December 9, 2 kinds of opposition to Jesus. When Herod the King heard this, he was troubled

and all Jerusalem with him, Matthew 2, 3. Jesus is troubling to people who do not want

to worship Him and He arouses opposition against those who do. This is probably not a main

point in the mind of Matthew, but it is an inescapable implication as the story goes on.

In this story, there are two kinds of people who do not want to worship Jesus. The first

kind is the people who simply do nothing about Jesus. He is a non-entity in their lives. This

group is represented at the beginning of Jesus' life by the chief priest and the scribes. Matthew

2, 4 says, assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, Herod inquired of them

where the Christ was to be born. So they told Him. And that was that. Back to business as usual.

The sheer silence and inactivity of the leaders is overwhelming in view of the magnitude of what

was happening. And notice, Matthew 2, 3 says, when Herod the King heard this, he was troubled and

all Jerusalem with Him. In other words, the rumor was going around that someone thought the Messiah

was born. The inactivity on the part of the chief priest is staggering. Why not go with the

Magi? They are not interested. They are not passionate about finding the Son of God and

worshipping Him. The second kind of people who do not want to worship Jesus is the kind who are

deeply threatened by Him. That's Herod in this story. He is really afraid. So much so that he

seems and lies and then commits mass murder just to get rid of Jesus. So today, these two kinds

of opposition will come against Christ and His followers in difference and hostility. I surely hope

that you are not in one of those groups. And if you are a Christian, let this Christmas be the

time when you ponder what it means, what it costs to worship and follow this Messiah.