What Kind of King are You Looking For?

“Where is He who has been born king of the Jews?”

Matthew 2:2

“Where is He who is born king of the Jews?”  You know, everyone in the story of the Magi seems to be looking for something different in Jesus.  The first place the magi look for this new king is in Herod’s palace.  It would seem that perhaps they were looking for some kind of traditional earthly king – a child born to wealth and privilege… a king with power to rule. The priests don’t seem to be looking at all.   They hear the question of the Magi.  They give the answer.  “In Bethlehem, in Judea, for so it is written by the prophet…”  Yet they themselves make no effort to go to Bethlehem.  The only king Herod wants is himself.  He is greatly troubled when he hears their question.  He pretends to want to find this child too.  He plots to have Jesus killed.

What kind of king are you and I seeking?”  What do we want Jesus to be?  Again there are many different answers..  Some want Jesus to be like a modern day King – just a figurehead. They wear the crown, but have no power.  Is that what you seek – one who makes no real difference in how you live?  If kings have any power today it is in giving advice or in being a role model.  Is that what you want Jesus to be – a hero?  someone to look up to?  Someone to to show us how to live? Some of us want a King with real power.  We can come to him with our laundry list of struggles and problems hoping He can fix things… someone we can blame when He doesn’t fix thing the way we want.  A King we can complain about - “Why God?  What did I do to deserve this Jesus?”  “Where is God?  Why isn’t He answering?  Or maybe we are like Herod.  Too often the only King you want is you… that I want is me.  Then you can just do as you please… not as He pleases

No matter what we want Jesus to be, what the Magi found in Bethlehem was much, much different.  God is more concerned that Jesus be the kind of King you and I need.  For that reason, in everything He becomes just like us.   They find Him in a humble home, not a palace.  Joseph and Mary aren’t royal. Joseph is a carpenter.  Mary is a poor peasant girl.  He was wrapped in rags, not fine linens.  Our King came to live as we live, struggle as we struggle, be tempted as we are tempted.  Ours is a King who understands our lives, because He has lived our life. 

Secondly, our King chooses to wear our crown, rather than His own.  The only crown Jesus ever wears in this world is the crown of throns they gave Him before they nailed Him to the cross.  That’s the only other time Jesus is called “King of the Jews.” Matthew means for us to make this connection.  This is the kind of King He is.  He not only lives our life but also dies the death we deserve.  He is punished in our place.  He pays the price for our sin.  That’s the kind of King Jesus came to be  – the kind who would sacrifice everything for you and me..

Jesus is also a shepherd king.  It’s right here in the passage that the priests quote from Micah – “for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”   He  takes care of us. He may not always lead us down the path we expect or want but He sees the path ahead better than we do.  He knows where we need to go. No one in our family would have wanted for my oldest sister to suffer the damage to her brain and the deafness that resulted.  But I can see the shepherding hand of the King in all of this.  He used that path to draw our whole family to faith, to a walk close to Him. That’s the kind of king He is. 

Finally, He is a King we cannot out give.  People are always trying to find hidden meaning behind the gifts brought by the magi.   The Bible gives these gifts no real meanings.  I think they brought them because they were expecting a wealthy prince living in a palace.  Here, with this king they are out of place.  Yet Jesus received their worship and their gifts.  Those gifts are nothing compared to what He  gives – God’s own Son given for the world, for the magi, for you and me.  Every gift we give to thank Him will fall short. We cannot out give Jesus.   Indeed the one gift that honors Him above all others is to receive His gifts… it is to put your whole faith and trust in Him and Him alone.  I love the story about a man pushing a wheel barrel on a rope across a huge water fall.  After doing it once, he asks, “If you really believe in me, then please sit in my wheel barrel and let me push you across.”  That’s the faith that Jesus our King seeks from you and me… to crawl into His wheel barrel.. to put ourselves completely in His hands.  That may not be kind of King you were looking for…But that is the kind of King we need.  That’s the kind of King Jesus is - the kind you can trust with everything. Amen.