Jesus the King


Announcements:

  • Service @ Etna Green Church of Christ, 24th, 6:30PM

Text: Matthew 1:18-2:12; Psalm 110
Theme: Jesus the King

Matthew 1:18-25
In Psalm 40 and Psalm 22, we’ve seen and discussed the primary reason that the Son of God came to earth on Christmas morning. It was because mankind needed a Savior. Mankind participated in the sin of Adam and became sinners with him. And ever since Adam people have proven this true by their deeds. The people of the world were separated from God and doomed to death and judgment because of their sins against Him.

But God is just as much a loving and gracious and merciful God as He is a just and holy and righteous God. It is His desire that none should perish. But there is a problem – how can God be just and holy and righteous to punish sins, and yet, loving and gracious and merciful to forgive sins and grant everlasting life? His infinite holiness demands an infinite penalty for crimes against His infinite character, and so, the most a human can ever do is to suffer an infinite penalty for their own sins. They can never repay. Because God’s judgment rests upon mankind and not on animals, the substitutionary sacrifice of an animal cannot take their place. But because humans are unholy and mortal, their own death is not sufficient to cover the sins of the world either.

And so, before the world even began, the One God in Three Persons had a plan to save his people from their sins, and that plan was that the only begotten Son of God would endure the punishment that we deserve in our place. This would perfectly satisfy all of God’s attributes. Nothing could be more loving and gracious toward sinners than that God would be willing to give His most cherished Son to see them saved. Nothing could be more loving toward God than that the Son of God would obey the Father until death. Nothing could glorify God more than that our salvation was exclusively accomplished by the Triune God. No one could satisfy God’s righteousness and holiness better than God Himself. And sin was not flippantly cast aside as if it was nothing; it was dealt with in punishment.

If you look closely at Matthew 1:18-25, you can see this plan reflected in the names given to the Son of God. He is to be called Jesus, and that is generally how we know Him today. Jesus is actually Ιησους in Greek and is a translation of the Hebrew name Joshua. That means God saves. He is also to be called “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” And He is conceived by a human virgin, through the miraculous working of the Divine Holy Spirit.
So, He is 100% man and He is 100% God and He, God, will save His human people from their sins.

Now, there is another name spoken which we have not talked about much yet in the Messianic Psalms, and that name is Christ. Christ means anointed one. This speaks to a different, yet related purpose to the Son of God coming to earth on Christmas morning. That purpose was to be the promised Messiah, the King of the Jews and all the nations of the earth.

God has promised an eternal kingdom of peace and righteousness upon the earth. A kingdom where sin shall never enter again. A kingdom where His people will reign with Him forever in perfect peace and righteousness. To have such a kingdom, you need perfect people, and Jesus as our Savior has guaranteed by His sacrifice that we will all be made perfect in glory. And one day, He will return again to establish His kingdom upon the earth and we will reign with Him forever in glory.
Link: Jesus came to earth the first time to be the Savior of the earth. And, in doing so, to save the people who would become the citizens of His eternal kingdom. He will come to earth again to be the king over all the earth, the Christ over all the earth. And that’s what I want to talk about with you this Christmas morning. Continuing in Matthew…
Matthew 2:1-12
So Herod the king, in case it isn’t obvious, is upset about the news of Jesus’ birth because the wise men called Jesus the King of the Jews. His anger is reinforced when the Jewish religious leaders say that the Christ is going to be a ruler, specifically of Israel.

Herod was appointed by Rome to be a client-ruler over Israel. At this moment in history, Herod is the king over Israel. I don’t know why the wise men thought it was a good idea to go to the king over Israel and ask him “where is the one that has been born to take your job away?” Most likely, they didn’t realize what a bad idea that was because they didn’t know how bad Herod was.

The Jews certainly knew how bad he was, and so perhaps that is why all Jerusalem is troubled along with Herod – its bad news for everyone that Herod the king has learned that someone else is being called king, because Herod was not above killing people that he deemed a threat. Herod killed many members of his own family to solidify his hold on power, including his own wife. Taken from Wikipedia I found this quote about him: “Modern critics have described him as ‘the evil genius of the Judean nation’, and as one who would be ‘prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition.’ His extraordinary spending spree is cited as one of the causes of the serious impoverishment of the people he ruled, adding to the opinion that his reign was exclusively negative.”

And as we also know, after making everyone poorer in his quest for power, he added this to his sins: that he killed their baby boys. So, not the best of choices for the wise men to have gone to Herod, but in their defense they probably didn’t know anything about him. They had to be warned in a dream not to return to Herod.

Well, at any rate, they come to young Jesus – probably somewhere close to 2 years old at this point – and they present three gifts to Him. Like the names Jesus, Immanuel, and Christ, these three gifts are also filled with meaning. Actually, I would say they coincide with these three names.

Gold was a gift for kings. Gold is in recognition of the fact that Jesus is called the Christ. The Christ is the King of the Jews and of the Magi too. So they give to gold to Christ the King.

Frankincense was something burned in worship to God. Frankincense is given in recognition of the fact that Jesus is called Immanuel, God with us. So they give Frankincense to Immanuel, God with us.
And myrrh was used for burials. Myrrh is in recognition of the fact that Jesus is called Jesus – God saves. John 19:39 records that when Jesus was buried, Nicodemus covered His body with a mixture of myrrh and aloes. Jesus saved us by dying in our place. So they give myrrh to Jesus, God saves.

Psalm 110
Psalm 110 is the quintessential messianic psalm. Actually, Psalms 22 and 40 would maybe better be described as Savior psalms. They tell about Jesus’ saving work. Psalm 110 tells about Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, Jesus the King. The One who will sit at the right hand of God in majesty on high. The One who will crush all enemies of God and reign eternally with a holy people.

Psalm 110, you probably did not know, is the most quoted psalm in the New Testament. It is a cornerstone of Christian theology and is very important to both Hebrews and Revelation.

It is important to note that psalm 110 was written by David. David speaks of his Lord. David was the king of Israel. Who could be Lord over the king of Israel? Only God.

In the Gospels Mark and Luke, Jesus pointed this out. Luke 20:41 He says “How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”

How can the Lord of David be David’s Son? Nobody knew how to answer that question. We have the benefit of hindsight and explanations of the New Testament that they did not have.

The answer is that Jesus is a descendant of David, but He is also the eternal Son of God. He is divine and lives forever. That is how David can call Him his Lord.

You might or might not notice something about the words “Lord” here. One is in all caps, and the other only has one capital. When Lord appears in all caps in the OT, the Hebrew word is YHWH, the personal name of God. When Lord only has the first letter capitalized, it is Adonai. Both of these terms are used throughout the Old Testament to refer to God.

David uses them here to make a distinction between God the Father and God the Son. LORD is God the Father and Lord is God the Son.

God the Father says to God the Son, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

This speaks of Jesus’ ascension into heaven to sit in glory and await His return to establish His kingdom. It is referenced so many times in the New Testament, I have 11 times here, I won’t read them all:

  • Mark 16:19   So then the Lord Jesus, gafter he had spoken to them, hwas taken up into heaven and isat down at the right hand of God.
  • Luke 22:69 But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated zat the right hand of the power of God.”
  • Acts 2:33 cBeing therefore dexalted at the right hand of God, and having received from ethe Father fthe promise of the Holy Spirit, ghe has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
  • Acts 5:31 God exalted lhim at his right hand as mLeader and nSavior, oto give prepentance to Israel and oforgiveness of sins.
  • Acts 7:55 But he, nfull of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw othe glory of God, and Jesus standing pat the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see qthe heavens opened, and rthe Son of Man standing pat the right hand of God.”
  • Rom. 8:34 tWho is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—uwho is at the right hand of God, vwho indeed is interceding for us.Col. 3:1   10
  • bIf then you have been raised with Christ, seek cthe things that are above, where Christ is, dseated at the right hand of God.
  • Heb. 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and hthe exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. iAfter making purification for sins, jhe sat down kat the right hand of the Majesty on high,
  • Heb. 10:12 But when Christ2 had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he ksat down at the right hand of God,
  • Heb. 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, awho for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising bthe shame, and cis seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
  • 1Pet. 3:22 who has gone into heaven and xis at the right hand of God, ywith angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

This verse, referenced so many times, brings great hope. Jesus is not dead. He is alive. More than alive, He is seated at the right hand of God on high, awaiting the time when He will return to reign over all. He is active there today too. From there, He intercedes for us in our prayers and when we sin. Jesus is right there, right beside the heavenly Father, speaking on your behalf to Him. And in that place of power and authority, He has all angels, authorities, and powers subjected to Him.

The following verses – 2-7 – describe the Return of Christ, which is the Blessed Hope of Christians.

Titus 2:13 talks about the Blessed Hope. It says we are “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” This truly is our blessed hope. It never ceases to fill me with hope. When the circumstances of my life or the world around me starts to drag me down, all I need think on is this – One day, Jesus will return and will make it all right. There is no sorrow I have ever had that thought is not able to cure. It is a bedrock of stability for me. It gets me through many days. It helps me to cope with every problem. Jesus is at God’s right hand and every enemy of God will be made His footstool when He returns.

Want to know why I am happy today? It is because Jesus is coming back to fix all the stuff that could make me unhappy. Why is Christmas such a wonderful story worth celebrating? Because it is not the end of the story. Jesus came once, and He is coming again.

One day God the Father will send forth Jesus with this proclamation “Rule in the midst of your enemies!” The people of God will join with Him on that day He ascends to power over all nations and over all enemies. As Jesus rides forth from heaven, the conquering king to defeat the armies of Satan and establish His millennial reign, we will ride with Him and we will be clothed in holy garments.

On the day of His wrath, the kings of the earth and the evil nations will be shattered and destroyed over the wide earth. No opposition will remain. They will be humbled, bow down to declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, and become the footstool of the only righteous and good God.

Verse 7 is a picture of the aftermath. The battle is done. Victory is complete. The warrior King, the Christ, drinks clean water from the brook and then lifts His head in exaltation.

After that, His priesthood and kingdom and reign shall know no end.

Conclusion:
This is Jesus. This is who we celebrate this Christmas Season:

  • Immanuel – God with Us. Gifts of Frankincense.
  • Joshua – God Saves. Gifts of Myrrh.
  • The Christ – Our Holy and Eternal King. Gifts of Gold.