Well if you've come in since the beginning let me say again thank you so much for coming and joining us. It's a real thrill to see you all here and to join with you together.
I just want to talk to you for a few moments from that passage that we just have read to us from Matthew chapter 2 so you might find it helpful to keep that open in front of you.
Does the festive season enchant you or enrage you? Christmas it brings out the best of us doesn't it and also the worst in us.
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How does it work? We invite you to take part in our Christmas rage room by donning red jumpsuits, hard hats, arming yourselves with a baseball bat, and letting your rage out on Christmas paraphernalia.
Christmas trees, Christmas trees, baubles, dancing santas, whatever you like, all to the Christmas soundtrack of your choice.
It's £18 for four minutes by the way if you're interested.
While it's full of joy and cheer and light, there is a dark side to Christmas, isn't there?
We wonder why Matthew, if he's trying to commend Jesus to us in his account of the birth of Jesus, why does he tell us about the dark side of Christmas?
He includes details here, doesn't he, about the ultimate Scrooge, the ultimate hater of Christmas, the enraged King Herod.
He is very, very stressed out, isn't he, that first Christmas, but in a much more serious way than perhaps we are.
Well, he tells us about him because this is history, first of all.
There was really a king called Herod, who lived at the time when Jesus was born.
Matthew places this in history, it's not a myth that we're hearing about this afternoon, but more than that,
to show us that, joking aside, when the light of Christmas appears, there is a dark side.
There is a dark side in Herod, and there is a dark side in all of us.
Matthew talks us through Herod's response to this baby, to warn us about our response.
So I've got three headings for you, just in a short time now, three R words to show you Herod's response.
First of all, Herod meets his new rival.
Herod meets his new rival.
Just imagine the scene in Jerusalem.
It's the royal city, isn't it?
It's the centre of Herod's royal power.
However, history tells us that Herod has worked his way to the top.
He's got a few skeletons in his closet, probably literally, because he's bumped off a few of his family members
to keep his grip on power as king.
And he is the king you don't mess with.
There are no contenders to my throne, he says.
I'm the king and I'm the ruler.
But what's the first thing that Herod hears at Christmas?
Some wise men turn up in Jerusalem, don't they?
And they ask this question in verse 2 there.
Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?
What a question to ask.
Yeah, we know there is Herod.
But where is the king?
Where is the new king who's been born?
The first thing Herod hears that first Christmas?
I've got a rival.
There is a new king.
The light appears, doesn't it?
But in Herod we see a dark side.
Herod is bothered by the light.
Herod is bothered by this new rival.
We're told in verse 3 down there, he is troubled.
It's a loaded word.
He's agitated.
He's stressed out.
He's stirred up.
The veins in his neck kind of bulge.
And his face goes red.
And he gets cold sweats.
Apparently in the ancient world,
with the appearance of a new star,
it symbolised the death of an old king
and the birth of a new one.
When Jesus appears,
it's as if Herod is reading his own obituary.
It's as if Herod sees his power slipping away.
The stress of Christmas for Herod
is a realisation that as Jesus is born,
he has a rival.
He is losing the right to be in charge.
He's faced with the uncomfortable question,
where is the real king?
But this is the dark side in him, isn't it?
He doesn't want there to be a rival.
He doesn't want to be ruled.
He wants to rule.
We read the story, don't we?
And we kind of boo and hiss at Herod.
He's kind of ultimate pantomime character, isn't he?
The ultimate villain.
But there is a sense that we need to learn
from Herod's response.
That actually we need to think more like Herod.
Because Herod realises the truth of Christmas.
He realises that because Jesus has come,
he has lost the right to rule his own life.
He no longer has the right to be in charge.
And if we understand Christmas,
if we understand who Jesus is,
there is a sense that Jesus should trouble us too.
He comes to rule.
To rule this world.
To rule me and to rule you.
And once the light of Jesus has dawned on you,
a new king comes to rule.
And we don't like that, do we?
We don't like rivals.
And like Herod, there is a dark side in us at Christmas.
Herod has a new rival.
Second thing though,
Herod deals with his rival
with a ruse.
Herod's ruse.
Herod has two choices with Jesus, doesn't he?
He can either attack Jesus' rule
or he can surrender to his rule.
Attack or surrender.
And we know in the story which one he goes for, don't we?
But he thinks he can do it in a clever way.
Did you notice in the story,
Herod's way of dealing with Jesus
is to lie and mislead with a ruse.
We're told in verse 8,
he gets the wise men in private
and he says,
go and search diligently for the child
and when you've found him,
bring me word
so that I can go and worship him too.
And we're thinking,
nice try, Herod.
We know that's not his real intention,
don't we?
He wears a mask.
He acts as if he is one thing
when he's another.
He says,
let's pretend with Jesus.
His way of defending himself
against the perceived threat of Jesus' rule
is to twist the truth.
He pretends he's out to worship Jesus
when actually he wants to destroy Jesus.
And the ruse is his coping mechanism
to divert the reality of the situation.
to turn the truth into a lie,
to pretend.
We know the truth under Herod's mask,
don't we?
Under his mask,
there is a man who is deeply insecure,
who is troubled by Jesus.
And the only way to cope with Jesus
is to bend the truth for him.
It's what we do,
isn't it?
Attack or surrender?
And we think that we can pretend
things are false
when they're just not.
We play,
let's pretend with Jesus.
We pretend not to believe
when deep down
we know these things are true.
We live in God's world,
we're surrounded by his creation,
we depend on him for life,
we are creatures.
We pretend we can bluff King Jesus.
We might even pretend
that we worship him
when actually we want to get rid of him.
We mask the truth.
Now, when we look at Herod,
he's a total megalomaniac, isn't he?
I mean, he's way off the scale.
We see in him a very tragic,
sad man.
Do you notice when he was troubled,
Matthew gives us that little detail
in verse 3, doesn't he?
When he was troubled,
all Jerusalem was troubled with him.
He's a king who has used other people,
used his own people,
to kind of bolster his own choices.
And they've become conditioned
into being on tender huts
every time he's unhappy,
haven't they?
He needs them to be their yes,
his yes men.
So his rude with Jesus
feeds off being surrounded with people
whose reaction corresponds
with how he feels.
They were troubled as well.
As he attacks Jesus,
everyone else around him
has to fall in line.
In our insecurities,
when Jesus comes and claims rule
in our lives,
as we play,
let's pretend with him,
it is much easier to do that,
isn't it,
when everyone else is doing it too.
We're troubled by Jesus,
and we say,
I'm going to get rid of him,
but that's okay,
because everyone's doing it.
We corporately feed
each other's deception.
Herod's met his rival,
he tries a ruse,
but he can't hide,
can he?
Because we see in the end,
Herod's rage.
We see Herod's rage,
that's the third R.
The light of Jesus
comes into Herod's life,
but it doesn't bring him
a warm feeling,
does it?
It doesn't make him feel
nice and sentimental.
Instead of playing
Bing Crosby on his CD player,
he plays Rage Against the Machine,
doesn't he?
Once the ruse fails,
we see what's under the mask.
Jesus brings him out
in a rage.
And at the end of Herod's story,
we get this really grisly,
last-ditch attempt
to attack Jesus,
don't we?
It's there in verse 16,
and it's kind of the verse
that we kind of go,
ugh,
when we read it,
isn't it?
When Herod realised
that he'd been outwitted
by the Magi,
he was furious,
and he gave orders
to kill all the boys
in Bethlehem
and its vicinity
who were two years old
and under.
From our knowledge
of history
and village sizes
around that time,
Herod executed
about 12 to 13
little toddlers
that night.
The mask slips.
We see his rage
at this new king,
an unhinged,
desperate,
tragic rage.
The atheist philosopher
Thomas Nagel
speaks candidly
and honestly
about his feelings.
He admits that
at the heart
of his atheism
is not that
he thinks
Jesus' rule
is irrational
or undeserved,
but simply
that he doesn't
want it.
He says,
I'm speaking
from experience,
being strongly
subject to this
feeling.
It isn't just
that I don't
believe in God,
it's that I hope
there is no God.
I don't want
there to be a God,
he says.
And my guess
is that this
cosmic authority
problem is not rare.
It's really honest,
isn't it?
And he's hit the nail
on the head
for Herod.
In his rage,
he just doesn't
want Jesus
to rule him.
Herod the king
commits treason
against the real king.
It's attack
or surrender.
And the incarnation,
what we think about
every Christmas,
proves to us
that actually
we're not so
unlike Herod
after all.
Because when God
comes into the world,
when the light
of Jesus shines,
how do we respond?
We don't relish
his rule in our lives.
We rage at him.
Our cosmic authority
problem,
as Nagel puts it,
becomes manifestly
obvious to all
when we try
and snuff out
the light,
nail him to a cross
and kill him.
The mask slips
and our rage
against him
comes out.
You've got to feel
a bit of pity
for Herod,
haven't you?
Attack
or surrender?
And he makes
the wrong choice.
And his story
ends here.
As Jesus'
parents take him
to safety,
we see in verse 15
he's in safety
until Herod
dies.
It's there
in the Gospels.
As if it could have
been any other way.
Where is the real
king here?
I would have thought
the answer to that
question is obvious,
isn't it?
And Herod couldn't
fool him
or rage against him
and neither can you.
King of the Jews
was the title
that almost got
Jesus killed
when he was a baby.
But it was
impossible to
defeat him.
His rule
couldn't be stopped.
But Jesus
would embody
that title
once more.
Not at his birth
but at his death.
If you read
Matthew's Gospel
he tells us later
that that title
comes back
and it's written
above his head
as he dies
on a cross.
He's nailed
and killed there.
Reading
King of the Jews.
In the end
that title
does cost
Jesus
his life
and he is
defeated.
Our rage
finally snaps
out the light.
But
in an ironic
twist
his weak death
was actually
his greatest
moment of power.
His greatest
act of kindness
towards us
as king.
For in his death
he voluntarily
receives
what is deserved
by his enemies.
By those
who rage
against him.
He lovingly
absorbs
what is due
to us
in our rage.
In Jesus
in a mysterious
way
God himself
receives
the penalty
for treason
in God's
own kingdom.
The death
penalty is given
and the sword
falls in judgment
on him
and Jesus
receives
what we deserve
in our stead.
Like Herod
you can't remove
Jesus' rule.
You just can't
do that.
but with a
king as good
and as kind
as that
who would
want to?
He is a
king who
loves his
people with
an incredible
love.
Taking on
their own
rebellion
onto himself.
He is a
king who is
literally dying
to love
his people.
Such a
contrast
isn't it
to see how
the wise
men respond
to the
star.
They go
in and
worship
Jesus
and it's
a little
picture of
how things
go.
Attack or
surrender.
Herod will
continue in
paranoia and
insecurity and
anxiety and
stress.
Vainly holding
on to his
power.
Going to the
grave in
desperation.
And the
wise men enjoy
Jesus' presence.
They surrender
to him and
worship.
Just as we
close, let me
say, I'm not a
mind reader this
afternoon, I'm
not going to do
any tricks or
anything, but as
arrogant as it may
sound, I know
what's going to
happen next.
I will shut up
finally.
And you will do
one of two things
this afternoon.
You will leave
this building and
another year will
roll around and
you will either
attack or
surrender.
You will attack
him or surrender
to his rule.
Because the
dark side in
Herod is the
dark side of
every Christmas.
Because it
asks us the
question, where
is the real
king?
A king who
rivals our
right to be in
charge of our
own lives, but
he is a king who
dies and rises
from the dead to
rescue us from
the very serious
consequences of
how we behaved
in his kingdom.
Perhaps Matthew
has prodded
something in you
as you come here
to this carol
service.
But maybe you're
a kind of
sceptical person
and you doubt
some of what
you've heard.
Can I ask you to
be consistent in
your scepticism and
doubt your doubts?
Come and talk to
us.
Come and learn
more about this
great king.
We run a talk
here every
Tuesday, the
Ealing Lunchtime
Talk.
There are some
flyers at the
back.
Why not take
home the
Matthew's Gospel
that was on your
chairs and read
that over Christmas
and learn more
about Jesus the
King?
Let me plead with
you not to make
the same mistakes
that Herod made.
Don't think you
can fight him or
fool him or
finish him off.
It is attack or
surrender.
So come out of
the dark and
surrender to the
King who loves
his people this
much.
Come and worship
him, King
Jesus.
Amen.