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The story of Christmas from people who were actually there
The inn keeper - making room for Jesus
The shepherds - loners and outcasts invited into the story
The magi - pagan astrologers used by God
Today: King Herod
But, as always, let’s start with a question:
Q. Whose Kingdom Are You Building?
Think about it: everyone’s building someone’s kingdom
A successful friend of mine wants to start his own business
He’s made a lot of money for the owner of his company
Dawned on him: why doesn’t he start his own!!
Today’s point isn’t to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs
It’s to call your attention to this fact:
Everyone’s working for someone’s kingdom
Either God’s or yours
Today as we meet King Herod we’ll find a ruler desperate to protect his kingdom at all costs, even opposing God’s eternal plan.
NOTE: The Bible mentions several rulers named Herod, each playing a distinct role in different contexts. The Herods were a dynasty of Edomite rulers under Roman control, and they feature prominently in the New Testament:
1st Gen: Herod the Great: Ruler at Jesus' birth. (Matthew 2:16-18)
2nd Gen:
Herod Archelaus: Feared by Joseph. (Matthew 2:22)
Herod Antipas: Executed John the Baptist, mocked Jesus. (Mark 6:14-29, Luke 23:7-12)
Herod Philip I: First husband of Herodias. (Mark 6:17)
Herod Philip II: Tetrarch of northeastern territories. (Matthew 16:13)
3rd Gen: Herod Agrippa I: Executed the apostle James and imprisoned Peter. (Acts 12:1-4)
Driven by self-interest (building his own kingdom) made some terrible decisions
It’s easy to see sin in someone else’s life, isn’t it?
But when we look in the mirror, we’re often blind…
Truth is: We are Herod - we all tend to do this, act out of destructive self-interest:
Sinful Habits
Addiction that destroys you and your relationships
Or Even Good things:
Careers: pushing hard at any cost (often families)
Finances: building wealth without asking “what for?”
Relationships: burning bridges
Influence: Gaining followers but losing friends
Blinded by self-interest: Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos (see “The Dropout” podcast)
once celebrated as a groundbreaking entrepreneur who promised to revolutionize the medical industry with her blood-testing technology.
obsessed with maintaining her image as a visionary leader and controlling the narrative about her company’s success.
But Theranos' technology didn’t work as claimed, and Holmes had built her empire on lies.
She lost her company, her reputation, and her freedom, as she was convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison.
Can you relate?
To Elizabeth
To Herod
Let’s find out…
Last week: Magi came asking about the “newborn king of the Jews”...
Matthew 2:3-4 (NLT) King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
Gk. Tarasso “stirred up” like the pool water in John 5. Herod got “fidgety” when he heard about the Messiah. His position suddenly didn’t seem so secure. He was uncomfortable.
Why? Because the Roman Senate appointed Herod as “King of the Jews” 40 yrs earlier!
More about Herod:
of Idumean descent, meaning he was not ethnically Jewish but came from a region south of Judea that had been forcibly converted to Judaism.
a brilliant and ambitious builder, responsible for many monumental projects, such as The Second Temple in Jerusalem (known as Herod’s Temple)
The First Temple: Built by King Solomon around 957 BC, destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar.
After the Persian Empire conquered Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree (538 BC) allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple (Ezra 1:1-4).
The Second Temple: completed in 516 BC, during the reign of Darius I, exactly 70 years after the First Temple's destruction, fulfilling Jeremiah's prophecy about the 70-year exile (Jeremiah 29:10).
Starting in 20 BC, King Herod massively renovated and expanded the Second Temple, making it a grand and majestic structure.
The Romans, under General Titus, destroyed the Second Temple during the Jewish-Roman War, fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:1-2.
Since then, no Jewish temple has been built on the Temple Mount, which is now home to the Islamic Dome of the Rock.
Many Christians, especially in dispensationalist theology, see the Third Temple as a key element in end-times prophecy.
Back to Herod: infamous for his paranoia and willingness to eliminate perceived threats.
Ex: he ordered the execution of several family members, including his wife and three of his sons, fearing they would usurp his throne.
Caesar Augustus said that it was better to be Herod’s pig than his son!
The point: this guy wanted to build his own kingdom, no matter the cost.
The religious leaders told him the birthplace would be Bethlehem, so…
Matthew 2:7-8 (NLT) 7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
Fake news
Wise men took another route home to avoid Herod. Then…
Matthew 2:13 (NLT) 13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
(IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition) Like Moses, Jesus escaped the fate of other male babies (Ex 1:22–2:10), and some Jews were expecting the coming of a prophet “like Moses” (Deut 18:15, 18).
Matthew 2:14-15 (NLT) 14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
First of three OT prophecies in this section, proving God’s sovereignty
(IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition) Matthew builds almost every paragraph from the genealogy to the Sermon on the Mount around at least one text in the *Old Testament, explaining some event of Jesus’ life from Scripture.
Out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1)
Massacre of the Innocents (Jer 31:15)
“Called a Nazarene” - not found in OT?!
To be “from Nazareth” was meant as an offense
Nathaniel: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46).
“He was despised and rejected by men...” (Isaiah 53:3).
(Expositor's Bible Commentary: Abridged Edition (2 Volumes)) Matthew is therefore not saying that a particular OT prophet foretold that the Messiah would live in Nazareth; he is saying that the OT prophets foretold that the Messiah would be despised (cf. Pss 22:6-8, 13; 69:8, 20-21; Isa 11:1; 49:7; 53:2-3, 8; Da 9:26).
The point: Jesus is King, and his will shall be done
Every knee will bow…
Close:
Herod was not an atheist. He believed in the God of Israel, he listened to the magi, consulted the Jewish religious leaders, trusted their insight into the scripture… and then used this information to hunt Jesus.
Herod believed Jesus was the Messiah, but he refused to submit to him as his Messiah.
Jesus must be your savior and lord.
Instead of trusting in ourselves and in our “little kingdoms,” we must trust in the true king who rules over the Kingdom of God. We must trust him with our finances and families, with our salvation and our spiritual growth. We must trust him and keep trusting in him.
Everyone’s working for someone’s kingdom
Either God’s or yours
Matthew 6:33 (NLT) 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.