Verse: Matthew 2:3-6
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Devotional Thoughts:
There are three main players in Matthew’s account of the Christmas story. There was the Wise Men and King Herod, certainly, but we often don’t consider the other player in the story – the chief priests and scribes.
These men would’ve obviously been Jews who were experts in the Old Testament. They were Old Testament scholars – that is the very reason that Herod went to them in the first place.
But their correct answer about the Messiah’s birthplace begs the question – why didn’t they go look for the promised Messiah themselves? It’s almost laughable – the Wise Men traveled literally hundreds of miles to make it to Bethlehem, but none of the chief priests and scribes could make the six mile trek from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to see if it was true?
Christianity really should’ve been a natural step, not a drastic leap for those of the Jewish faith. Jesus’ coming to Earth was the fulfillment of what the story of the Old Testament had been pointing toward. All the covenants God made with His people are centered around being fulfilled in Jesus. So when considering the chief priests and scribes – why the indifference? Why the indifference around the possibility of the Messiah being born?
Points to Ponder:
Here’s the main point I want to make – Guard against the indifference that plagues Bible-belt Christianity.
What I mean by Bible-belt Christianity is that there is a band of several southern states in which you can find a church on every corner. That’s the Bible belt. If you go up to New York or out to Seattle, that’s not true there. Think about it this way – in Crockett County, what is the one common denominator of almost everyone you know?
Almost everyone claims to be Christian. Being a Christian is almost like a cultural expectation. I heard someone joke one time that, even if he did become an atheist, he’d be a Southern Baptist atheist. It’s such a big part of the culture.
But, you know these Crockett County people, are they all interested in the things of God? Are they all interested in serving Jesus? Do they love God with all their heart, mind, and soul? Do they truly care for their neighbor as themselves? Are they truly interested in overcoming the sin in their lives?
And what you begin to realize is that our society is plagued with a Christianity that isn’t a New Testament Christianity, it isn’t the kind of Christianity that confounded the Roman empire, it isn’t the kind of Christianity that led some of the Jews in Acts to literally say that these Christians had turned the world upside down.
It isn’t a type of Christianity that is radical, that gives you purpose, that gives you a foundation on which to build your life. Let me tell you what this cultural Christianity is. And, again, I’m speaking in broad strokes here.
A large part of this cultural Christianity is a claim to follow Jesus, while, at the same time, combining indifference and a lack of enthusiasm toward the work and will of God.
It’s not that they dislike Jesus, and they may even enjoy going to church every now and then. It’s not that. It’s that they simply don’t care about Jesus and don’t care about following Him. They don’t care one way or another. They’re indifferent.
So my simple message for this article is this – let us not be like that. Let us not be indifferent. Let us be passionate about God and the things of God. Let us be passionate about the will of God, and also let us be passionate about making disciples in Crockett County.
