Luke 2:11: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

The angel announces the birth of Jesus that He is Lord.  Another word for Lord would be King.  That this child is the King.  The Bible describes Him as the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.

In Christmas carols, we sing of this truth.

In Hark the Herald Angels Sing, we sing the words, Glory to the newborn King

In What Child is This, we sing the line, This, this is Christ the King 

In Joy to the World, we sing, Joy to the Word, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room!

This baby was different.  We have two children.  When they were born, it is tough to describe how amazing and miraculous it was.  But here is what didn’t happen.  No family member, nurse, or random stranger came into our room and bowed down to worship our kids.  I mean, grandparents might’ve gotten close, but I promise, no one took to their knees and worshipped.

Small, innocent, newborn Jesus was different.  This baby was Christ the King!

Is Jesus your King?  Is He King of your life?  King of your heart?  Are there areas of your life that you have not welcomed His Kingship?  Where is Jesus, the King of Kings, asking you to bow your knees to Him in surrender?  What area of your life is He lovingly wanting you to trust in His ways, rather than your own?

All through the Old Testament, we see the writers pointing to that one day a King would come.  For example in Jeremiah 23:5, “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land

But we see that when this newborn king arrives in the New Testament, there are two completely different reactions to Him.  One reaction receives and worships the king.  The other reaction rejects and is unwilling to follow the newborn king.  The wise men worshipped.  Herod rejected and was unwilling to trust in someone other than himself.  We see it play out in Matthew 2.  Read it today for yourself.

Herod responded with envy, anger, denial, and dismissed the newborn king.  The wise men responded with joy, delight, surrender, gifts, and worship to the newborn king.  Two vastly different reactions.

Where are you at in your reaction and ongoing response to the newborn king?  Are you rejecting or worshipping?  Are you trusting in yourself or trusting in Him?

The reality is that we are all born Herods.  That is our natural tendency and the leaning of our hearts.  That none of us on our own, want to follow or surrender to anyone other than ourselves.  Like Herod, we like to sit upon the thrones of our lives.  Whether outwardly or just secretly inside of us, we want other people to do our bidding, and think and act just like us.  You know the joke that the world would just be a whole lot easier, if everyone just thought and acted like we did.

No one has to teach us to act selfishly.

God creates us, and as His creation we are to worship and honor Him.  But we each rebel and go our own way.  We wander away from Him.  We reject His ways and dishonor Him.  We are all born with sinful and selfish hearts, and as a result, we are lost and chained up to our sin.  We are all born Herods.

But then that promised deliverer comes, the child is born.  What God promised would happen all through the Old Testament, is happening here in the Christmas story.  The true King has come!  He is God Himself, come in the flesh to rescue us from our sin and set us free.

The angel announced the birth of Jesus this way in Luke 2:10-11…“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

So where is your heart?  Would you describe your heart as that of a Herod who wants the authority, the control?  Or that of the Magi, who fell down and worshipped the newborn King?  A heart that is prone to resist, or a heart that is learning to surrender, follow, and trust?

Is Jesus your King?

If Jesus is your King, I pray that where there are areas that you and I are resisting His Kingship, that you and I would bow our hearts before Him today, and thank Him for His grace and power that continues to transform us.

If you would not say that Jesus is your King, I pray you’d bow your heart to Him today.  That you’d recognize that Jesus is a good King, a King who rescues, saves, delivers, overcomes, and whose birth announces good news of great joy for all the people, including you.