Sweden Church
  • Home
  • Listen
    • Sunday Services
    • Real Time >
      • But God...
      • Incompatible With Life
      • Heroes of Faith
      • Matthew 9 Series
      • Where We Find Jesus Series
      • Temptations of Christ Series
      • Sermon on the Mount Series
      • Prodigal Son Series
    • Revival 2022
    • Sweden Celebration 2020
    • Revival 2019
  • Sermon Series
    • Revelation Series
    • One Thing Series
    • Deuteronomy Series
    • 1 & 2 Kings Series
    • Titus Series
    • Jonah Series
    • What Kind of Man Series
    • Advent 2019
    • Ten Commandments Series
    • "No More" Sermon Series
  • Pictures
  • Our Blogs
    • The Pastor's Pen
    • The Layman's Pen
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us

The Layman's Pen

12/9/2012

 
    Why would a king who reigned for 33 years be threatened over the birth of a child? Isn’t 33 years long enough to be the ‘king of the Jews’? Yet, here it is in Matthew 2 the story of how Herod the Great conspired to have Jesus, the infant, killed. Jesus was born close to the end of his reign. By this time Herod was in his 70’s. What’s curious is that Herod, just days before his death, split the Jewish state up among 3 of his sons.

    Herod had been an adept politician. Could it be that he was put off when he heard that wise men were looking for the King of the Jews who had been born. Not only were they looking for him but they had come to worship him. Herod’s immediate response was that he was troubled by this. Troubled? It looks worse than that because in verse 3 it says that all Jerusalem was troubled by the news.

Herod calls in the priests and scribes and wants to know what gives. They tell him the prophet Micah had made such a prediction. It’s in Micah 5:2 but also in Matthew 2:6. Being the good politician he is, he arranges a secret meeting with the wise men and gets from them when they saw the star. Then he sends them, as though they were his representatives, to find this Jesus. When they found him, the wise men were to report back to Herod where he was.

Herod was probably jealous. These wise men didn’t come looking for him and just look at how long he had been king! In fact, he was jealous enough to have all the male children in Bethlehem 2 years and under murdered. Herod was old. He knew he wasn’t long for this world. Yet, he was determined to dominate the Jews until his last breath.

The wise men were wise. They traveled a long way to find the King of the Jews and worship him. They found him and left their gifts. They were wise enough to heed the angel’s warning and not return to Herod. The first definition of wise means having or showing good judgment. It’s appropriate here. Would that all would be wise and make the trip down the aisle to find and worship the King of the Jews, our Christ--the head of the church.


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Linda Johnson

    Linda Johnson moved to Douglas County with her husband Tom 12 years ago after retiring from teaching. Following Tom's death in 2016, Linda began facilitating a grief support group called GriefShare through Sweden Church.​ She serves as the Sunday School teacher for our High School class. Her "Layman's Pen" articles are also published in the local paper, The Douglas County Herald. 

    Andrea Strong

    Andrea is Pastor Joshua Strong's wife. She also serves Sweden Church as Church Secretary, website administrator, and Sunday School teacher to the Intermediate Class.

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2015
    November 2013
    October 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012