The Christ of Christmas
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
Acommon event included in Christmas pageants is the visit of magi from the East as recorded in Matthew 2. The point of interest is not questions as to the timing of their visit but the inquiry they voiced when they visited. Coming to Jerusalem these visitors asked, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” (v. 2).
King Herod, being troubled by such an inquiry, consulted the chief priests and scribes whose response included a reference to a prophecy given by Micah to identify Bethlehem as the place of the promised King’s birth: “You, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel” (v. 6).
My favorite Christmas cartoon is a picture of the infant Jesus lying in a manger under which is the inscription, “The first king-sized bed.”
These references to a King and a Ruler are the earliest record of Jesus as the anticipated King of the Jews. In this title was also the prophetic word given in Jeremiah 23:5, “Behold, the days are coming, declared the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
Messianic significance
For the Jews the designation of King of the Jews indeed had messianic significance. However, the anticipation of a Messiah tended to take the form of an earthly deliverer who would reign as a political and military leader to establish Israel as a nation of prominence and power.
It was likely that such a misplaced hope was the impetus for the crowd’s enthusiasm at the time of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem “because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately” (Luke 19:11). Their misplaced enthusiasm led the crowds to shout loudly, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38).
When Jewish authorities delivered Christ to Pilate’s court, the notion of an earthly king was negated by Christ’s own words. His reply to Pilate’s question, “Are You the King of the Jews?” (Mark 15:2), was Christ’s clarifying claim, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My Kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36).
The implication that comes to us from Christ’s words is that He came to establish a spiritual Kingdom over which He would reign by ruling in the hearts of those who believe in Him.
King over all people
At the end of that fateful day, Pilate showed his contempt for the Jewish leaders by having an inscription placed on Christ’s cross that could be read in three languages, “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews” (John 19:19–20). Little did Pilate know that on that placard he really spoke more truth than He knew.
Christ not only came to be King of the Jews but also King over all people who trust Him at the promised Messiah and Savior. Thus the gospel of salvation would be addressed to Jews first but also to Gentiles (Rom. 1:16).
Whether Jew or Gentile, none of us can ask a more important question this Christmas than to ask, “Is Christ my Lord and King?”
EDITOR’S NOTE — Jerry Batson is a retired Alabama Baptist pastor who also has served as associate dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University and professor of several schools of religion during his career.
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