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
Are you troubled by FTX? Do you hope that Bankman-Fried will go to jail? Do you know what cryptocurrency is? Do you care? You may, but if you don’t care about any of these things it is because you are not invested in it. Do you know what a Ponzi scheme is? I’m not sure if I understand all these things, but apparently right now there is a scam that has gone on where a wunderkind is now the villain. It appears he has stolen a lot of people’s money and taken off.
The reason you may not care about these stories is because you are not invested in it. In Matthew 2 we are reminded that it is kind of hard to care about things in which you have not invested yourself. This is illustrated by a man named Herod. The Bible says in Matthew 2:1-3, “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 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. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” So, here come the wise men from afar and here was King Herod, who wasn’t Jewish but an Edomite. He had been installed as a puppet governor by the Roman empire. Instead of being overjoyed, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him because when Herod wasn’t happy, wasn’t nobody happy.
Why wasn’t Herod happy? Why didn’t he understand? Why didn’t he go to find the Christ child that the wise men sought? The answer is that you will never understand a truth that you will not allow to obligate you.Herod knew this was the king of the Jews, and he made the connection which many Jewish people did not, that this child was the Christ. Later we are reminded that it was prophesied that Jesus would be a governor. So, King, Christ, Governor, all these titles say that this child was going to be in charge, that he was going to be the authority. That troubled Herod.
Herod was troubled; the wise men rejoiced. Herod could not be bothered to go five miles; the wise men had come perhaps three hundred miles. Herod wished to destroy the Christ child; the wise men wished to worship him. Herod responded in hypocrisy; the wise men responded in enquiry. Now, Herod did enquire. He demanded of them where Christ should be born and when the star appeared. Then he made diligent search. Herod was doing his math. He wanted to destroy all the children under the age of the Christ child. He totally missed out. The religious leaders whom Herod had asked where the Christ child would be born, knew the answer but could not be troubled to go find the child. The wise men’s enquiry led to Christ. Herod’s enquiry didn’t lead to Christ in that sense, it was intended to lead him to the child so he could kill the child.
Many of these people had every sign in God’s book, but it was a cause for trouble and not rejoicing. John Rice has said, “There are some who study the Bible even when they should be on their knees in adoration.” Sometimes we think, “If I just knew more and had more answers, then I would know how to live.” There is some truth to that. However, you pretty much know what you want to know and you will never understand a truth that you will not allow to obligate you. Sometimes it is just too costly to acknowledge and invest in the truth. We are invested in ourselves and our wishes, will, and way. We are trying to get smarter and learn more. I’m all for that, but we are in the dark, not because we don’t know enough, but because we are not willing to take action. My dad has often prayed, “God, please give me the wisdom to know what is right and the courage to do it.” That is a wonderful prayer and I often pray that myself.
It occurred to me this morning that sometimes the courage to act is the wisdom to know. Sometimes we pray for wisdom when what we need is courage, and sometimes we pray for courage when what we need is wisdom. A lot of times we have more wisdom that we would otherwise have when we have the willingness and courage to know the truth. Herod was just miles from the Christ child, but he missed Him and did so willingly. Like Herod, you and I will never understand a truth that we will not allow to obligate us. The only truth that matters is the one we are willing to acknowledge and on which we will take action. We will be blessed when we do.