This is the 2021 version presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries on 26 December 2021 by Captain Michael Ramsay
In this passage that we
have just read, Matthew’s version of the Christmas story, we are faced with
three responses to the miracle of the birth of Christ, the coming of the
Messiah:
- 1)
That
of Joseph (his legal father),
- 2)
Herod
(King of Judea), and
- 3)
Some
magi (astrologers, astronomers, magicians or wise men, traditionally ‘we three
kings’).
I want to look a little
bit today at their three different responses to the news that Jesus was to be
born and the news that he was actually born.
JOSEPH
First we have Joseph:
Joseph is a carpenter/stone mason. He is from the tribe of Judah and – of
course – a famous ancestor of his is King David. We are told in our text today
that Joseph, verse 19, is righteous. In our world these days when we think of a
righteous person what would we think that they would be like? They would pray,
read the Bible, love God and love their neighbour (cf. Luke 10:27)?. This was
very much what it would have meant for Joseph too. Joseph served God and to the
first century Jews righteousness meant that one was very good at keeping the
religious law of the day.
Matthew tells us also,
Verse 1:18, that Joseph is pledged to be married to a girl named Mary - Now,
betrothal in first century is not like it is today. When you are engaged then
you are already bound. You are already considered as husband and wife and the
union can only be dissolved through death or divorce but before Mary and Joseph
ever ‘know each other’ in the Biblical sense, Mary becomes pregnant. Imagine
this scenario with me, if you will: you are engaged, you have not had relations
with your fiancée and all of a sudden you find out that she is pregnant. What
would you do? What would you say? What would you feel? What would you think?
What would you think and what would you do if your girlfriend to whom you are
engaged becomes pregnant – and not by you? Would you still get married? Joseph,
when he finds out that Mary is pregnant, is planning to call off the wedding
altogether. Verse 19 says that he wants to do this quietly so as to not bring
any disgrace upon Mary. He is a righteous man.
Then something happens.
Joseph has a dream. He dreams about an angel and in the dream this angel tells
Joseph that he should ‘take Mary home as his wife’, Verse 20, ‘because what is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit’. He then dreams about what to name
this child and how this son will save people from even their sins. It is now
that Joseph has a number of decisions to make.
1)
Does
he believe in visions in general and does he believe in this vision in
particular?
2)
Does
he believe that an angel actually has spoken to him and does he believe that
what this angel has told him is true?
3)
And
how will he respond to his belief? Will he ignore his conviction that this
vision is from God and press on with the separation/divorce anyway or will he
accept the commission given to him from God through a messenger in a dream?
What would you do? Do you believe in your dreams?
Joseph does. Joseph is
a righteous man. When Joseph awakes from his sleep, Verse 24, he does
everything the angel from the Lord tells him to do including taking Mary home
as his wife and not having any sexual relations with her until this child is
born. This is Joseph. Joseph is a righteous man. He follows his dream. He
follows God.
KING HEROD
Our Bible reading today
mentions Herod. History tells us about Herod. Herod is a regional king. He
works for the Romans and he is known as ‘Herod the Great’. Herod is a great
political leader and as such is involved in all the political intrigue of his
era in all the ways that political intrigue is carried out in his time. He is a king but his job is no more secure
than that of a contemporary politician and Herod defends his title and his job no
less vigorously: in order to secure his position, Herod needs to back the right
horse and defeat all his rivals. He – like many contemporary politicians –
switches his allegiances more than once as to whom he backs for Emperor – first
he backs Mark Anthony’s coalition government and later crosses the floor to
support Caesar Augustus. Herod is a king who leaves behind a good legacy of building
and growth but he is an adept politician, cruel and insecure. The title awarded
to him by Caesar Augustus is Herod, King of the Jews.
Imagine what it must
have been like for him. Imagine you are King of the Jews and these privileged
academics come to you from a foreign country and they ask, “Where is your
replacement?” Matthew 2:2, they ask “Where is the one who has been born King of
the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Imagine,
you have this job that you have fought hard for all your life and your job
title is ‘King of the Jews’ and these strangers come up to you and ask to meet
your replacement, the new King of the Jews. How would you react?
I was a dishwasher once
for about a week as a teenager; the job didn’t go well and I didn’t get along
with my co-worker and one day I met a friend for coffee; he was excited as he
told me that he had just been hired for a job at this SAME restaurant. When we
talk for a while it becomes apparent that they have hired him for MY job. That
is how I found out that I was going to be fired. This could be what it is like
for Herod when he hears this news that a there is going to be a new king of the
Jews. This news is a shock to him. This news is a threat to him. Current kings
can be killed when new kings take over. Herod is the king. Who is this new King
of the Jews? If you were Herod, what would you do? Herod is determined to
eliminate his would-be-rival so Herod sends in the troops. The military
massacres male babies two years and younger in order to wipe out any possible
rival who may have been recently born. This is Herod’s reaction to the birth of
Jesus. He tries to remove him.
THE MAGI
In our story today we
also have the Magi. Our word ‘magic’ comes from the same root as ‘magi’. They
are learned people who see this ‘star’. They come from the east (cf.
Philippians 2:10-11). Remember that travel isn’t easy in that day and age: they
can’t just hop a flight or drive the Trans-Palestine superhighway to Jerusalem.
These wise men realize from their studies of the world around them that the
King of the Jews has been born (cf. Numbers 24:17, Daniel 9:25, John 4:25, Romans
1). What do they do when they discover this? Remember that they probably aren’t
Jews and they don’t live in the area. What do these foreign academics do when
they find out a king of the Jews has been born? They put their whole lives on
hold and come to find him in order to worship him (Matthew 2:2; cf. TSA d.
2,4).
Matthew provides us
with these contrasting example to the birth of the king because people in the
first century had a choice to make as to whether they were going to serve their
contemporary systems of government or whether they were going to serve the NEW KING.
We have to face the
same choice today. The king has already been born. That is what Christmas is
all about. This King has, is and will change the whole world. Jesus proclaims a
new world order. Jesus is an end to capitalism,
democracy, consumerism, imperialism, and whatever other ‘ism’ people are
tempted to serve. The systems that raised up Herod and the Magi; Biden and Trudeau; Horgan and whomever, will come to
an end. This world where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer is coming
to an end. This world where man makes war against man will end. Like White Lion proclaims, ‘no more
presidents and all the wars will end, then we will have one united kingdom
under God.’ This is what the Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke are about. With
Jesus birth, life, death, and resurrection, Sin has been defeated. Jesus
birth in a game changer; the game has now been won; and when he returns (any
day now) it will be over. Whenever each of us realizes this, we need to make a
decision – do we love Jesus like Joseph and acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and
leader and worship him like the Magi or do we rebel against him, trying to root
him out of our life and our world like Herod. It is my hope that on this day
after Christmas Day 2000+ years closer to the return of Christ than on the day
of his birth, that we will each choose to live forever in this New Kingdom with
this new King.
Let us Pray
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