Herod: Missing the Miracle
December 20, 2009 - W0951

What is the real reason for this season? The world has a tendency to disconnect from what Christmas is about.  Do you separate the real reason what Christmas is about? Pastor Elwin Ahu will share with us what the real reason for this holiday. We are going to continue in our series of “A Season for Christmas” with the life of King Herod. May we learn from his life what the real reason for the season.

Why is there so much disconnect in the world about Christmas? Why are we experiencing so many people naming this specific holiday in so many different ways? I don’t understand why people to this. We don’t do that with other holidays. For example in February, we don’t say Happy Holiday for Happy Valentine or for Thanksgiving we don’t say “Happy Holiday ” but we say “Happy Thanksgiving.”  Why do the world want to take away Christ in Christmas? Let me tell you… I came across this bag that I want to share with you…all over the bag the words “a million reasons to believe” was written. Believe what? I can’t find anywhere on the bag that says the real reason in whom should I believe. What do you believe in? Why are people uncomfortable in putting Christ in Christmas? The world doesn’t  want to come face to face with Jesus. We know that when we come face to face with Jesus, change needs to happens.  Our lives don’t remain the same. When we resist change, we don’t know that we miss the miracle that God has for us. This is Herod’s dilemma when he came face to face with Jesus. Let us read what Herod found out…

"[In] the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.' When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." (Matt. 2:1-3)

Why was Herod troubled? Let us know a little bit about him. Let me give you a little background of Herod. Herod was the king of the Jews but he was not a Jew. He was an Edomite. For you historians, the Edomites originally comes from the lineage of Esau. Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau’s lineage didn’t become the chosen tribe of God. Herod was not apart of the chosen tribe. He was not an Israelites but he was sitting in the position of being the King of the Jews. He would try anything to preserve his position of control. As historians trace his background, his family and relatives were politically connected to the Roman political system. At one point, his father was accused in conspiring against Caesar. When this was found out, his father was executed right in front of his son. Herod saw his father executed. He saw all the corruptions happening around him. These events messed up his mind. Because he was involved in the political system, he tried to pull strings along the way for his benefit. He was made a leader in one part of the province. In his mind, the assumptions of being in a position was in his blood. He was appointed by the Roman government to the position of the King of the Jews. Imagine all this insecurities dwelling within him. He didn’t want anything to get in the way. If there was threat, he would get rid of it. With all his insecurities inside of him, he

killed his wife and other family members. He didn’t stop in getting rid of anyone that gets in the way of his political power and position. So when it was time of the magi to ask him that question, he had a different thing in mind. Things started to surface again. It is a threat to his position. Christ being born the King of the Jesus. He didn’t like it. He went crazy. His insecurities started coming out again. He tried to take away Christ in Christmas. In our society today, I see that we don’t want Christ in our lives. There is a feeling of fear and being uncomfortable about Christ in Christmas. We don’t want Him to relinquish our lives. Because in turn we have to do some changes. Like for example in our governments and businesses, we don’t want any moral and ethical accountability. Any attempt in placing Christ back in our government system, businesses or personal life, we push him away from that. We separate Him away by not placing prayer in schools and the separation of church and state. We push away God in our institutions because we don’t want to give up our control. When we come face to face with Jesus Christ, we have to change things. When we are resisting Christ, we miss the miracle that God has intended for us to unwrap this Christmas reason. In Herod’s example, there are three lessons to learn. Let us look into that…

When CHRIST SHOWS UP in your life…

1. There can only be one KING.

When you look at the life of Herod and the position he held, he was not really king. The king in Herod’s life was control. In his life, immediate control or gratification was the control of his life. Even though deceit and murder were the immediate result, control was his king. Instead of later gratification or reward, he want it now. A person who is controlling can’t wait. Herod wanted to control everything now. When Jesus was born in the manger, Herod wanted to eliminated Jesus. Psychologist did some test on some kids to see what our human tendencies that happen when you wait. They put the kids in a room and give them a marshmallow. The kids are told that if they wait when the tester come back they will have another one. How do you think they faired? Talk about instant gratification. Waiting for the reward afterwards. There were a few of these children given the test. In the test, you see some survived the test. The children tried their best. In the end, you realized what they experienced reminds me of sin. The instant gratification and not waiting for the reward or the promise in the end were the similarities. Like in our anger, unforgiveness and divorce we want the immediate resolution now. When we give into sin, we have allowed sin to take control of our life. We have the tendency to be like Herod. We want to take control of lives not allowing God to be the one in control. There is a little Herod in our lives that is waiting to grow up. When we want that control so badly, we don’t relinquish our lives to Him. We miss out some of the good things God has for us and His promises.

Let us read what it says in the next verses in the book of Philippians…

"For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow ... in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Phil. 2:9-11)

God highly exalted Jesus. We go on through life thinking that we are exalted not God. We believe that we could control our future. We hold on to pride, achievements, trophies and other things in our lives and not relinquish them to God.  We need to yield to God. We loose. We miss the things that gives us God’s miracles in our lives. It says in Colossians how our lives should be…let us read…

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set ... your minds on things above, not on earthly things ... When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature." (Col. 3:1-5 NIV)

When you come face to face with Jesus Christ , something has to change. During this Christmas season, what do you need to surrender to Christ and let Him take control of? When you don’t come face to face with Christ, change won’t happen in your life .When you discover Jesus to take control of your life…the next point…

2. Pursue him YOURSELF.

It was not Herod’s intent to find even Jesus face to face.  When he was brought the news…Let us read the next verses…

"Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes ... he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born ... Then Herod secretly called the magi and ... he sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.'" (Matt. 2:4-8)

Did Herod really want to find this child? If you think about it, he was really threatened by him. Wouldn’t he want to find him himself instead of sending his scribes? Why would he send strangers instead of his soldiers? Think about it. During the time of 911, when the United States was threaten we sent our soldiers to find Saddam Hussein. In the situation of Osama Bin laden, we sent our soldiers in Afghanistan. In Herod’s situations, did he really want to find the child? Why did he send the scribes? We didn’t know much about them. He said to them that he wants to send them to find Jesus so he could worship them. He lied.  He should find him himself but he really didn’t want to worship him. He wanted to kill the baby Jesus. If you contrast what King Herod did with the shepherds and the

three magi, you will see the difference. In Luke 2, it mentions the scene when the shepherds found Jesus. In the fields, the angel brought the good news where to find the baby Jesus. The shepherds were joyful when they found him. They came face to face with the baby Jesus. The three magi had similar reactions. They were in awe. They fell down on their knees. They gave their riches to him. They witness the glory of God. I would give anything to be in that event. Now I think what would happen to Herod if he came face to face with Jesus. Yes, we know his background and stuff. I agree that they were awful. I have seen men in prison change. We continue to receive letters form our Prison Ministry that change men in prison when they come face to face with Jesus they change. Would Herod change? Don’t rely on others on finding about pursuing Jesus Christ. Pursue Jesus yourself. Don’t just go to church on Sunday. Pursue Him daily.

Lately, Joy and I have been helping Jerrod in his journaling. We sit down with him. He has a children journal. Something happened recently that spoke to him about God. A couple weeks ago or so, I spend the day with him. Joy had to go to the Women’s Ministry luncheon. I took him to his game. After the game, he was playing with his friends. I had to call him several times. I got upset. We went home. I told him about consequences. His privileges were taken away. We arrive home. I was studying. He went to his room. He was quiet. I thought I was harsh on him. I walk in and check him in his room. He had the volume of the TV down to two. He was watching the TV. I was upset. I thought yeah there is a little Herod in us. I wasn’t sure what to do with him. I told him to get the paddle. I spanked him. I gave him three whacks. He held his tears. The more I was upset. I explained to him his consequences. He went to his room. When he came out, he apologized.  I hope he learned. Later on…

 I invite you to attend church and be encouraged by others but pursue God own your own. The best gift you could give someone this holidays is give a Bible and journal. Best resolution this year for you is to get into a life group somewhere to pursue God together. I wonder if Herod pursued God personally, what would happen. When you understand more about Christ…the next point…

     3.  Allow him to GROW UP.

The greatest threat to Herod was not when Jesus was a baby but when he grew up. What would happen?  Let us read in Matthew…

"Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and ... slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi." (Matt. 2:16)

Herod didn’t want Jesus to grow up in his life. He was so afraid of the changes that he would do to his life. Sometimes we didn’t want him to grow up in our lives because of the changes we have to do. We wonder sometimes of why same things happened to our lives. Our lifestyles and the excuses we make don’t change. We don’t allow Christ to grow in our hearts. We can change when we allow Christ to change us. The next verses in Hebrews tells us what to do…

"Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God ..." (Heb. 6:1).

Learn what God wants you to learn. Love the unlovable. Serve others and get involve in church and the community and in each others lives.  Don’t just be hearer of the word but be doers of the word. Through all of these we need meet Christ face to face…

In conclusion, let me tell you a story about a boy who was seeing a surgeon for a surgery the next day. The surgeon explained what is going to happen. The little boy said to the surgeon, “You will find Jesus in my heart.” The boy was relentless in saying this things. He was beaming with joy. But the surgeon was annoyed. When the surgeon was alone and recording what happened when he opened the boy’s heart. He recorded the details and then, he looked up above and spoke to God, “ Why did you do this to him? In a short time he will be dead? Why?” As tears was running down his face, God our creator touched the surgeon’s heart. When he went back to visit the boy after surgery, the boy asked him, “Did you cut my heart? What did you find? Did you see Jesus in my heart?” He answered, “Yes, I did.” Talk about maturity. The boy came face to face with Christ. Whatever happened to him he knows what is going to happen because Jesus was in his heart. This season  we should discover the best lesson is that…

• Greatest miracle is IN YOU.

Christ lives in us. In the end, We need  pursue him and allow him to grow in us.

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS:

1. How do you personally define control in your life?

2. What are specific things in your life that controls you?

3. What steps would you do to make the changes in your life which Pastor Elwin mentioned?

4. When Christ shows up in your life what would you do?

5. Nowadays, why does the world now want to get rid of Jesus in Christmas?