WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 This time of year, lots of people are full of fun and joy and excitement and anticipation. 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:11.000 ! They get the festive vibe and it's good cheer all round. 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:15.000 ! But that's not true for everyone, is it? 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:22.000 For some people, Christmas this season is a sad and hard time. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:29.000 More people than ever are struggling with loneliness and the fact that so many gather with friends and family at this time of year makes that feel worse. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.000 And more difficult. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:37.000 And that sadness can often come from those who are no longer there. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:44.000 This Christmas, there will be some of us who will be celebrating and there will be an empty chair. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:53.000 However beautiful the Christmas table, it's really that empty chair that casts its long and difficult shadow. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:59.000 Many of us can relate to that kind of pain, pain for other reasons as well. 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:04.000 For others, Christmas is just flat out annoying. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:09.000 I hate it, I read this recently in the media, I hate it when December comes around. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:14.000 I will break fingers if anybody tries to change my car stereo to a Christmas music channel. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:20.000 I make it clear that I want absolutely no gifts, so I don't have to feel obligated to reciprocate. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:26.000 I used to enjoy Christmas as a time to get with family and enjoy good times, whether you had gifts to exchange or not. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:34.000 I grew up dirt poor and still loved Christmas, until my insane family, both through marriage and otherwise, robbed me of that. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:35.000 Sigh. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:41.000 Okay, please tell me I'm not alone in doing a little internal dance when December the 26th throws around. 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:47.000 Okay, altogether now, joy to the world, let's sing. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:54.000 We can probably relate to at least one of these or understand how others will find the Christmas season joyful or painful or annoying. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:05.000 But one response that I doubt you will offer if I ask the how do you feel about Christmas question is that you find it threatening. 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:06.000 Threatening. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:07.000 Threatening. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:13.000 The carols, the mince pies, the turkey, the gifts, they don't pose any threat. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:18.000 Of course, nobody's going to suggest that Christmas is threatening. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:26.000 And yet, threatened is exactly how Matthew tells us people felt on that very first Christmas. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:37.000 Now, in this Advent series, we started back in Genesis chapter 3 with the promise that God made to send a serpent-crushing, conquering son into the world. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:45.000 Last week in Isaiah chapter 11, we saw that this son would be God's righteous king who would bring in God's kingdom of peace. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:52.000 And this morning, we see what happens when that king finally turns up on that first Christmas. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:59.000 And at the outset, Matthew is at pains here to make sure that we know that the one born in the manger is indeed that promised king. 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:00.000 Look at verse 1. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:06.000 Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men, magi, 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:09.000 from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:13.000 Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:17.000 For we saw his star when it rose, and have come to worship him. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:21.000 So we have the magi using his title, king of the Jews. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:31.000 And we have the star supernaturally capturing their attention and taking them, verse 9, to exactly the right spot where Jesus is in residence. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:36.000 Back in the Old Testament, Numbers chapter 24, Balaam prophesied of a coming king. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.000 He said this, 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:38.000 ! 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:39.000 I see him, but not now. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:40.000 I behold him, but not near. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:42.000 A star will come out of Jacob. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.000 A scepter will rise out of Israel. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:46.000 That's what they're waiting for. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:50.000 Here is the star drawing their attention to where he will be. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.000 That is then confirmed further by the scriptures. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:54.000 Verse 6, 00:03:54.000 --> 00:04:01.000 As Herod gathers his Bible experts to clarify where it was said that Christ, God's king, was to be born. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:02.000 Verse 5, 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.000 They told him, 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.000 In Bethlehem of Judea. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:06.000 For so it is written by the prophet, 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:12.000 And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:15.000 For from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:18.000 That's a combination of two Old Testament texts. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.000 Micah 5, 2, 2 Samuel 5, 2. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:26.000 Both of which identify the Messiah's birthplace as Bethlehem in Judea, in Judah. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:29.000 And then there are the gifts. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:30.000 Verse 11, 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:36.000 Opening their treasures they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:44.000 You might have seen last month the royal family are being hassled over not declaring certain expensive gifts that they have received as they've traveled around. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.000 I mean given gifts by different people, jewelry and the like. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.000 Well I wonder how HMRC would get on with these gifts. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.000 Gold, the most precious thing there was. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:58.000 Frankincense, an expensive perfumed resin. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:01.000 And myrrh, it's an exotic spice. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:03.000 This is top end luxury. 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:07.000 These are gifts fit only for a king. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:13.000 Point is the long awaited Messiah, the one that the Old Testament has spoken about is here. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:17.000 He is finally here. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:22.000 But rather than celebrate, look again at verse 3. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:26.000 When Herod, the king, heard this, he was troubled. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.000 He was annoyed. 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:30.000 Why was he annoyed? 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:35.000 Well because the one in the manger is a threat to Herod's authority and rule. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:37.000 He is God's king coming into the world. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:39.000 He is a threat to Herod's authority. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:40.000 And that's our first point. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:45.000 I want us to see the one born at Christmas is a threat to political power. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.000 He is a threat to political power. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.000 Notice how Matthew makes the point. 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:52.000 Verse 1, 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:56.000 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:57.000 Down again, verse 3. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:00.000 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:01.000 Verse 9, 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:03.000 After listening to the king. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:06.000 We are talking about the birth of a king. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:09.000 But there is a problem because there is another one who is the king. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:12.000 There is another who thinks that he holds the authority. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:17.000 When the Magi arrived asking to see the one who has been born king of the Jews, 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:19.000 Herod was thinking, hang on a minute. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.000 I am the king around here. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.000 I am the one with authority. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.000 I am in charge. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:34.000 The birth of Jesus under the realm of Herod the king opens up for us a tale really of two kings. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:39.000 And Herod knows that the one in the manger is really the true king. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:41.000 He is a threat to his rule. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:45.000 Jesus is an enemy of his godless state. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:53.000 And of course what does political power always do when confronted with the threat of King Jesus? 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.000 Try to get rid of him. 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:57.000 Ignore him. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:58.000 Reject him. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:02.000 Airbrush him out of society. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:07.000 And of course increasingly we see this at Christmas. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:09.000 Happy holidays. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:12.000 Season's greetings. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:15.000 We are going this weekend to the winter fair. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:18.000 A letter comes home from school. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.000 Dear parent, we are so pleased to have such a diverse school 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:25.000 and we are delighted that we can replace the nativity this year 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.000 with some other meaningless nonsense. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.000 It is just subtle, isn't it? 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:33.000 It is not season's greetings. 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.000 This is Christmas. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.000 And it does not matter what culture you are in across the world. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:40.000 It is Christmas. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:46.000 This is a celebration of the incarnation of God's king coming into the world. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:53.000 Now whatever we might do here with Christmas cards that say happy holidays, 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:55.000 Herod is even more radical. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:56.000 Look at verse 7. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:05.000 Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:07.000 And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:14.000 Go and search diligently for the child and when you have found him, bring me word that I may too come and worship him. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:18.000 Of course, there is a veneer of respectability. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:22.000 Go and find the child so I can join in the worship that he is due. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:25.000 But we already know from verse 3 that he is annoyed. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:27.000 He is annoyed about this new king. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:29.000 And that becomes clear as we read on. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:38.000 Herod is so desperate to hold on to power that he will go on a murderous rampage to protect his position. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:41.000 The wise men find the child but they don't tell him. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:44.000 And when Herod realizes he has been tricked, look at verse 16. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:51.000 He became furious and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem. 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:59.000 And in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:04.000 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:09.000 A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping in loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:12.000 She refused to be comforted because they are no more. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:23.000 If he can't find the specific child, he will work out when it was born and kill all the boys born around them to make sure he gets them. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:26.000 It is savage brutality. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:31.000 It doesn't sound very Christmassy, does it? 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:35.000 And yet that's the reality of that first Christmas. 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:40.000 The arrival of God's king was a threat to the political power structures of the day. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:45.000 So they tried to get rid of him by any means possible. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:52.000 We often think of Christmas, I think, as a time when we put our politics to one side. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:10:01.000 We have furtive conversations about seating arrangements at Christmas to make sure that Uncle Joe, who has recently joined Reform, 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:07.000 isn't sat anywhere near Helen, who is in her second year of PPE. 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:11.000 In more than a few homes, while waiting for guests to arrive, someone will say, 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:16.000 Now don't you start on Brexit or Remain or immigration or the economy. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.000 Don't do that. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:23.000 Don't worry darling, discretion is my middle name, you know that. 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:25.000 You said that last time. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:27.000 And Angela still isn't speaking to me. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.000 That kind of thing goes on. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:32.000 Christmas is no time for politics, we say. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:35.000 We don't want to kill the vibe. 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.000 Christmas is inescapably political. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:46.000 By which I mean, as soon as you declare that Jesus is God's king, you are making a political statement. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:52.000 Because if Jesus is Lord, that means no one else can be. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:55.000 If Jesus is Lord, he is Lord of everyone. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:11:02.000 Whatever they think, whatever they believe, and whatever office they hold in any given state. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.000 Jesus is Lord of Herod. 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:12.000 He is Lord of Keir Starmer, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:24.000 And he calls them all to repent and to turn to him and to use their authority to glorify him, to acknowledge him when they make their laws. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:32.000 Jesus is Lord of every newspaper editor, every podcast host, every talking political head, and every author. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:42.000 And he calls them all to repent and turn to him and to use their influence to glorify him, to acknowledge his supremacy when they write and speak. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:48.000 At Christ's first advent, the king of heaven and earth came into this world. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.000 And the political machinery of the day felt the threat. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:58.000 You should be absolutely unashamed to say this as those who name his name. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.000 You can't have private Christian faith. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:12.000 You can't have merely personal Christian faith, or Christian faith that endorses a secular public space in the name of democracy or pluralism or anything like that. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:19.000 You can't have a Jesus who is only for your family or the church or your in crowd. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:27.000 Jesus is God's promised king, and he is Lord of all, every single square inch. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.000 Herod knew that, and that is why he tried to get rid of him. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:42.000 Well, Jesus isn't just a threat to Herod or to political power, but there is more in verse 3 that we also need to see. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:50.000 Jesus is also a threat to personal control, a threat to our personal control. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:55.000 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:00.000 All Jerusalem realized the significance of the king's arrival. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:03.000 Christmas is a threat to us all. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:09.000 Because the truth is that none of us, by nature, want what it brings. 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:21.000 You see, all of us, because we are sinners, because we are rebels in God's world by nature, none of us want to live under the authority of God's king. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:26.000 That is threatening to us, and so we try and get rid of him just the way Herod did. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:30.000 Now, of course, we don't go on a murderous rampage. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.000 Sometimes it's polite indifference. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:36.000 We might come along to a carol service at this time of year, but really we can get ahead without him. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:39.000 We don't really need to pay any attention to Jesus. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.000 Sometimes, of course, it's more hostile than that. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:54.000 You absolutely hate Christmas like the woman that I quoted at the start, not because of the insincerity and the hassle and the way that family had destroyed the experience for her, but because you just don't want Jesus in your life. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:57.000 You don't want his authority in any shape or form. 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:07.000 We all of us have independence so deeply hardwired into us that we think that submission to anyone else is completely out. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:18.000 And submission taking ourselves out of the center of our lives and putting the Lord Jesus at the center, we think that will diminish us in some way. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:20.000 We'll lose out in some way. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:23.000 It will make us less than we could really be. 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:25.000 And so we don't do it. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:33.000 And we go off in all kinds of other directions to try and find inner peace, to try and find contentment and joy and satisfaction in the world. 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:39.000 And we'll go in any direction in order to find it apart from Jesus. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:51.000 But the truth is that our lives and our city and our world are proof that this just simply doesn't work. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:58.000 Even at Christmas, perhaps especially at this time of year, just look at the brokenness all around us. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:05.000 At your work Christmas parties, listen to the hurt and the frustration and the stress that the alcohol brings out. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:19.000 Watch how the occasion gives people the excuse to blow out, trying to escape, even if it's just for a moment, from the mundane, the difficult, the painful, the brokenness of life. 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:22.000 Here's the thing. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:34.000 That brokenness is honest about the world that we live in, about the reality of our experience in a fallen world. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:40.000 But it will only be fixed through bringing ourselves under the rule of King Jesus. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:41.000 It's striking. 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:45.000 Matthew 2 is really presenting us with a choice between two masters. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:49.000 We all give ourselves to some kind of master. 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:54.000 That is, we all devote ourselves to something in life that we feel will give us what we want. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.000 Bob Dylan, you've got to serve somebody. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:58.000 That's true. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:15:59.000 We are. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:01.000 We are worshiping serving beings. 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:03.000 And so we give ourselves to something. 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.000 We worship, serve somebody or something. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:10.000 And Matthew has ordered this chapter to show us the two possible options. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.000 There are only two. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:16.000 Either we have a tyrannical master, Herod. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:20.000 And Herod here could stand for anything that consumes our lives. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:25.000 Anything that we devote ourselves to that doesn't cause us to flourish as we should. 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:26.000 This could even be good things. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:30.000 You can give yourself to a good thing and it becomes a tyranny in your life. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:35.000 You can devote yourself to a relationship or to family or to career success. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:43.000 And when those things have come into your life at the center of things, those things will become a master that crushes you. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:44.000 A tyranny. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:50.000 Even good things, when they're elevated to ultimate things, become bad masters. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.000 So that's one side. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:54.000 We can have a tyrannical master. 00:16:55.000 --> 00:17:00.000 Or we can have a master who brings us freedom and joy and peace with God. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.000 Look at verse 10. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:06.000 That is what the Magi discovered when they encountered Jesus. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:07.000 Look at verse 10. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:12.000 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:20.000 The star that was going to take them to God's King was the one who would bring joy. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.000 They rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:27.000 Here's the heart of Christmas. 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:29.000 Here's really the essence of it all. 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:32.000 The King, the people have been waiting for, has come. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:36.000 And this joy is what comes to us when we bow the knee to Him. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:39.000 He brings peace with God. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:43.000 Because He brings forgiveness for our sin. 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:46.000 Freedom from our slavery to our appetites. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:50.000 He does that not in His coming, but in His death at Easter. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.000 As He goes to the cross on Good Friday. 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:59.000 As He takes in Himself the punishment for our sins in our place. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:02.000 And three days later, He rises again to new life. 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:08.000 All of these things come to us through the one born at Christmas, through His death and resurrection. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:10.000 That is what He offers. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:12.000 That is what this King offers. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:15.000 But we must bow the knee to Him. 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:21.000 We must acknowledge His authority and surrender personal control of our lives to Him. 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:24.000 Yes, it's true. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:28.000 The kingly rule of Jesus Christ does threaten us. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:32.000 But it need not do so. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:42.000 Because these wise men, the Magi, they show us that submission to this king is the way to joy. 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:48.000 Joy in the present, even through the trials of life in a broken world. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:52.000 And the fullness of joy in eternity. 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:57.000 Far from diminishing us. 00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:59.000 Far from taking from us. 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:04.000 Submission to King Jesus is the way to joy and a life. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:07.000 Life in all its fullness. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:11.000 So I guess the challenge for us is choose your king. 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:14.000 Choose your king. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.000 It's one or the other. 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.000 You either stand with Jesus or you stand with Herod. 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:21.000 One of those will bring joy. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:22.000 The other will bring tyranny. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:26.000 Yes, Jesus does threaten our independence. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.000 But when we trust ourselves to Him, He gives us... 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:34.000 Well, what He gives us in return is far better. 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:41.000 Well, the kingly rule of Jesus doesn't just threaten us personally. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.000 It also threatens our vision of Christmas. 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:49.000 Here are some implications of recognizing Him for who He is and recognizing what that means for this time of year. 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.000 You see, as you read the story, it's full of drama. 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:54.000 It's full of near misses, the second half. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:58.000 Verse 12, the Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:00.000 That could have worked out very differently. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:05.000 Verse 13, verse 19, the angel of the Lord is guiding Joseph in his dreams. 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:12.000 What's going on here is that God is ensuring that Jesus is kept and that the Old Testament was fulfilled. 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:17.000 So the reality is the Christmas story ultimately belongs to God. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:23.000 God is in complete control throughout the narrative here, unfolding His plan. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:35.000 And when you see that, when you recognize that the Christmas story is about God bringing His king into the world and making sure that His plan goes exactly as it should, 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:38.000 that the Old Testament promises are all completely fulfilled. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:51.000 When you recognize that the fear of Herod here and the joy of the wise men and the generosity of their gifts, when you recognize those things, 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:52.000 that the world is called the world is called the world. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:53.000 And here is the world. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:56.000 Modern visions of Christmas are ruled out as well. 00:20:57.000 --> 00:21:06.000 So the sentimental view of Christmas, where Christmas is sweet, the cozy manger scene, 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:13.000 or the sweet-looking angel on the Christmas card, or the perfect Christmas family photo, 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:18.000 or the idea that everybody must just get on and for a few days there is nothing but sweetness and light. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:24.660 Christmas is about God's king coming to turn the world upside down. 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:32.440 And the ensuing conflict as the political elite of the day turn to murder in order to try and stop his rule. 00:21:32.539 --> 00:21:35.559 There's nothing sentimental or sweet about Christmas. 00:21:38.200 --> 00:21:41.920 Another modern vision of Christmas that's ruled out is the moralistic vision. 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:43.920 Where Christmas is sinless. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.560 So Christ came into the world, his arrival. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.700 It was a threat to human autonomy because we are rebels in his world. 00:21:53.460 --> 00:21:58.039 There is lots of talk this time of year about goodwill to all men. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:01.920 And there is lots of people being nicer to other people. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:06.700 And thinking to themselves, going to try hard to change and be a better person. 00:22:07.860 --> 00:22:11.140 The way Ebenezer Scrooge has changed in A Christmas Carol. 00:22:11.140 --> 00:22:19.520 But giving to the poor and being extra generous to charity at this time of year when the buckets go round, when they're given a shake. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:21.540 That's not the point of Christmas. 00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:25.720 And it won't get to the bottom of our problem of sin. 00:22:27.660 --> 00:22:29.620 Now of course be generous by all means. 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:32.860 But don't think that this is what Christmas is really about. 00:22:32.859 --> 00:22:38.579 Christmas is about the Son of God coming into the world to save us from ourselves. 00:22:38.819 --> 00:22:41.439 Not inspire us to be better versions of ourselves. 00:22:45.919 --> 00:22:49.959 And I also want to suggest there's a third vision of Christmas that we must also reject. 00:22:50.659 --> 00:22:53.839 And that's what I'll call spiritual Christmas. 00:22:54.500 --> 00:22:56.779 Where Christmas is, well, spiritual. 00:22:56.779 --> 00:23:04.099 So what I mean is, in wanting to reject the excesses of materialism, these people run the other way. 00:23:04.740 --> 00:23:05.980 So we don't do gifts. 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:09.099 We don't make a fuss. 00:23:09.139 --> 00:23:09.899 No special food. 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:10.660 No special drink. 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:14.039 We simply celebrate the incarnation of Jesus in our hearts. 00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:22.139 That's presented by some as a kind of noble, virtuous approach to Christmas. 00:23:22.140 --> 00:23:26.000 Jesus was a flesh and blood baby. 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:32.100 He was a real physical material gift to Mary and to the world. 00:23:32.840 --> 00:23:38.880 The Magi brought real gold, real frankincense and real myrrh to express their love and devotion to the Lord. 00:23:39.940 --> 00:23:41.540 You might say, oh, they give to the Lord. 00:23:41.620 --> 00:23:42.780 We give gifts to each other. 00:23:43.320 --> 00:23:46.020 And of course the culture has gone completely mad on that front. 00:23:46.100 --> 00:23:46.860 And that is true. 00:23:48.060 --> 00:23:50.040 But we should still give gifts. 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:51.779 And we should still celebrate. 00:23:51.940 --> 00:23:57.700 Because in our gift giving, we are remembering that God gave the ultimate gift to us in the Lord Jesus. 00:23:58.740 --> 00:24:02.119 He didn't do that spiritually in our hearts somewhere. 00:24:03.139 --> 00:24:06.139 But in a real and physical and tangible way. 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:10.359 And that generosity was unsurpassable. 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:16.599 Giving and receiving gifts enables us to realize again the significance of what happened in Bethlehem. 00:24:16.599 --> 00:24:21.959 And declares to the world the wonder of God becoming man for us. 00:24:23.959 --> 00:24:25.779 The Christian life is physical. 00:24:27.079 --> 00:24:28.519 Christmas is physical. 00:24:29.019 --> 00:24:30.379 We're about to eat and drink. 00:24:31.059 --> 00:24:33.299 In a meal that the Lord has instituted for us. 00:24:33.639 --> 00:24:35.039 Real physical elements. 00:24:36.199 --> 00:24:38.359 Let's not overly spiritualize. 00:24:39.059 --> 00:24:40.839 Our relationship with the Lord. 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:44.159 The coming of Jesus isn't sweet. 00:24:44.619 --> 00:24:46.119 It threatens political power. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:47.679 It threatens our personal control. 00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:54.599 But don't forget, as I've said this morning, the answer to that threat is not to run from it, but to run to it. 00:24:54.699 --> 00:24:55.500 Run to Him. 00:24:55.679 --> 00:24:56.579 To the Lord Jesus. 00:24:57.399 --> 00:25:00.099 And we discover there that the threat turns to a welcome. 00:25:01.579 --> 00:25:03.059 He saves us from our sin. 00:25:03.059 --> 00:25:10.119 And so in Him then there is really the experience of the Magi Israel. 00:25:10.279 --> 00:25:11.539 There is exceeding joy. 00:25:12.819 --> 00:25:14.000 This is why we celebrate. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:16.200 Let's pray together.