunk driver was John. He missed everything that happened in his son’s life because he was feasting on his own selfishness and wanted to be at the bar instead of with his son. His selfishness of wanting to live life his own way and it cost him his son’s life… John will now spend the rest of his life in prison. He repeatedly had his heart hardened and turned towards himself and missed so much just like a man we are going to talk about today by the name Herod the Great. Now there are two Herod’s mentioned in the Bible, coincidentally a Herod at the birth of Jesus and a Herod at the death of Jesus. We are going to talk about Herod the Great which is mentioned during the birth of Jesus if you could turn with me to Matthew chapter 2, a little back story of who Herod the Great is.

Herod the Great was a man born in 72 BC and died 4 BC, he was appointed the king of Judea officially in 37 BC by Antony when he came to power under Octavius Caesar. He was called Herod the Great because he was the only ruler of Palestine who ever succeeded in keeping the peace and in bringing order to a situation of disorder. He was a great builder; he was indeed the builder of the Temple in Jerusalem.[1] Herod eliminated every possible threat to his throne including assassinating his wife Mariamne I and her mother Alexandra, his oldest son Antipater, and two other sons Alexander and Aristobulus. Augustus, the Roman emperor said this about Herod, “it was safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son.” Herod was such a tyrant that when he knew he was going to die he ordered that a collection of the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem be arrested. Herod ordered that the moment he died, that all be killed because he was aware that nobody would mourn for his death. He was determined that some tears should be shed when he died. Herod did not care about anybody except for himself, he feasted on his own selfishness. Matthew 2 verse 1.

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,

2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw bHis star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

The Magi or just another word for wise priestly men who specialize in astronomy, astrology, and natural science that came from possible Arabia, Babylon, or Perisa. These men were aware of the prophecy foretold in “the star shall come from Jacob…”

So…

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘aAnd you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,

Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;

For out of you shall come forth a Ruler

Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”

From the first day, the first minute Christ was born he had people after him. Herod conspired with the priests, and the scribes to figure out where Christ would be born. They found out that in Christ would be born in Bethlehem. Herod received nearly precise time from the Magi and sent them towards Bethlehem. I could almost picture King Herod in his palace talking with these wise men, Herod saying with alternative motives and a smirk on his face, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him”

If your taking notes…

Point 1: Seeing ≠ Believing

Herod had a genuine nature of unbelief. Herod saw the evidence the scribes and the chief priests gave him as far as where the King of the Jews would be born. He saw the evidence and rejected it. He saw but did not believe in the King, he saw and he was frightened he would lose his throne to Jesus Christ. Being appointed the ‘King of the Jews’ by Caesar Octavius and Antony to hear about a King of the Jews being in Bethlehem, he was ready to take action in his own hands.

Many today that have an unbelief will say, “if your God is real, why can’t I see Him?”

First of all, if you were to look upon the face of God, , “But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” if you were to look at God you would die. When I say God, I don’t mean Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh, I mean looking at pure God without flesh, you will die. So, IDK maybe you don’t want that. Now if we were in the time of Jesus

Would you believe in Jesus as God? How many people saw the miracles Jesus performed and rejected Him? Oh, IDK the pharisees, scribes, chief priests who have read the Scriptures and saw Jesus Christ who claimed to be God but they didn’t believe because they loved being in power. They did not want to give up their life style to follow a no name man from Nazareth. Their heart was hardened, their heart was dark.

Listen, seeing is not believing. Believing or having faith as says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we see… NO, ASSURANCE ABOUT WHAT WE DO NOT SEE.

Many today are like Herod. They want Jesus to be a good moral teacher, a religious leader, but the moment Christians claim He is God in the flesh, the hostility rises. WHHY? Why is it so scary for there to be a God? it’s because like Herod many don’t want to submit to God’s authority in our lives. Many don’t want to be accountable for our actions, the lifestyle they live. Content to hear about Jesus as Savior but not Jesus as Lord.

Herod doesn’t seek the source of the message; he doesn’t seek the truth; he seeks out people who will have a head knowledge of the events but not have the heart’s desire to submit to that message.

Point 2: Knowing ≠ Believing

There’s a disconnect between the heart and the mind… remember John in the beginning of the message, John knew that his boy was growing up and having all these games but he still didn’t go and watch him, he still didn’t put in the effort to experience his son’s life. He missed the truth because the knowledge did not connect with heart. Often times today we see many people having knowledge which points to God but they MISS Him because they reject the reality that there is a God.

For instance, many people today have been presented the opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and they say no. we give people evidence for the existence of God, they say no. we tell people that Christ is life changing, they say no. why do they say no? To change their lives from where they are at now takes a softening of the heart. To believe in God doesn’t take knowledge, it takes a transformation of the heart. The knowledge you gain about God is what you anchor your belief.

You can have all the knowledge in the world but if you don’t have the heart softened to then Receive Christ then you will never believe in God of the Bible then your knowledge will never equal faith in God. Herod knew the King of Israel had been born, the savior of the world with verifiable information by colluding with the Scribes and chief priests to dig up dirty on where the Child was going to be born but he came to finding this information because he didn’t want to lose his lifestyle as the ruler. Verse 9.

9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they 1fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

Now we get to Matthews writings of the nativity scene, I’m not going to harp on this for too long because if there’s anything Christians don’t want to be messed with around Christmas time is their nativity scene. So, I’ll clarify one thing, Jesus was most likely over a year old when the Magi finally got to the place where the Child was. Joseph and Mary were most likely not chilling in a horse stall with a bunch of animals when the Magi found them. That’s all, that’s all I’m going to say… The symbolism for the nativity scene is still important, it is the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With the birth of Christ and the Magi not returning to Herod, how did Herod react to this…?

13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”

14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.

15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “aOut of Egypt I called bMy Son.”

Herod Slaughters Babies

16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and bslew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.

17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

Weeping and great mourning,

Rachel weeping for her children;

And she refused to be comforted,

Because they were no more.”

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said,

20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.”

21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee,

23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Herod as the ruling killer that he is took matters into his own hands in order to make sure that he would stay king. He had all the Jewish children under 2 years old slaughtered. How dark does your heart have to be to kill a bunch of babies because you are power hungry…?

Well its probably as dark as Margret Sanger’s heart who created Planned Parenthood in 1921 in order to have population control of African Americans who by the way inspired the war mongering, psychopath Adolf Hitler’s pursuit of genocide of the Jews.

All of this goes back to the heart of the person. John MISSED his son’s life out of a lack of will to change, a hardening of his heart and sentenced to life in jail.

Herod MISSED the birth of Christ, he MISSED Christmas because of an outright rejection of the King of the Jews, a hardening of his heart and by doing so he ended up being sentenced to an eternal lifetime in Hell.

Are you going to miss Christ this Christmas?

Last point,

Point 3: Receiving = Believing

Are you going to be a person who this Christmas who will MISS Christ, who doesn’t see the significance of Christmas right in front of your face? The significance of the birth of Jesus Christ. Without the birth of Christ there is no Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Without the birth of Jesus there is no Jesus to suffer the wrath of God and take on the sins of the world as the perfect sacrifice. Without the birth of Christ there is we cannot receive the best gift ever given to man since the fall which is the free gift of eternity in heaven with God.

If you’re not a follower of Christ today, what are you doing here? Are you going to like Herod and outright reject reality that Jesus is God in the flesh who will save you from eternal suffering in hell because you’d rather live life the way you want to live, you’d rather get served instead of serving, you’d rather obey your own rules then obey the creator God.

The ultimate question I want to ask those here that aren’t followers of Christ is this, if Christianity is true, would you believe?

For those of us that are Christians, is this going to be the Christmas where you focus less on the presents to buy, focus less on the presents you’ll get and focus on what Christmas is about? Christians can MISS Christ too, we can get distracted and forget what this season is truly about.

You have eyes to see so look at Christ.

You have a mind to know so gain more knowledge about Christ.

If you have received Christ as your Lord and Savior then don’t miss Him.

[1] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Third Ed., The New Daily Study Bible (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2001), 33.

1 A caste of wise men specializing in astronomy, astrology, and natural science

a ;

1 Lit prostrated; i.e. face down in a prone position to indicate worship

a ;

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