A Third Response to Jesus
[Herod] was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet." Matt. 2:3-5, RSV.
There exists a third possible response to Jesus in the Magi episode of Matthew 2--that of the Jewish leaders. Matthew tells us that "all Jerusalem" was "troubled" by the arrival of the Magi and their statements and questions regarding the birth of the "king of the Jews." The Jewish leaders understood the import of the Magi's mission and were able to pinpoint the fact that according to Micah 5:2 the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. They knew their Bibles and its Messianic predictions. Ignorance was not one of their faults.
But the great tragedy of the Magi story is that the Jewish leaders were apparently "disturbed" because of their fear of what Herod might do, rather than being excited about the possible arrival of the Messiah. Matthew paints their response to Christ Himself as one of utter indifference. They made no trips to Bethlehem, although it is only about eight miles from Jerusalem; they gave no evidence of Herod's fear and hate; nor did they display the interest of the worshipping Magi. They just didn't care.
Thus in the Magi story Matthew presents three possible responses to Jesus: violent rejection, worship, and indifference. Those possibilities didn't cease in Matthew 2. To the contrary, how to respond to Jesus becomes a theme of all four Gospels. An associated motif is that the arrival of Jesus always divides people and brings conflict. Confronted by His life, teachings, and claims, every one of us finds ourselves forced into responding in terms of (1) praise and welcome, (2) hatred and opposition, or (3) cold indifference. One of the paradoxes of the coming of the Prince of Peace is that His claims have continued to separate people into these categories as the great controversy between Christ and Satan works itself out in the lives of individuals around the world in every generation.
These are issues that we need to take seriously. After all, the experience of the Jewish leaders demonstrates that church membership or even leadership does not mean that we are right with God. He gives each of us the freedom to do what we want with "the king of the Jews."
[Herod] was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet." Matt. 2:3-5, RSV.
There exists a third possible response to Jesus in the Magi episode of Matthew 2--that of the Jewish leaders. Matthew tells us that "all Jerusalem" was "troubled" by the arrival of the Magi and their statements and questions regarding the birth of the "king of the Jews." The Jewish leaders understood the import of the Magi's mission and were able to pinpoint the fact that according to Micah 5:2 the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. They knew their Bibles and its Messianic predictions. Ignorance was not one of their faults.
But the great tragedy of the Magi story is that the Jewish leaders were apparently "disturbed" because of their fear of what Herod might do, rather than being excited about the possible arrival of the Messiah. Matthew paints their response to Christ Himself as one of utter indifference. They made no trips to Bethlehem, although it is only about eight miles from Jerusalem; they gave no evidence of Herod's fear and hate; nor did they display the interest of the worshipping Magi. They just didn't care.
Thus in the Magi story Matthew presents three possible responses to Jesus: violent rejection, worship, and indifference. Those possibilities didn't cease in Matthew 2. To the contrary, how to respond to Jesus becomes a theme of all four Gospels. An associated motif is that the arrival of Jesus always divides people and brings conflict. Confronted by His life, teachings, and claims, every one of us finds ourselves forced into responding in terms of (1) praise and welcome, (2) hatred and opposition, or (3) cold indifference. One of the paradoxes of the coming of the Prince of Peace is that His claims have continued to separate people into these categories as the great controversy between Christ and Satan works itself out in the lives of individuals around the world in every generation.
These are issues that we need to take seriously. After all, the experience of the Jewish leaders demonstrates that church membership or even leadership does not mean that we are right with God. He gives each of us the freedom to do what we want with "the king of the Jews."
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