Faith Matters: King of Kings
It is interesting that when the 3 Wise Men set out to find Jesus, they had no idea the path they would have to take to finally get to worship the baby Jesus. The Wisemen came from the east, most likely from Persia. They traveled at least 1,000 miles and most likely took them from 6-9 months. Matthew 2:1-2 says, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Jesus, King of Kings, was born King of the Jews. I want to look briefly at the 3 different types of kings in this story.
The first king is the jealous king, who was King Herod. The 3 Wisemen came to ask King Herod where was this Jesus, who had been born king of the Jews. King Herod did not even know where, he had to ask his chief priests and teacher of the laws where Jesus was. King Herod did not even care to find out much less go worship baby Jesus. Why, because he was jealous. He did not want any other person to threaten his place as the king. He was so jealous that when the 3 kings did not return and tell him where Jesus was, King Herod ordered all males in the Bethlehem area, be put to death
under the age of 2. He also was known to have ordered the execution of his own family, 1 or 2 of his sons and one or two of his wives. Someone said it like this, “He who gets so wrapped up in himself, is a pretty small package!” Jealousy is the great “unjolly green giant”!
The next type of king in the story is the Joyous kings. The joyous kings were the 3 wisemen! Matthew 2:10 says, “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” It was clear the motivation and desire of the 3 wisemen. They wanted to seek out and find the baby Jesus and worship him. They were even so overjoyed that they fell down and worshipped the baby Jesus. They brought gifts to the baby Jesus as sign of their love and devotion! The gift of Gold was likely very timely for Joseph and Mary, as they didn’t have much and it would have really helped supply for their needs on their journey. Frankincense was used in association with the priests-to symbolize Jesus’ Hi-Priestly role he came to this earth to fulfill! Myrrh was used in burial of the dead symbolizing Jesus’ eventual death.
The final king in our story is the Just King, Jesus. The familiar verse in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus Literally was born to die. Jesus was a Just king. He was just what our world needed. Jesus came to this earth as a helpless vulnerable baby. Phil 2:6-7, “Who, being in very nature[a] God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” He gave up all control. We have been through some very uncertain and challenging times and still are today. Since we have very little control over these things, our tendency is to hang on to everything we have and try to control and manipulate our circumstances and relationships. In doing so, we find ourselves more stressed out and more worried. If we could learn a lesson from these 3 wisemen, it would be to let go and let God help us. He cares so much for us and will see us through if we would ask him to help us and will bring us much joy! Jesus Christ was, is and always will be the King of Kings!! Will you give him a chance today?!