A Collision of Kingdoms
King Herod was troubled. His kingdom was threatened. These so called wise men from the east shared news of a new king and this king was not him or in his family. In Herod’s mind, there was not enough room for two kingdoms in the same land. This king child threatened his power, his prestige, his livelihood. So he devised a plan. He began to scheme. The political machinery began to spin, and Herod would win at all cost. So he called the wise men to him and put his plan into action.
When I think of this conversation between Herod and the wise men, it brings to mind the villains in the Saturday morning cartoons. I see him rubbing his hands as he speaks in an ominous voice persuading the wise men to do his bidding. “Go to Bethlehem, search for the child, and let me know when you find him.” Of course, Herod’s intentions are pure. He only wants to pay homage to this new king born in his kingdom. No way would he harm a child. Right?
King Herod represents the pattern of politics in a broken world. Win at all cost. The end justifies the means. The other side is wrong. I am right so I will do whatever it takes to get my way. This mindset creates an “us versus them mentality” with the enemy needing to be defeated and destroyed. To be fair to Herod, he didn’t invent this mentality. People have a tendency to hold on tight to their perceived kingdoms. Any time our power, our prestige, our livelihood is threatened, the first reaction is to act with hostility. We need to neutralize the threat. Many wars are fought for this reason. We don’t have enough room for another kingdom in our world.
This passage is a collision of kingdoms, but not the kind of kingdom represented by Herod. While Herod was born in a palace, Jesus was born in a simple barn and laid in a feeding troth. While Herod was king of a geographical region, Jesus came to rule the hearts of humanity. While Herod wanted power for himself, Jesus came to lay his life down as a sacrifice for the world.
The difference between Herod’s kingdom and Jesus’ Kingdom is where each places their focus. Herod saw his kingdom as his right. The people served him and nothing or no one would threaten that power. He lived in luxury while the people suffered. He hung out with the well to do and the movers and shakers of the world. Jesus, on the other hand, came among the people. He came to serve. He came to bring new life. He hung out with sinners and the despised of society.
Jesus’ kingdom can be strange and different. It’s not like the political worlds we so often encounter where division and hatred is the order of the day. Jesus’ kingdom collides with the world’s kingdoms offering unity and peace. His kingdom comes offering wholeness and healing. His kingdom is not of this world.
Of course, this collision of kingdoms is not just present in the geopolitical world of politics. This collision also comes to our personal lives as well. We may not rule over great kingdoms. We may not have many people under our charge, but we do form kingdoms when our way becomes the only way. We form kingdoms when our selfish desires, our perceived power and prestige orders the way we view the world. A kingdom is formed when we shut out the opinions and perspectives of others as a threat.
Into these personal kingdoms, the Kingdom of God collides threatening our security with what we may have to surrender. We may have to abdicate the throne. We may have to allow another king to take our place and reorder our world. We may need to view the world around us with different eyes.
The overarching truth is that when God’s kingdom collides with our own, we have a choice in how we will respond. We can be troubled like Herod. We can conspire within our minds to rid ourselves of this threatening King Jesus who comes to change our world. We can decide that there is not enough room for two kings and nothing will make me abdicate my throne.
Another option is to be like the wise men. They didn’t call them wise for nothing. They weren’t threatened by another kingdom. They were willing to leave their own kingdoms and find this new king that came to change the world. They didn’t send envoys or people ahead of themselves looking for a king. They followed a star and didn’t quit. They persevered until they came to a simple peasant house where King Jesus lived. These wise men teach us that when God’s kingdom collides into our own, maybe it’s time to surrender the keys. Maybe it’s time to realize that only God’s kingdom is eternal. Herod’s kingdom and our own will fade away, but the Kingdom of God is forever. What kingdom are you promoting in your life?
