Title: Not Worshiping Babies/Matthew 2:1-18
Among the poems written by poet Song Myeong-hee, “I envy servants more than emperors.” There is a poem titled “I envy a servant who serves more than an emperor who is served. I prefer the walking commoner's legs to the queen's palanquin. I envy the health of workers more than the sensibility of poets than the knowledge of intellectuals, and I would like to have the hands of volunteers.” Dr. Jang-ryeo preferred the title of doctor more than the title of doctor, and preferred the low position of serving rather than the high position of respect. One of the fundamental problems of human beings is that everyone wants to be king, everyone wants to be emperor, and everyone likes to sit in high places. That is human tragedy. Both the tragedies of Shack Spear's works and the tragedies of Eastern and Western history stemmed from the desire to become a king.
Two thousand years ago, even when the Son of God was born as a child in Bethlehem as the king of the Jews and not as the king of all mankind, the world knelt before him and, instead of giving up his throne, cast out him and tried to take his place as king. I did. The protagonist of the tragedy was Herod, king of Judea. King Herod knelt before Him who had come as King of the Jews, and instead of giving up his place as king, he drove him out. The high priests and scribes, who sat in high religious positions, did not give up their seats and drove away the one who had come as high priest.
Even now, the Lord, the King of kings, comes to us to become our king, to become our master, to become our shepherd, to become our savior, but we kneel before him and take the place of king and master Without giving up, we try to take that place. Now let's think about the hero of today's tragedy, King Herod. The Bible commands our lives to worship the baby and kiss the son. “Kiss the Son, or you will perish in your way in wrath” (Psalm 2:12). A sinful woman in Luke 7 kissed his feet, but King Herod did not worship or kiss his son. I chased it away.
First, King Herod was upset when he heard that a baby had been born.
“When King Herod and all Jerusalem heard it, they were moved.” Here, the word ‘disturbed’ in English means troubled or disturbed, which means anxious and troubled. When King Herod heard the news of the wise men that Jesus had been born as the King of the Jews, King Herod was troubled, troubled, and troubled. Because he didn't want to give up his throne. Because he didn't want to give up his place. It was because they did not want to raise their hands and surrender.
When a person tries to become a master and to occupy a high position, his heart becomes anxious and tumultuous. When you try to take the place of the king that God should occupy, you feel anxious and troubled. When you do not surrender with your hands up in front of God, you feel anxious and troubled. When I do not kneel before the Lord, my heart is anxious and disturbed. When I was a high school student, there was a time when I was anxious. I was anxious even when I dreamed at night, and I was anxious when I walked down the street. It was because I could not kneel before the Lord and surrender. It was because I couldn't fully embrace the Lord. Martin Luther was also troubled for a time. Even if a leaf fell, I felt anxious and afraid. Because he did not kneel before the Lord. Do you have any anxiety and commotion in your heart? Probably because he got down on his knees and didn't surrender. Maybe it's because you're taking the place he ought to be. When we kneel before the Lord and surrender to him the place of our master, we will find peace and joy.
The second King Herod, when he heard that the baby was born, resisted the baby and tried to kill him.
“Herod quietly called the wise men and inquired in detail when the star appeared.” Herod quietly called the wise men and asked them because he had an evil idea of slaughtering the child instead of worshiping him. When you don't kneel to your baby, anxiety and commotion soon turn into hostility. The greatest sin for humans is to resist God. Herod committed a terrible sin against the baby Jesus. He committed the dreadful sin of driving the baby to Egypt. The sin against the child brought a terrible curse to himself and his descendants. All of Herod's descendants were cursed. Herod's son was cursed to behead John the Baptist, Herod's grandson was cursed to kill the Apostle James with a sword, and he was devoured by worms to death. If any of you have a heart that opposes Jesus, I hope you will soon repent and kneel before the baby Jesus and worship him. So, may you and your descendants receive God's grace and blessings.
Third King Herod killed the babies in Bethlehem.
“When Herod knew that the wise men had deceived him, he became very angry and sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and all its borders.” King Herod was guilty of a savage and heinous crime of slaughtering and killing all male babies under the age of two. A person who opposes God and takes the throne becomes violent in nature. They inflict merciless assault on people. If you ignore God, people will also ignore you, and if you resist God, people will also resist. King Herod and his descendants all resisted God and committed atrocities against people. People who ignore God and take the place of God are still insecure and turbulent today, but they will oppose God and eventually inflict merciless assault on people as well. It was Nero, it was Hitler, it was the kings of Japan, it was Kim Il-sung.
What is sin? It is a sin not to kneel to the baby and not worship the baby. It is a sin to take the place of king, emperor, and master instead of taking the place of servant and servant. When you do not kneel down and worship the baby who has come as the King of Kings, your heart becomes restless and tumultuous. You will develop a hostility towards Jesus. And they inflict merciless assault on people.
When the baby Jesus was born, there were people who knelt and worshiped him. They were doctors from the East. “When he entered the house, he saw the child and Mary his mother with him, and fell down and worshiped the child and offered a gift” (Matthew 2:11). The Magi put down the doctor's hat, lowered the doctor's authority to the ground, and knelt down and worshiped the baby, the Doctor of Doctors. Because he was “a Wonderful and Counselor,” as the prophet Isaiah described him. The wise men from the East were Gentiles, not Jews. The Jews resisted the child, and the Gentiles knelt down and worshiped him. And the shepherds in the fields got down on their knees and worshiped the child. “And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, praising God” (Luke 24:52). They belonged to the lower classes, not the upper classes of the Jews. The upper class resisted the baby, and the lower class worshiped the baby. The Gentile Magi and lower class human shepherds would have lived happily ever after, enjoying the joy and thrill of worshiping the baby and continuing to tell the story to people.