A Royal Rivalry

A sermon delivered by the Rev. Roger Scott Powers at Light Street Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, on Sunday, January7, 2007

Matthew 2:1-12

This morning we are celebrating Epiphany, which comes each year on January 6, twelve days after Christmas Day. (In case you've ever wondered, that's where we get the twelve days of Christmas!) Epiphany refers to the manifestation of Christ to the world, symbolized by the visit of the Magi. Note that while we may sing of there being "three kings," the Bible does not say they were "kings" nor does it say there were three of them. The gospel of Matthew simply tells us that they were "wise men from the East."

The wise men came from a distant land, from Persia or Babylonia perhaps -- the lands now known as Iran and Iraq. They were not Jews. They were Gentiles -- followers of another religion. The wise men were probably from a priestly class -- experts in astrology and the interpretation of dreams. They were people of wealth and privilege: they were able to travel long distances, they had status enough to gain access to Herod the king, and they had the resources to bring precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Christ child.

As Matthew tells the story, the wise men first came to Jerusalem and began asking around about a newborn king. "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?" they ask, "For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

When Herod gets wind of this, he is frightened. Matthew tells us, "and all Jerusalem with him." To have foreign dignitaries in the capital looking for a child born king of the Jews was terribly unsettling, because it meant there might be a rival to Herod's throne.

Herod was king of the Jews! He had been appointed to the position -- as king of Judea -- in 40 B.C. by none other than the Roman Senate. But actually taking the appointment required him to go to war. In order for him to take the throne, Herod had to invade Judea and overthrow Antigonus II, who had been put into power by Rome's enemies, the Parthians. Herod did this. With the help of Roman troops, Herod succeeded in conquering Judea, taking the city of Jerusalem in 37 B.C. Herod would rule Judea with an iron fist for more than thirty years.

King Herod was a brutal and hated tyrant, politically shrewd and terribly cruel. His was an intensely repressive regime. He maintained an army of foreign mercenaries, a secret police, and a spy network throughout the country. He ruthlessly defended his throne. And any threat of opposition was met with harsh repression.

So, in Matthew's story, when Herod hears about the wise men from the East, he gathers a group of advisers -- the chief priests and scribes of the people -- to find out what they know. They quote to him a passage from the prophet Micah, which says that a ruler who is to shepherd the people of Israel shall come from Bethlehem.

Herod then holds a secret meeting with the wisemen. He sends them to Bethlehem to search diligently for the child, and after they have found him, Herod asks them to bring him word so that he may also pay him homage. At least that's the rationale Herod gives them. Herod tries to employ the wise men as an unwitting reconnaissance team to gather intelligence about this newborn king. Who is this child who is said to be born King of the Jews? When exactly was he born? What does he look like? And where is he now? Clearly, Herod had in mind sending a small hit sqauad into Bethlehem to kill this child who would be king. A rival to the throne could not be allowed to grow up and challenge Herod's rule. This rival king had to be killed -- the sooner the better.

But after paying homage to Jesus and offering their gifts, the wisemen are warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and so they leave for their own country by another road. The noncooperation of the wise men thwarts Herod's initial plan.

As Matthew tells the story, Jesus posed a threat to the governing authorities from the very moment he entered this world. Matthew offers us a striking contrast between two rival kings. Herod, the client king of Rome, and Jesus, the child king of heaven. Herod, the brutal and hated tyrant, and Jesus, the vulnerable and innocent babe. Herod, the man of violence, and Jesus, the child of nonviolence. Matthew presents us with a choice between the Empire of Rome and the Kingdom of God, between Herod and Jesus. Who will we choose to follow? The Herods of this world? Or Jesus? To whom will we give our ultimate allegiance? Will we be citizens of empire? Or members of God's peacable kingdom?

To speak of Christ as our king is to affirm that Christ is our leader, our highest authority. Christ is head of the church and sovereign of the universe. He is the one to whom we owe our ultimate allegiance.

But more than that, Christ is a different kind of king who doesn't fit our usual stereotypes. He is a king who acts as a shepherd. Christ is a "shepherd king" who cares for us and nurtures us. He is one from whom we seek guidance and protection. He is the one who searches for us when we are lost, frightened, and alone, and who carries us back in his arms to return us to the fold. He is the one who sustains our lives.

Christ is a different kind of king altogether -- a king without armies or armadas, a king whose strength rests not in weapons of war but in the power of love and truth. Christ is a nonviolent king who shows us how to stand up to evil and injustice, how to overcome the oppression and violence of others without resorting to violence and oppression ourselves.

He does not remain seated on his throne, ruling from on high. He does not stay holed up in his castle, separated from his people by a wide moat and high castle walls. He does not live in opulence while his people starve. Rather, he ventured out beyond the castle gate to be among his people. He seeks out the poorest of the poor and lives in solidarity with them. Christ is a king who identifies with the poor, the needy, the outcast. Christ is a pauper king, the one who is present in the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. Christ is our king -- but a different kind of king -- a shepherd, a pauper king.