When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled. Matthew 2:3
When Christ the King is born, there is immediate, visceral, and sustained antagonism toward Him. King Herod wants to destroy Jesus. Then from the earliest days of his ministry, the scribes and Pharisees plotted against Him. Eventually they took Him by force and handed Him over to Pontius Pilate, who had one question for Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”—to which Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:33, 36).
Then the soldiers picked up on Jesus as the King. They “twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head” (19:2). They dressed Him in a purple robe. They knelt down as if they were worshiping Him, and they spit on Him. When they nailed Him to the cross, Pilate put an inscription over his head: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (19:19). Even the people mocked Him: “Save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matt. 27:40).
Why did Jesus allow His enemies to perpetrate such evil against Him? Because this King came to redeem a people, and in order to do that, He had to endure all that He did at the cross.
When you look at the world today, you may find yourself thinking, “If Jesus is the King, how come there is so much evil in the world?” When you feel the weight of the evil that is in the world today, remember: This is what a world looks like when it has rejected the King.
One day, this King will defeat all His enemies. But until that day, He is in the business of making His enemies into His friends.
Pray that those who have been fighting against Jesus as King (including you?) over their lives would find peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation with Him.
