Matthew 2:2 “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
Matthew 2:1-12 is a great story, isn’t it? It is amazing to me the names that are used for the Lord Jesus:
“. . . he that is born King of the Jews. . . .”
“. . . where Christ should be born.”
“. . . out of thee shall come a Governor. . . .”
“. . . search diligently for the young child. . . .”
It is ironic that most people of Christ’s day did not expect the Messiah to be a child, and that is why they did not see Him. Today, people do not see Jesus as anything other than a child, and they miss Him for the same reason!
Herod could not afford for Christ to become king. A child was not intimidating to him, but Herod knew that there was not room for more than one king. The Bible says, “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” Why did Herod go through all of the trouble to be rid of this baby named Jesus? Because he knew there could not be more than one king. This was true in Herod’s day, and it is also true in your life today.
God in human flesh was (and is) King of the Jews, the Christ, the Governor, and a young child. He was God in the manger, and He is God on the throne. It is very difficult for people to see both in the same person. It is difficult to experience the awe, on one hand, that God would become a child, yet the reverence that God is still God.
The people of Christ’s day missed the Messiah because they did not expect Him to be a child; today people miss Him because they think of Him as nothing but a child. People today love the innocent, benign, nice story of Christmas, as long as you keep Christ in the manger. We should never lose the wonder that God in flesh was a “young child” in a manger; but we also should not forget that He is also King, Christ, and Governor.