Christ’s Rule: The King of the Jews

As we continue our annual theme of Growing in Gospel Gratitude. We are ending the year with a Christmas series entitled 5 Fulfillments of Christ’s Birth that bring Joy. In this series we are focusing on:

1. Salvation: He will save his people from their sin – Matthew 1:21 says you will call his name Jesus (Yahweh saves) because he will save his people from their sins.
2. Presence: Immanuel, which means God with us - Matthew 1:23 tells us that Jesus was not his only name. The Bible also calls him Immanuel reminding us that he is with us.
3. Rule: The King of the Jews - Matthew 2:6 reminds us that a ruler would come from Bethlehem. There is only one king of kings and Lord of Lords.
4. Deliverance: Out of Egypt I have called my son - Matthew 2:15 describes a deliverance and it remind us of the amazing protection for Messiah so that he could provide the once-for-all deliverance we need.
5. Relationship: Humble birth in Bethlehem - Matthew 2:18 and 23 remind us of his humble birth. People would ask, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” These passages remind us that the suffering servant did not come with the expected fanfare but in humility to fulfill his role.

So today we will focus on the fulfillment of Christ’s Rule: The King of the Jews.

• - Let’s read Matt 2:1-12, but for our message this morning we are going to focus primarily on verse 6….please follow along as I read…if you need a bible there is one under the seat in front of you and on Page 1 in the back section.

We can have Joy because Jesus is the fulfillment of the rightful King of the Jews; and He is a good King, a Shepherd King, a king who cares for us in contrast to worldly rulers who only care for themselves.

With our time this morning let’s look at 3 aspects of Jesus being the King that give us great hope

I. Jesus is the rightful king of the Jews

In contrast to Herod

Herod was born in the 70s bc. His family was Idumean. He was not Jewish, but he was ruling over the Jewish people. Herod and his father, Antipater, were both loyal to Rome. That is how he got his position…He was installed by Rome.

So he was not the rightful king of the Jews, he was really a puppet of the Romans rather than a rightful king.

Jesus is the rightful King in part because He was the prophesied king…who was….

Foretold by the Prophet Micah

Micah 5:2 -² “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

One of God’s patterns in the bible is to take something small and insignificant and show that it is actually very important and critical. The little town of Bethlehem is no exception.

Whether it is the kingdom of God that is described as a mustard seed…or the fact that the greatest in the kingdom of God is the greatest servant, or if it God’s declaration to use the base things of the world to shame the wise…we see how God’s kingdom often looks like the exact opposite of earthy kingdoms…We see that the real King will come from lowly Bethlehem from a lowly manger rather than the marble and gold furnishing of those in power.

In addition…

His right to rule goes back to eternity

Micah 5:2 -² “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

Often times princes and would be kings must trace their lineage, their genealogy to show that they have the right to rule…We will see Jesus genealogy in a minute, but notice that Micah indicates that Jesus right to rule does not simply go back a number of generations but to eternity…there is no human ruler who can compete with that claim to the throne.

All of this is pointing to the validity of Jesus’ rule…which ultimately must give way in our hearts to accept His rule, to submit to his rule, to rejoice in his rule…because it is legitimate from eternity past…and we will see…His rule extends to eternity future as well.

But before that, we see He has the power to rule….you see…

He rules in the strength and majesty of the Name of the Lord

Micah 5:4–5a ⁴ And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will remain, Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth. ⁵ This One will be our peace.

Part of Herod’s rule did include a time of peace and prosperity…He rebuilt forts, had entertainment for the people and most notably rebuilt the Jerusalem temple…Rome was impressed with How he could stop uprising, collect taxes and basically pacify the Jewish people…not protect them from Rome, but pacify them for Rome.

A good king can protect His people…Herod did not protect His people from Rome, but protected Roman interest and protected Himself and His position. Herod ruled in the name of Caesar…Jesus rules with a much greater authority…He rules in the name of the Lord.

Herod built his strength by having foreign soldiers, great forts, and funding it all with taxes….Jesus’ strength is much greater…He rules in the strength of the Lord…The Lord is going to show his power over the great enemy of sin and death…not just an earthly enemy like Rome.

Also as beautiful as Herod palaces and forts and even the temple is…the Majesty of the Lord who created the heavens and earth is so much greater, much more majestic.

Herod was known as Herod the Great and He had a brief time of peace in his rule…but Micah says The Messiah will be Great… and he will show His greatness not by rebuilding temples and forts, but by conquering sin and death….and being the the only one powerful enough to bring lasting Peace.

Jesus is the rightful king, His birth fulfills that promise…this was prophesied by Micah and planned from eternity past.

In addition…

II. Jesus’ rule is the continuation of the promised Davidic king

Herod’s rule ended

His life ended very painfully with sever illness in his stomach and digestive system. He did divide his lands up between 3 of his sons…Archelaus was given his throne…Antipas was to be tetrarch of galilee, and Philip was tetrearch of Gaulantis…

Archelaus had a tumultuous rule and eventually things just went back to Roman governors….Herod’s Son Antipas was the one who later beheaded John the Baptist, He was the one Jesus appeared before and then was sent back to Pontius Pilot….He as you may remember divorced his wife and married His brothers wife…this is why John the Baptist was in prison and eventually was executed….ultimately Antipas lost support and his territory was given to another by Rome…King Agrippa. As Far as Phillip…well he was the one whose wife left him for Antipas and there is some debate of who he even was, and who He actually was not perfectly clear….The point is this house, was divided, this house had a great deal of sin and infighting, and did not seek to honor the Lord…and this house rule ended and was not sustainable…

In contrast….Jesus is of a different house…

Jesus is a descendent of David

1 Chronicles 17:11–14 -¹¹ “When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. ¹² “He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. ¹³ “I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. ¹⁴ “But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”

This is a very different family dynamic than King Herod…a kingly line marked by faithful loving kindness…

This is important because the rightful king must come from the house of David…if you remember the kingdom was taken away from Saul, the first king of Israel, and David became the Lord’s anointed, the one with the right to Rule…and God made a promise to David, that someone from His house, one of his descendants would rule….not just for a time or a generation or two…but forever…

Jesus lineage is confirmed in the first chapter of Matthew…He starts with the Point that Jesus is the rightful king because he is from the line of David…

Matt 1:1, 17 - The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:… 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Again, the reason this is so important, is that ….

The Davidic Kingdom is eternal

2 Samuel 7:12–13 -¹² “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

2 Samuel 7:16–17 -¹⁶ “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ¹⁷ In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

Every earthy kingdom, even the greatest dynasties eventually end…all except the Kingdom of David…all except the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Just like in Daniel chapter 2 we see a rock that comes and crushes all earthy kingdoms, or in Psalm 2 we see that the son of God will defeat every earthy ruler in opposition to His rule…the promise is that this kingdom has staying power…eternal staying power…because the Promise was given to the King of Israel, David and the promise was for His family, His house, his descendant…

….and Jesus is referred to over and over as the son of David…which means he is the rightful king…and his rule will have no end….

That is why in Jesus’ day…the people were so excited….

Matthew 21:9 -⁹ The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!”

The people thought, finally someone to rule not as a puppet of Rome, but to bring true freedom, true peace….But of Couse we know he came to rule in a way to defeat the true enemy, not Rome, but sin and death, and not just for a generation or two, but for all eternity.

We have great hope because Jesus’ Kingdom will not fizzle out or be taken over by someone stronger…it is a lasting Kingdom based on the promises of God given to David.

You are a part of something that is going to last forever…that should give you great security and great purpose…we are part of a lasting kingdom, we are part of an eternal kingdom…

All of us are tempted just like Herod, to seek to build an earthy kingdom to make us feel secure, to find significance from,…but the reality is our kingdoms will not stand, and they can’t truly protect us, and the pursuit of our little kingdoms… pouring all our resources into our kingdoms, exhaust us and eventually destroy our relationships trying to protect our kingdoms.

Jesus’ Kingdom is better than any manmade Kingdom…and we get to be a part of that kingdom. That should cause us to overflow with great joy and hope.

Now…Not only is Jesus’ Kingdom lasting…His kingdom is loving…

You see…

III. Jesus’ rule is that of a shepherd not a tyrant

Herod was a tyrant

The text says, All Jerusalem was troubled because Herod was troubled…this man was not a good ruler…The amount of fortresses he built are huge monuments to his paranoia and his desire to hold onto power… …and so he sought to keep power by being tyrannical…If he felt threatened, he killed you…He executed two of his sons after rumors of them seeking to rebel and overthrow him. He married 10 women and had 15 children…and rather than caring for His children he felt constantly threatened by them…It is reported that he loved his favorite wife so much, that he left instruction that if he were to die…she was to die as well….if that is love…well…that is not love…that is wanting to control everything even in death.

He ended up killing that wife, after he killed her parents. When he did end up dying, his final commands were to have his son Antipater killed, as well as a number of Jewish elders that were recently imprisoned, so that people would be in mourning when he died. He was cruel, a far cry from a shepherd.

In addition, the magi did not tell him exactly where the Messiah was born and so he killed a great number of Children in Bethlehem to try to stop the rightful King from taking over his rule…If you have to hurt children to feel safe you are not powerful at all…Herod was a tyrant who did not have real power…

Herod did not have the power to protect himself from death and suffering…none of his fortresses could protect him from an agonizing painful death.

But in contrast, Our King can actually protect us…because…

God is the great Shepherd

The OT constantly portrays God as a shepherd…caring for His people.

Isaiah 40:11 -¹¹ Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

Psalm 78:52 -⁵² But He led forth His own people like sheep And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;

Psalm 23:1–3 -¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. ³ He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

Just as we learned that Jesus name means Yahweh saves…and we see Yahweh saving and delivering in the OT, and then we see Jesus fulfilling the Lord’s great plan of salvation as His very name means Yahweh saves…and He came to save His people from their sins…

We also the fulfillment of the promise of God’s presence and being with His people with Jesus being born of a virgin and dwelling with us…Jesus is God in the flesh…and so when we see Jesus we see the Father…to know Jesus is to know the father….to be in His presence….

Well, in addition we recognize Jesus is the fulfillment of the promised King, the one who will bring peace and shepherd His people, and so we are reminded that God is to be our King…and to be protected by Jesus is to be protected by God…because

Jesus is our Eternal Shepherd

John 10:11 -¹¹ “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

Gospel – We have a good King…a shepherd King … who uses His power to rule in a way that serves His people, He is willing to take on flesh, come and die to protect His people.

Micah said, that one from Bethlehem will be our peace…that One will be able to protect us from enemies that surround us…that is what a king is supposed to do…protect and provide for his people…

The question is have you sought refuge not in a manmade fortress, but in the King who laid his life down for you at the cross.

Maybe you first action to submit to Jesus as your king is to accept His free gift of salvation, trusting that He went to the cross and suffered and died so you could be eternally protected and have peace with God.

King Herod killed His enemies…King Jesus laid down His life to make His enemies a part of His forever family.

Our great King did just that….

Hebrews 13:20-21 -²⁰ Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Our response to the Rule of Jesus…is to trust in His goodness, to trust in His protection and provision…and as we do that…we must submit to Him as our rightful ruler, our master, our King.

This week, today…ask yourself…How does my Good king who loves me want me to glorify Him…How can obey and submit to His rule today.

We must respond and understand that our response to Him as King is to seek to do His will, and not rebel from Him and try to do our own will that is in opposition to His….We are to seek to please Him, and serve others rather than seeking to use others to build our kingdom.

We sing a lot at Christmas time about Jesus as King…but it would behoove us each day to evaluate how we are living…is there evidence that we delight in His rule and we know His will, and we regularly testify to those around us through our obedience…that Jesus is the rightful King of Kings and Lord of Lord.

Lets pray to that end….