Sermon for the 2nd Sunday after Christmas - Matthew 2:13-23
This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” Herod the Great was not all that great. I know I am not out on a limb there, but Chad Bird reminded me of that this week when he outlined this passage sharing how Herod was a great builder. He rebuilt the glory of the Temple in Jerusalem. He built up fortresses at Masada and founded Caesarea Maritima on the coast of the Mediterranean. He wanted his name to be great and have the grandeur of every king gone before him, and even more, but this will always pale in comparison to his sins of course. He was not a nice guy, and he was afraid of losing his standing as king because his appointment was at the behest of Caesar himself, never mind that he wasn’t even Jewish, but he considered himself king of the Jews. He had 3 sons killed, executed 1 wife along with her mother and grandfather, and when he died, he left orders for there to be a purge of the Jewish elders so that the mourning would be great at his death. Basically…a psychopath. So, it is no wonder that when a new king is announced, one who is given the title at birth of “King of the Jews”, Herod does what he can to erase that name from history.  And at the end of eight days, when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. – Luke 2:21
Names mean something. They tell others who we are. They give us a title by which people call us. They set us apart from others because no one has our name and our life. Even if we are John Smith or Mary Johnson, no one will ever be “that” John Smith or Mary Johnson, and so it goes with Jesus. |
Archives
January 2022
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed