Messiah

What was it that worried King Herod so much about a child being born in Bethlehem? It was a king. A new king would be a threat to his reign in Judea. For so long the Jews had looked for a king, a new King David who would free them from the bondage of the Romans. These Romans who taxed them and abused them and generally tried to ruin their way of life.
Now the thought of a Messiah had reached a fever pitch. They were looking for armies, for another man who stood head and shoulders above the rest, another who would make them favored in God's eyes again.
He came. Now with flash, pomp, and circumstance. He came with humility and poverty. They never could quite understand His kingship nor His kingdom. They tried to make Him king by force, but He slipped away. And when we try to make a secular Jesus, He will also slip away. His kingdom was and is not of this world. It is holy. It is spiritual.
Although Jesus may have disappointed many of His time, I pray that He doesn't disappoint us. I hope we are not looking for the wrong kind of Messiah, but One who will be our King, our Lord, our Ruler. I hope we don't try to make Him King by force. Instead, it's my prayer that we invite Him into our hearts. Quietly, calmly, once again without flash. Have a great day. JW