The Lutheran Hour
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"No Need to Be Disturbed"
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Text: Matthew 2:1-3a
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Wise men and women still follow the star to see the Babe of Bethlehem, the Christ of the Cross, their Savior and their Lord.
A most blessed New Year to all of our listeners. In some parts of the country it’s cold today. For some of our listeners in Canada and Alaska, it may well be very cold. If Jack Frost is nipping at your nose and you’ve got a few logs burning in your fireplace, allow me to warm you up a bit with a story of summer. This particular story took place a number of years ago on a warm July night. As is often the case, the humidity got high, and pretty soon thunderstorms started to roll over the small town. The fireworks in the sky were no problem for a small boy – at least until it came time for him to go to bed. Mother and son had completed their prayers and she was done tucking him in. As mom got ready to throw the switch on the bedroom light, her son in a quiet voice asked, “Mommy, could you sleep in here with me tonight?” Replying by giving a smile and a hug, mom said, “I don’t think so, honey. I have to sleep in Daddy’s room.” She managed to get the light off and was a few feet down the hall when she heard her son’s comment: “The big sissy!”
The big sissy. That pretty much describes King Herod after he heard the question of the Wise Men who had followed the Divinely sent star to Jerusalem. Let me read how Matthew recorded the event. “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, magi, (magi were astrologers of the ancient world) from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘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.’ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” Can you believe it? The king was disturbed at the birth of a little Baby! What, was this Baby born with a machine gun in one hand and a hand grenade in the other? Did this Baby know karate? What’s the story here? Why would a king be disturbed at the birth of a Baby? It seems that Herod is just a big sissy. Herod had an army. Herod had more than a few fortresses to protect him. Herod had a bodyguard. Herod had the backing of the emperor of Rome. How can the birth of a Baby in a Bethlehem stable make him tremble with fear? The big sissy!
That was my first reaction to Herod. Then I started to think. You know, over the centuries various rulers, when they came to power, have done their best to eliminate, and when I use the word eliminate here, I mean, “murder” their opposition. They did all they could to remove from consideration any individual who might be competition to their wearing of a crown, or who might snatch the reins of government from their dubious and debatable grasp.
In 1483, England’s young prince Edward V, and his little brother were locked away in the Tower of London by their uncle. That same uncle declared himself king and immediately following his coronation, the little princes disappeared. The uncle later declared them to be assumed dead. He knew they were. Three hundred years later in 1795, after the French Revolution had successfully beheaded King Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette, the rebels were left with a decision: “what to do with the royal son?” The choice was made to keep the boy locked away. The ten-year-old stayed in prison until cruel treatment by his jailer hastened his death.
Are these all stories of big sissies? Not at all. These rulers realized that a young prince can grow into a powerful, troublemaking king. That’s why, from a purely practical, political point of view, these young royals had to die.
With such precedent, no student of history is surprised to hear Herod’s worried reaction to the Wise Men’s question: “Where’s the new King?” Herod had cause to be worried. Although he was king of the Jewish nation, he wasn’t Jewish. He was Idumean, a distant, second-rate cousin to the Jews. In order to make himself acceptable, he had managed to be married into a blue-blooded, noble Jewish family. The Jews still didn’t like him.
When he found he couldn’t get the people to love him, Herod settled on second best: he would get the people to fear him. Jealous, merciless, suspicious, and ruthless, Herod made sure nobody would ever try to challenge his kingship. Over the years he managed to drown his wife’s brother, the high priest; he killed his favorite wife, her mother, and three of his own sons.
With that kind of track record, Herod’s reaction to the Wise Men’s question, “Where is the One Who has been born King of the Jews?” is not shocking. Not knowing himself where the Child was born, he forwarded the question to the religious leaders of Jerusalem. They didn’t miss a beat coming up with an answer. “The promised King? Oh, He’s going to be born in Bethlehem of Judea. At least that’s what the prophets wrote.” The priests knew where the King was going to be born. The captain of the temple knew. The leaders of the priests knew. The temple treasurer knew. The religious authorities knew. The lawyers knew. Everybody knew. The fact that everybody knew the prophecies concerning the King’s coming, didn’t turn down the heat of Herod’s paranoia. He was disturbed, and when Herod got disturbed, everybody got disturbed. The people of Jerusalem knew their king. There was no telling what might happen when Herod went after this newborn Rival. A strong sense of self-preservation forced the people of Jerusalem to hunker down and wait for the storm to pass.
They were hunkering down when Herod played “Mr. Nice” with the Wise Men. They hunkered down as the Wise Men left the court and headed off to Bethlehem. I often wonder: “As the Wise Men made their way out of Jerusalem, didn’t they think it peculiar that they were still traveling alone? Didn’t they think it unusual that nobody, including Herod, was joining them on the short trip to Bethlehem? Didn’t they think it strange that not a single soul wanted to come with them to pay their respects to the newborn King?” If the Wise Men had any such thoughts, they’re not recorded in Scripture. All we know is that the Wise Men went, found the house where Jesus was staying, presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; then having worshipped the Christ Child, they, having been warned by God not to go back to Herod, returned to their homelands by a different route. Herod was not pleased.
Since the days of Herod, other rulers have been disturbed by the Bethlehem Baby. Modern history records many leaders who have been afraid of the newborn King. When the Russian Bolsheviks murdered the future Tsar of Russia, they also did their best to eliminate the Christ Child. The Nazis tried to control the Baby, so has the People’s Republic of China. This day, more than 2,000 years after the Bethlehem birth, North Korea has imprisoned tens of thousands of people for their faith in the Baby. The Communist state of Vietnam continues to try to force the followers of the Baby to renounce their faith. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that in some countries, freedom of religion has been interpreted to mean freedom of any religion, any idea, any philosophy, other than that of the Bethlehem Baby.
Apparently the Baby is frightening to religions, as well as rulers. When the Baby was born in Bethlehem, the religious leaders of the day knew where He was born, and then did their best to ignore Him. Today modern religions have taken the indifference of the ancient priests and transformed it into hatred, revulsion, repulsion and repugnance. Afraid that their people might meet the Baby, be touched by the Baby, and actually love this Baby, Islamic Saudi Arabia forbids followers of the Baby from coming together in worship; Islamic Iran arrests and holds without trial, those who would follow the Baby. This day in the Maldives, the Islamic government demands that all citizens be Muslim, and public worship of the Baby is prohibited. In these and other countries, the Baby is feared, His churches are banned, and the importing of non-Muslim religious material is forbidden. Still, Islam is not the only religion of the world that is fearful of the Baby. In Myanmar, the Buddhist government restricts the educational and economic rights of the Baby’s followers. It’s not much different in Buddhist Bhutan, where Christian religious materials are outlawed, and the followers of the Baby are denied access to government services.
What can possibly be so frightening about a Baby that would make world powers and world religions tremble in terror? Simply this. The Bethlehem Baby didn’t stay a Baby. If He had, nobody other than Herod would have had a problem with Him. If He had stayed a Baby, cute and cuddly and perpetually cooing, it would have been all right.
But the Baby didn’t stay as He was. The Baby grew up. He grew up and began doing things, astonishing things, unusual things, miraculous things. He healed lepers, and the lame, and the blind, and the deaf, and the possessed. But His healings aren’t what make religions and rulers hate Him. He has not been despised merely because He was a Doer-of-good-deeds. Something else makes Him a threat to the powers of the world.
No, the Baby didn’t stay as He was. The Baby grew up and as a Man, fed thousands of people with a few loaves and fishes; He managed to still storms with a concise command. But these amazing things are good things, and cannot be held responsible for the hatred which continues to be directed at Him, 2000 years after He walked this earth. There must be something else which makes Him appear to be dangerous to both priest and potentate.
The Baby didn’t stay as He was. No, the Baby grew up and He told stories. He told many stories. He told stories of shepherds, sowers, slaves and Samaritans; of publicans, prodigals and priorities; of lost coins, lost sheep and lost opportunities. His were beautiful stories, and if He had stopped with the telling of His tales, the world’s religions and rulers might have praised His words, even as they do those of Aesop and Homer.
But He didn’t stay a Baby. If He had, He might have gone down in history as a mighty Magician, or an inspired Philosopher, or an accomplished Healer, or a brilliant Storyteller. But He didn’t stay as He was. He grew up. He continued on, explaining Who He was, and why He had come. He said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Then, having made this claim, Jesus, for that is the Name of the Bethlehem Baby grown into a Man, asked, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:24-26)Those three sentences of Jesus, if they are true, rock the world to its very foundation. With those sentences, Jesus claims to be the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world. With those sentences, Jesus says that He is successfully fulfilling all of God’s laws that the rest of humankind has found impossible to keep. With those sentences, Jesus is saying that He is carrying all of humanity’s sins so that all who believe on Him as their Substitute and Redeemer, will be saved. In those sentences, Jesus claims the ability to conquer death itself.
Now if you had said those words, even your most supportive friends would say that you had gone off the deep end. If I had said those words, all those around me would know that I had lost touch with reality. No human being can make such claims for himself. Only the Son of God could truthfully say such sentences. And the Son of God is Who Jesus claims to be. If these words are true, the other religions and rulers of the world need to be afraid. If they are true, then our allegiance must first and always be to our heaven-sent King. If these words of Jesus are true, all other religions must be fake and filled with falsehood. Paraphrasing Jesus, I ask, “Do you believe this?”
Before you answer that question, let me tell you what Jesus did immediately after He made His claim to be our Savior. Jesus went to the gravesite of one of His dearest friends, a friend who had been dead for three days. Jesus had the stone taken away from the tomb’s entrance, and then, having made a prayer of thanksgiving to His Father in heaven, He called out to His deceased friend. “Lazarus, come forth.” We could have called all day, but with that one command of Jesus, Lazarus did come forth. Wrapped like a mummy, Lazarus came forth from that tomb. Lazarus came forth alive and well, and healthy and healed.
To Jesus’ miracle, there are I think, only two reasonable reactions. You can either, like many who were there that day, believe Jesus is your Savior; or you can, like some who witnessed the raising of Lazarus, plot how you can eliminate Jesus. To Jesus there are always only two reactions. When Jesus was born there were two reactions: the Wise Men came and worshipped the Savior; Herod tried to kill Him. When He performed miracles, there were two reactions: people believed in Him, or they called Him a devil and tried to eliminate Him. Do you believe this?
If you don’t know Jesus’ story, let me tell you the rest. Those people who tried to eliminate the Savior, did eventually succeed. They paid off one of His disciples to betray Him; they railroaded Him through mock trials; they manufactured evidence against Him; they encouraged a crowd to call for His death. The Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, caved in and Jesus was crucified. Nailed to a cross, suspended between heaven and earth, Jesus suffered and died. Do you believe this?
If Jesus had been a mere man, He would have stayed dead. Dead is what happens to a man when his heart is punctured by a Roman spear. But Jesus, along with being a Man, is also the Son of God. That’s why, the third day after His murder, His sacrifice for us accepted, Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus came back to life. Do you believe this? There are only two reactions to the resurrection: either you believe it, or you, like Herod, like Communism, like Islam, like Buddhism, must try to stuff Jesus back into His tomb and act as if nothing extraordinary has happened. Either you, by the Holy Spirit’s power, believe that Jesus is Savior and Lord, or you must join the 2000-year-old list of disturbed rulers and worried religions, who expend a great deal of time and energy trying to stuff Jesus back into a sepulcher that just won’t stay sealed.
Years ago I came across a story about a Babylonian wise man who was talking to his grandson. The old man told about the many wonderful things he had seen in the course of his long life. Then he shared, “A long, long time ago, when I was just a child about your age, I was asked by some senior wise men if I wanted to go with them in following a star. It was a brilliant star, a new star, a star which seemed to move with purpose across the heavens. They said it was, ‘a great, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'” Having said that, the man stopped, his mind lost in the mist of days long past. The grandson finally interrupted grandpa’s reveries and asked, “But grandfather that can’t be all. What did you see when you followed the star?” The old wise man shook his head and replied, “I never saw anything, because I never went. Some said they saw the Son of God. Others said they saw nothing at all. I’ve never been sure, because I never went to see.”
This Sunday, the first of the new year, the Lord offers you the opportunity to follow the star and see the Savior. Call us at Lutheran Hour Ministries if you need some help finding the way to Him. Don’t be afraid. There’s no need to be disturbed. Come see the Christ, the conqueror of sin, death, devil and the fears of the world. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for January 2, 2005
Topic: A Christian Nation?ANNOUNCER: Now Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners; I’m Mark Eischer.
KLAUS: Hi Mark, what have you got for us today?
ANNOUNCER: Today’s question actually came to us right around election time. One of our listeners asked via email whether the United States was a “Christian nation.” Some people say it is; some people say it isn’t.
KLAUS: No matter what I say, I’m going to get myself into trouble on this one.
ANNOUNCER: I suppose that’s true, but let’s give it a try anyway.
KLAUS: Let’s start by saying there are a number of ways to answer the question.
ANNOUNCER: Hopefully not too many ways.
KLAUS: Hopefully not too many ways. Here’s the first. If the person means, “do a preponderance of people in the United States claim to be Christian?” the answer would have to be, “usually, yes.” Although the number of people who say they are Christians is declining, and many of the mainline churches are losing members, the majority of Americans still identify themselves, in some way, on some level, with Christianity.
ANNOUNCER: So the answer more or less, would be “yes” then.
KLAUS: Yes, with the recognition that a claim to be a Christian does not necessarily mean a whole lot. There are quite a few people who say they’re Christians, who don’t know the fundamentals of the faith.
ANNOUNCER: And you said there are other ways you could answer this question?
KLAUS: Absolutely. If the individual is asking whether the United States is officially a Christian nation, the answer would have to be no. The founding fathers, although most of them were Christians, made sure that their new nation would not adopt, as so many European countries had done, an “official” state religion. These men, many of whom were descendents of people who had fled the Old World to find religious freedom in the New, made sure that no one would have to be afraid this country would ever drive them away because of what they believed. In this respect, the U.S. is not a Christian nation.
ANNOUNCER: But isn’t it true that Congress once bought Bibles for the American Indians?
KLAUS: They did. Years ago there were many things that were done to give Christianity an “edge,” if you want to call it that. Many of the ideas in the States’ Constitutions, and our charters and our statements as a nation have references to Scripture. Along with that, much of the legal system finds its basis in the Lord’s laws of the Bible.
ANNOUNCER: I’ve heard someone say that, “although the U.S. is not a Christian nation, it is on the other hand, not an irreligious nation.” What do you think that means?
KLAUS: The best I can do here Mark, is to make a guess. I would think he meant that although there is a freedom of religion, that’s not the same thing as freedom from religion. I’m certainly not going to second guess the intentions of the individuals who put this nation together. Nevertheless, I think a lot of them would be shocked to see what has been done with this freedom of religion.
ANNOUNCER: Any other ways you could answer this question?
KLAUS: Actually there is. A lot of people would say being a Christian nation means we have “In God we trust” on our coins; that we have “one nation under God indivisible” in the Pledge; that we can put Ten Commandments in a courthouse. I’m not going to comment one way or the another on those things – that’s for the nation to decide as a whole. What ultimately makes a Christian nation is not what we say about ourselves, but what each citizen believes and what they do. It is possible for a country to make all kinds of claims about itself; to enact all kinds of laws that demand people act in a Christian way; but the real truth of what that nation is, will be found in the hearts and minds of each person.
ANNOUNCER: So then you’re saying “A Christian nation is made up of Christians who believe, live, and act like Christians?”
KLAUS: Exactly. In the 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville toured America. When he was done, he came to this conclusion. This is what he said, “I have toured America, and I have seen most of what you offer. I have seen the richness of the fields and the wealth of your minds. I’ve seen your industrial might, the beauties of the rivers, the streams, the lakes, the grandeur of the mountains. I’ve noticed the abundance of the forests and the marvelous climate with which you are blessed. In none of these things did I see the cause for the greatness of America. It wasn’t until I went into your churches that I saw the reason for America’s greatness. America is great because America is good; and as long as America is good, America will be great. And if it ever ceases to be good, it will cease to be great.” I guess that about sums it up.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.