My wife and I are reading through Matthew together this week. As I was reading Jesus birth account, I was struck in a new way about the fear and rage that Herod expressed at the revelation that the birth of Messiah was imminent. What would cause him to fear this child so much that he was willing to slaughter innocent children? I felt the Lord burning in my heart the thought, "Jesus was going to threaten his ability to consume and profit from the Romans". Herod had a sweet thing going. He was the Governor. He was living high. As long as he didn't stir up the Jews too much and make waves with Rome, he could live in his luxury palace and enjoy all the pleasures he could consume. He had built the Jews a new Temple to placate them. They could live in their little Jewish bubble in the midst of the empire and pretend that all was well. They had their Jewish Temple, Jewish Holidays, Jewish customs, Jewish schools, Jewish political lobbyists, and Jewish way of life where they were able to look down on all those "pagan" Romans and know that they were above them. All they had to do was pay some taxes and lead a quiet life and they could have best of both worlds. They could live in their separate (holy) little Jewish culture as well as profit from being part of the Roman Empire.
Herod realized very quickly that Messiah would ruin all of that. In the Jewish mindset of the day Messiah would liberate Israel from foreign oppressors and set up a kingdom that would never end. This would put an end to Herod's control and profit. I also believe the Pharisees of the day felt the same way when they turned Jesus over to Pilate. Jesus didn't play by their rules. He abhored their consumer religion. They had a good thing going. Jesus coming in and turning over their book tables, (I mean dove stands) and exposing their hypocrisy didn't set to well with them. It was easier to kill him than just dismiss him or repent.
I don't know about you but I see a lot of similarities between Herod, the pharisees, and the church of America today. There are all kinds of little Herod's running around building there pseudo kingdoms in the name of religion. Like Herod they have combined religion, market, and politics to create a life of greed, power and consumption. We have made our churches into little more than another super box store peddling religious goods for the modern religious consumer. Politicians and Political Action Committees have duped religious leaders and unsuspecting Christians into thinking that their party or philosophy is serving a greater cause.
Let me be perfectly clear. There is no great cause except the cause of Christ, neither right nor left, conservative or liberal. Christ came to shake all of that up. He unabashedly stated that His kingdom was not of this world. He aligned himself with neither the religious nor the political. He only aligned himself with His Father. He provided a different way. A way of heart change, not a way of law. A way of servitude, not a way of power. A way of giving, not a way of consumption. He called His church come and die with Him. His way is not a way of ease, comfort and endless prosperity. Christ is calling us to His kingdom. A kingdom that is different, where the last is first and the weak are made strong. His way is a way of redemption and love, truth and grace. Everything is upside down, a kingdom where He is the only one receiving glory. May we awaken and quit following the deception of power and greed and begin to follow the way, truth and life of a peasant carpenter from Nazareth, who was really the King of all Kings!!
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