Creekside Church, Sunday, December 18, 2022
Watch the Throne
Locations & Times
Creekside Church
660 Conservation Dr, Waterloo, ON N2J 3Z4, Canada
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:30 AM
JESUS VS. KING HEROD
MATTHEW CHAPTER 2
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 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.”
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, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
---
King Herod
- Half Jewish and this bothered the Jews
- When he came to power he selected his own high priest to gain control of the temple system
- Put up statues honouring Greek Gods
- Fortress Antonia next to Temple
- Increased soldier presence during festivals
- Eagle (symbol of Roman Dominion) over the gate leading to the Temple
- Lived a luxurious life
Herodium - Palace fortress, built a mountain, 4 towers, seven stories ,
bathhouse, courtyards, theatre, banquet rooms, extravagant living
quarters for him and his guests, pool so big you could boat on it
Imported expensive wine
- Paranoid – ruled for 32 years – constant paranoia
Had his wife and her two sons executed as well as many members of
his court
---
Imagine when Herod heard from the Magi that there was a new king that they had come to worship?
Matthew 2:3 – disturbed...troubled...terrified
And here we have our clash.
King Jesus is coming to replace other kings.
---
The good news that the "Herod's" of the world are terrified.
If you are someone who lived disturbed/troubled/terrified your whole life under the reign of Herod…well then…this day…when the tables are turned…and the source of terror became terrified…is a welcome reversal
---
Isaiah 9:2-7
People of Hope
2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
---
Jesus is the new Moses
Infant genocide
Comes out of Egypt
Father Joseph has a dream...just like another Joseph
It’s Matthew’s way of saying that Jesus is the child from Isaiah 9
---
We all got a little Herod in us
What happens when Jesus comes and invites you to surrender your throne, and let him lead?
What happens when Jesus calls you to sacrifice? To leave? To change? To surrender control?
Herod's love control. It's what we see Herod do in the rest of Matthew 2. He gains information secretly and then tries to direct the Magi to obey his orders to report back to him. When they disobey, he orders the murder of children under 2 in Bethlehem.
---
Fight or Surrender?
Read Psalm 46 this week and emphasize verse 10. Instead of reading "Be Still", inject a fuller definition of the word and read, "Let go, be weak, release control, and know that I am God."
PSALM 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
---
Here's a link to the song we ended the service with.
Phil Wickham - Behold ft. Anne Wilson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CP08HOcWGY
MATTHEW CHAPTER 2
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 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.”
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, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
---
King Herod
- Half Jewish and this bothered the Jews
- When he came to power he selected his own high priest to gain control of the temple system
- Put up statues honouring Greek Gods
- Fortress Antonia next to Temple
- Increased soldier presence during festivals
- Eagle (symbol of Roman Dominion) over the gate leading to the Temple
- Lived a luxurious life
Herodium - Palace fortress, built a mountain, 4 towers, seven stories ,
bathhouse, courtyards, theatre, banquet rooms, extravagant living
quarters for him and his guests, pool so big you could boat on it
Imported expensive wine
- Paranoid – ruled for 32 years – constant paranoia
Had his wife and her two sons executed as well as many members of
his court
---
Imagine when Herod heard from the Magi that there was a new king that they had come to worship?
Matthew 2:3 – disturbed...troubled...terrified
And here we have our clash.
King Jesus is coming to replace other kings.
---
The good news that the "Herod's" of the world are terrified.
If you are someone who lived disturbed/troubled/terrified your whole life under the reign of Herod…well then…this day…when the tables are turned…and the source of terror became terrified…is a welcome reversal
---
Isaiah 9:2-7
People of Hope
2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
---
Jesus is the new Moses
Infant genocide
Comes out of Egypt
Father Joseph has a dream...just like another Joseph
It’s Matthew’s way of saying that Jesus is the child from Isaiah 9
---
We all got a little Herod in us
What happens when Jesus comes and invites you to surrender your throne, and let him lead?
What happens when Jesus calls you to sacrifice? To leave? To change? To surrender control?
Herod's love control. It's what we see Herod do in the rest of Matthew 2. He gains information secretly and then tries to direct the Magi to obey his orders to report back to him. When they disobey, he orders the murder of children under 2 in Bethlehem.
---
Fight or Surrender?
Read Psalm 46 this week and emphasize verse 10. Instead of reading "Be Still", inject a fuller definition of the word and read, "Let go, be weak, release control, and know that I am God."
PSALM 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
---
Here's a link to the song we ended the service with.
Phil Wickham - Behold ft. Anne Wilson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CP08HOcWGY