The Greater King

Matthew 2: 3-5

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied…

When Herod heard that the Magi were searching for a child they called the “king of the Jews”, he was afraid.  The long awaited Messiah was thought to be a great, earthly ruler who would liberate Israel from their enemies, namely Rome, and Herod was Rome’s puppet ruler.

Herod did not know that God’s Messiah was on earth for a greater purpose than any earthly Messiah could accomplish.  God's Son would not save Israel from her earthly enemies, but would offer the entire world salvation and all people the way to eternal life.

Herod the Great, the rebuilder of the Temple, saw himself as the King of the Jews.

 But the Magi sought another....God’s only Son.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)