A king was born today! On the same date today, 88 years ago, that is January 8, 1935, Elvis Presley, the “king of rock ‘n’ roll” was born. This king sold over 500 million records worldwide. But at the time of his birth no man could have imagined how famous will he be, no man knows that that child will be a “king”.
On the contrary, we’ve heard from the previous sermon that when Jesus Christ was born, the wise men from the east already recognized Him and worshiped Him as the true King of the Jews.
And that is one of the major themes in the book of Matthew. Matthew in his gospel persuades his fellow Jews for them to recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah. Their true King. Now, a genuine Jew will not just accept any claim that someone is their Messiah. Meron silang mga certain qualifications that should be met in order for them to believe someone’s claim.
So, for example, as we have heard also from the previous sermons, they know that the true Messiah, will come from the line of David and Abraham. Kaya naman at the very outset of Matthew’s gospel, pinatunayan niya through the genealogy of Jesus, that our Lord really comes from the line of David and Abraham.
For the Jews, another qualification to prove that someone is truly the Messiah, is that that person should fulfill the Messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament. That’s what we will see in our sermon this morning, Matthew will present to his fellow Jews that the Lord Jesus Christ is . . . THE PROPHECY FULFILLER.
Our text this morning is Matthew 2:13–23, these are the words of God:
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
- “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
- But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Thanks be to God for the reading of His Word.
Now as we have said last week, we’ve heard that there are wise men from the east, who came to worship the child Jesus. Now we must understand na itong mga wise men na ito according to Dr. John MacArthur are the “official Persian Kingmakers.” So, in their world and in their time, itong mga wise men na ito ang nagsa-sabi kung sino ang tunay na hari at consequently sino ang mga nagpapanggap na pekeng hari.
Kaya ganun na lang yung pag-aalala ni Herod, na nag-hahari-harian nung mga panahon na yun sa Israel, ng sabihin ng mga wise men na may ibang Hari ang mga Judio, at siya ay ipinanganak na. And just like how he massacred his relatives who are his possible rivals to the throne, he also tried to kill the child who is the true King.
Now Herod said to the wise men to also inform him where the child was, para siya din daw ay maka-worship doon sa batang hari. Pero ang totoo, nais niya lang na mamalaman ni Heron nasaan yung sanggol para ito at patayin. But God in his protection, warned the wise men in a dream not to return to Herod, and the wise men traveled back to their country using a different path, thus tricking the false-king Herod.
And because of these events makakakita tayo ng tatlong resulta or another three major events from our text today. At ang una doon is that an angel of the Lord commanded Joseph in a dream to take the child and Mary his wife to Egypt, para makaiwas sila sa further attempts ni Herod to destroy the child. And Joseph obeyed immediately and started this approximately 90-mile journey to Egypt.
Pangalawang major event is that habang sila Joseph ay nasa Egypt, Herod became so furious, sobrang nainis siya nang ma-realize niya na naisahan siyan ng mga wise men, and as a result of his fury, he ordered to kill all the children in Bethlehem who are 2 years old or under, he based this on the information doon sa mga nakuha niya from the wise men. According sa mga commentaries based doon sa population ng time na yun there are probably less than 50 children that were killed in Herod’s brutal massacre of the innocents. That is the second one.
The third major event in our text is that happened after the death of Herod, and that is probably only a couple of months after Joseph with his family, fled to Egypt, an angel of the Lord spoke to him again, this time commanding them to go back to Israel. Dahil pumanaw na si Herod nagkaroon ng bagong ruler sa Judea, siya ay si Archelaus, anak siya ni Herod and also the commentary says that he is as brutal and as mad as his father was. That is why Joseph, nag-iingat siya. He is being cautious and again was again warned in a dream, decided that his family would live, not anymore in Bethlehem in Judea, but instead they will live in Nazareth in Galillee, since it is also under a new and a different ruler na si Antipas. Siya is less of a threat para sa child na si Jesus.
So, if we will just look in the human perspective or we will place ourselves sa posisyon ni Joseph, Joseph’s perspective maybe the only reason na nakikita natin is that nagpapalipat-lipat lang sila ng tirahan para ma- protektahan ang pamilya. Pero as we can see nag-bigay ng commentary si Matthew why God in His providence, allowed these events to happen. Matthew said it three times in our text — “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet or by the prophets.” All those things happened, in order that Matthew’s
readers, might see that the child, Jesus, is The Prophecy-Fulfiller.
Now maybe some of us are thinking ano bay un? Ano ba yung mga prophecy? of Prophecy or in particular Messianic Prophecies. Messianic-prophecies are God’s word revealed to men, through His prophets, that pertains to the person and work of the Messiah, at ito ay ni-reveal ng Panginoon, hundreds or even thousands of years before the coming of the Messiah. So, if you claim to be the Messiah, these prophesies from old must obviously happen in your life. There are more than 300 Messianic prophesies in the Old Testament, and if we will study the Scriptures, we will see the clear fulfillment of these prophecies in the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
For the sake of our time, hindi naman natin kaya aralin ang 300. So, for the sake of our time mag focus muna tayo sa 4 Messianic-fulfillment quotations, na makikita sa Matthew chapter 2: So una, nabanggit din last week, the Messiah must be born in Bethlehem, as prophesied in Micah 5:2. Pangalawa, makikita nating prophecy-fulflled in our text today, He must come out of Egypt, as said in Hosea 11:1. And third, while He is away, a weeping must be heard in Ramah as said in Jeremiah 31:15. Lastly, and He must live in Nazareth as proclaimed by various prophets. So kung titingnan po natin ano dapat ipanganak sa Bethlehem, dapat siya ay manggaling sa Egypt. So medyo mahirap po yun ano. Pinanganak ka sa Bethlehem tapos manggagaling ka sa Egypt and then dapat magkaroon ng weeping in Ramah habang ikaw ay nasa Egypt and then dapat pagbalik mo ikaw ay tumira sa Nazareth
Now, it is very impossible to accomplish all of these if you are not the Messiah, especially kapag newborn child ka palang. Mahirap po gawin ito. Sobrang imposibleng mangyari itong mga prophecies na itong mga prophecies na ito by human effort or by chance. Pinresent satin ni brother Josh from the previous sermons kung ano yung percentage. Sobrang imposibleng mangyari by chance sa isang tao ito kung hindi naman siya ang Messiah. And maybe you are asking, para saan ba itong mga propesiya na ito? What is the need for all these unique and specific prophecies?
According to Dr. MacArthur: “These (prophesies) are unique and complex, and so specific, that unless God work in marvelous circumstances, it will not happen by chance to anyone, and one purpose of it is to eliminate any pretenders who claim they are the Messiah.”
Ano raw ang isa sa mga purpose ng Messianic prophecies? Para kung meron mang mag-claim na siya ang Messiah, eh pwedeng ma-cross-examine — nangyari ba ang mga prophecy in his life? At kung hindi napatunayan na nangyari yung prophecies in the life of that person, then we can conclude that his claims are not true, that he is a false-messiah, and that he is a pretender.
Again, these Messianic Prophecies won’t happen to anyone unless He is the Prophecy Fulfiller, the true Messiah, the long-awaited King, . . . And that leads us to our message this morning:
The Messianic prophecies fulfilled in Jesus’ life reveal that He is the long-awaited King.
Ang mga propesiya tungkol sa Mesiyas na natupad sa buhay ni Hesus ay pinapatunayan na Siya ang matagal nang inaantay na Hari.
And when we say that Jesus is King, we are not saying na isa lamang siya sa mga tao na naging hari, instead we say na Siya ang Hari ng mga Hari. Ang Diyos na nagkatawang tao, the God-Man who will save his people from their sins. He will save his people from their sins and will reign for all eternity, over all creation, and everywhere.
We must also understand that His fulfilled prophecies are not just random events, instead every prophecy fulfilled in Christ reveals something about His person and work. So that is the question for us what are
the truths about the personal work of Christ ang makikita natin sa mga fulfilled prophecies in our text today?
First, we see from the first 2 prophecies that Christ is the redeemer of His people, and we’ll unpack that on our first point: “The King, Exiled.” Also, we will see that when Jesus our King came to this world, the prophecies said that He will even be rejected by men, and we will expound that on our second point, “The King, Despised.” Let us consider the first point:
The King, Exiled.
We can see in verses 13-18 the first two events and alongside with them are also the two prophecies fulfilled in Jesus, woven in those events. So nakatahi doon sa mga probidensya na inallow ng Panginoon yung fulfillment ng prophecy ng Panginoong Hesus.
The first event is the flight of Joseph with the child Jesus and Mary to Egypt in order to evade Herod’s threats. Now Matthew says that this happened to fulfill the prophecy spoken by Hosea, which was written around 700 years ago before the birth of Jesus Christ. Sabi doon, “Out of Egypt I will call my son” and this means that the Messiah will be in a sense, exiled to Egypt but like the Israelites in the time of Exodus, He will also come out of Egypt. And this speaks of the Messiah’s exile and consequently, his exodus.
We can find the prophecy specifically in Hosea 11:1 which says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” In this verse Hosea recollects God’s Fatherly love for the nation of Israel in the time of Exodus, and he mentions Egypt. Bakit? So that they would be reminded how the Lord mightily delivered and redeemed them from Egyptian slavery. When Matthew said that this prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus, he means that Israel and their Exodus account points forward to Jesus Christ, the true Israel, the true Son of God.
At the same time, Matthew wants us to see the striking parallels between Israel’s Exodus account and the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, if Israel was delivered from slavery in the land of Egypt, under the leadership of Moses. We can see that Jesus; the greater Moses will redeem His people not just from the slavery of another nation but from the slavery of sin and death. It shows us that the Exodus in the time of Moses is only a shadow of a greater Exodus that will be led by King Jesus, where his people will be free from sin and death!
Ang pangalawang prophecy ay makikita naman natin sa verse 17, and it shows us that same pattern of exile and exodus. Exile and Exodus. So, the same pattern of exile and exodus makikita natin. And this second prophecy was prophesied by Jeremiah.
Here Matthew creates again a parallel event. Hinalintulad niya yung sorrow of the mothers in Bethlehem when Herod killed the children, to the metaphor presented by Jeremiah, where He used Rachel who is weeping for her dead sons to describe. Now si Jeremiah ginagamit niya lang yung na metaphor to describe how sorrowful it is to be captured by another nation, to be kicked-out of the land of promise and be exiled to the land of their enemies.
Pero gaya ng nabasa natin kanina sa ating Scripture reading, the Lord God promised that they will not remain as exiles forever in the land of their enemies, the Lord declared na sila ay makakabalik mula sa land of exile, back to their own land, and somehow is looks like a new exodus. So, from the land of exile going back to their own land. So mukhang parejas sa exodus. And again, we see that pattern being exiled and having an Exodus.
Now considering that pattern. What does it tell us about the King who fulfilled those prophecies?
Well, it shows us one thing. It shows us that Jesus the prophecy fulfilling King, is a Redeemer. He is a King that sets his people free from slavery, but unlike Moses, Jesus, the greater Moses, didn’t just set His church free from Egypt, Babylon, or Assyria but from the spiritual bondage of sin and death. But you see, brothers and sisters, redemption doesn’t end there. They have been set free and they are also enabled to go back, to go back not just to a promise land, but to the King himself! To go back to Christ himself.
Brothers and sisters, for those who are in Christ, may we not forget where we’ve been. May we not forget kung saan tayo nanggaling mga kapatid. We were rotten dead slaves to sin and death, but our King came to redeem us, and we have been set free, because our King paid the debt that we can never pay. He died on the cross, for our sins and in our place, and our King triumphantly rose again from the grave for our justification, so that we might be set free from the bondage sin and death and be enabled to go back to Him, to our King Jesus.
What should be our response brethren? What should be our response knowing this truth? While that we have been reminded of this glorious truth? And that is our first challenge for this morning. That if we you have been redeemed by Christ the King, worship your King. Worship King Jesus as a response to his work of redemption. Now since nabanggit ang kwento ng exodus, and kwento ng exile. Do you remember kung ano ang first thing na ginawa ng mga Israelites right after na sila ay makalabas sa Egypt? Right after na makalampas sila sa red sea? Ano ang una nilang ginawa? Exodus 15 says Moses, Miriam and the Israelites worshipped and sang to the Lord. Yun ang pinaka una nilang ginawa after na sila ay ma-redeem from the land of Egypt. They worshiped the Lord. And I think that’s the automatic response knowing that you have been set free. You will worship you Redeemer if you have been redeemed. How about ang mga Israelites after the Babylonian exile, at sila ay pinabalik ng king of Persia sa kanilang land. What are the first things that they rebuilt ng sila ay makabalik? According to Ezra chapter 3, they rebuilt the altar and the temple. Why? Bakit yung ang pinakauna? Sa dinami dami ng nasira sa land of Israel? Why prioritize the altar and the temple? Why because they want to worship their Redeemer, King. And that is the proper response for those who have been redeemed. Worship. Worship.
That’s our challenge uh first challenge today, Brethren. Knowing that you have been redeemed by your king, worship Him. Worship him as a response to his work of redemption.
Today we have a great privilege to worship our King in a Lord’s Day, in a local church, and we are highly encouraged to have our family worship for those who have already have a family. And also we are encouraged to have our private devotions to the Lord. Private worship. Pero ang question ko mga kapatid, do we really worship our God, our Redeemer King? Maybe some of us will say lagi ako nandito kapag Lord’s Day.
I’m present every Lord’s Day. Well. Amen, amen, amen. But also, there’s a warning na dapat nating marinig. Because we may dutifully do it outwardly na nakikita ng ibang tao but what is the condition of our hearts whenever we come every Sunday? Are we really here? I mean nandito ba talaga tayo mga kapatid? Are we present in the presence of our God? When we sing a hymn, do we sing it to Him? Talaga bang inaawitan natina ng ating Panginoon or baka sumasabay lang tayo sa agos ng mga nangyayari? You see brothers and sisters the Lord is not just looking kung present ka o hindi. Well, that is important. Gusto namin po maging present kayo dito every Lord’s Day. Importate po iyon. But I’m also pleading to you na maging tama ang kondisyon ng ating mga puso every time that we are here. Because the Lord also sees our hearts our attitudes whenever we worship Him.
Now I say that because the the sad truth is all of us, I mean lahat tayo, kayo, ako, lahat tayo nakakaranas that there are really times that we are hindered to whole-heartedly worship our King. Nangyayari po talaga yun. And it’s because of the sins in our hearts. Our sins hinder us to worship our King. At ang mas masaklap pa, we wallow in our own sin, and after that, we become so sin-centered, we become so self-centered, hat we lose sight of our King, of the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes we must search our hearts, acknowledge our sins and repent of it, but brothers and sisters there. Don’t stop at your sin brethren. Don’t stop and your sin and fail to see your Redeemer. Fail to see the Lord Jesus Christ. As Robert Murray McCheyne said “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.” Kada isang tingin mo sa iyong kaslanan tumingin ka ng sampung beses sa Panginoon Hesus. You have been redeemed. Remember your Redeemer and how he mightily redeemed you. Alam niyo mga kapatid ganito yan. Whenever we focus on the Redeemer, we focus on it on this person and work, ano angdulot noon sa ating mga puso? Hindi ba’t joy knowing that we have been forgiven? We have been loved. We receive mercy and Grace that we don’t deserve but because he is gracious and loving he saved us. Now may God may God restore unto you the joy of his salvation as you look to him and may that joy fuel you to know Him, to love Him, and to worship your King! Worship your king brethren.
For those who us today who are not yet in Christ, if you hare today and you are not a Christian, if you don’t believe in the Lord Jesus Christ please know my friend that there is no neutral ground, either you worship the Redeemer King or like the false-king Herod, you fight against the True King. You may be actively hating Him or siguro passive ka lang na indifferent sa King Jesus, but you are nonetheless a rebelling against the Christ. But you see, this same King of kings is giving you another chance today because He is compassionate towards you. This same King is giving another chance today to be Redeemed. Obey now Christ’s command — repent of your sins and trust in Him as your only Savior. Or if you will harden your heart don’t wait for the judgement day and face the perfect wrath of the King of kings.
We’ve seen in our first point that the first two prophecies fulfilled also reveals that Christ the King is our Redeemer, now let us proceed to the last prophecy in our text, that we might see another characteristic of the Messiah in our last point:
The King, Despised.
The third major event in our text can be found in verses 19-23, where Joseph after being instructed by the angel of the Lord, came back to Israel. And after the death of Herod gaya ng sabi natin kanina may bagong ruler, si Archelaus. At nagdecide si Joseph na umiwas sakanya at kinonconfirm din nito sakanyang panaginip na dapat nga siyang umiwas kay Archelaus at sila ay nanirahan sa Nazareth in Galiliee.
According to Matthew, this again happened under the providence of God so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene or Jesus of Nazareth. Now if you check the cross-references in your bible, unlike the previous prophecies, wala tayong makikitang specific verse na nagsasabi na that the Messiah will be a Nazarene or the Messiah will live in Nazareth. Walang specific verse na nagsasabi non but that doesn’t mean na hindi ito Messianic Prophecy. So how do we connect the dots? First, we must see na ang Nazareth is a place in Israel that is so despised. I mean they don’t like Nazareth. Isang patunay diyan ay yung sinsabi sa John 1:46 sinabi ni Nathaniel. Sabi niya, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” In their time, they use the term “Nazarene” to insult someone. Also, the commentators said na this term, “carries overtones of contempt”. Now on the contrary, alam natin na ang Panginoong Hesus pinanganak talaga siya sa Bethlehem ano. He was never called Jesus the “Bethlehemite” because that term overtones naman ng majestic parang messianic na ideas. So, he was never called that. They call Him the “Nazarene” especially the Jews that hate him. “Jesus of Nazareth” “Nazarene” – that is their way to insult the King.
And here’s how it became a fulfillment, notice the Matthew says, that this happened to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets. So unlike doon sa mga naunang prophecies, merong specific na prophet na nagsabi ng prophecy. Dito ginamit ni Matthew prophets and that plural form indicates that many prophecies in the Old Testament says that the Messiah will be despised. One example is in Isaiah 53:3 “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” And many other OT texts like Psalm 22, Psalm 69, Isaiah 49, prophesies that the Messiah will be despised.
We can clearly see what this prophetic fulfillment says about our King. It says that people, the world will hate the King. People will despise the King. Maybe you are asking why? Bakit ang Diyos na nagkatawang tao ay idedespise ng mundo? Brothers and sisters, even us before our conversion, we hate the King Jesus. We hate him. Why? Bakit natin ayaw sakanya? It is because we love our sin. That is the reason why. We hate the light because we love darkness. That is the reason why the world hates Christ!
Now if you belong to him, if you are a Christian, even though we despised Him, He still loved us. According sa Romans while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! And when He saved us from the darkness of our sin, He didn’t let us remain in darkness, He transformed us that we might love Him and walk in His light. One of the radical examples of this is the Apostle Paul, before he was a persecutor of the Christ and the Christians. But when he encountered the Light in the road to Damascus, his whole life was transformed, now he loves Christ and the church and not just that, he is also willing to be hated, to be despised in Christ’s name.
According to the apostle Paul, here is one of the promises that we must hold on to, if you are Christian this is one of the promises that you must hold on to. Pero usually hindi mo ito makikita sa mga new year calendars yung may mga verses. 2 Timothy 3:12 – “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (hated, despised).” If you follow the King, if you desire a godly life, the world will hate and despise you. That will happen. Be ready for the persecution brethren. Be ready to be hated and be despised. It will come. King hindi pa nangyayari sa buhay niyo it’s not a matter kung mangyayari ba o hindi. It’s a matter of when. Kelan mangyayari sa buhay mo where peope will despise you because you follow the King. What must be our response when that comes? When that persecution, when that hate, when that despising of the world comes into your life. What should be our response brothers and sisters? And that is our second challenge:
Rejoice if the world despises you in the name of King Jesus.
Also, in the book of Matthew, Matthew will show us how must we response when we are hated because of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 5:11-12 – “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Rejoice brothers. It’s a great comfort to know that even when the world hates you and despise you because of your obedience to the King Jesus, the King that is also despised by the world, be secured brother and sisters that despised King loves you. He loves you. And to suffer for the name of the King that loves you, well, that is a great privilege and a great cause for great rejoicing! Why is it a great privilege? Because that proves that you are His. You are His. And Romans 8:17-18 says, if we share in his sufferings, we will also share in his glory. So ano ang patunay na we are going there with the Lord Jesus Christ. The proof that your direction is glorification the proof of that is suffering. You suffer for the Lord Jesus’ name. For His name’s sake.
But what is the problem today brothers and sisters? What is our problem? One of the sinful tendencies of our generation today is the desire to be liked (the like to be liked) at the expense of your obedience to Christ. Naging successful na ata ang social media outlets to disciple many people, where everyone just thirst to be liked to be liked by everybody by many people.
There’s nothing wrong if the many people like you as long as you don’t compromise your obedience to the King. Okay lang po yun. I’m not also saying that we should go around offending everybody, but you see brothers and sisters if you truly follow the King Jesus, and you submit to His word, there will be times where we need to say or do something that probably many people will not like. And the temptation is to disobey Christ para lang hindi mo ma-lose yung popularity or attention that you get. That is the temptation.
If you struggle because of this, please be reminded brothers and sisters that we are not created and redeemed by the King to seek the praises of men. We are redeemed for the praise of our Redeemer’s name! May we continue to mortify that desire to please ourselves and to please other men at the expense of obeying our King. May we not forget that our King endured the despising, the hate, the brutal suffering… why? Because He obeyed the Father, and as said in Philippians 2, even to the point of death. That is the King that we follow.
We don’t follow a narcissistic king who is a couch-potato, who scrolls all day with his smart phone, and checks every minute for the next notification, that shows how many people likes his most recent post, a King that does nothing for the benefit of his kingdom, NO! That is not our king.
On the contrary our King Jesus humbled himself, was despised, and hated, to the point that he died on the cross, for your sin and my sin, including this sinful idolatry of being liked by men. May we repent, and obey our King, may we be willing to be despised when the situations call for it, may we take up our cross daily, and seek the approval of God rather than the approval of men. And may we trust his promise that those who suffer with him will also be glorified in him – that he will reward our obedience, that is only possible because of our King’s perfect obedience and his grace towards us.
Polycarp, the elder of the church in Smyrna, and a direct disciple of the Apostle John, lived around AD 69 – AD
155. The church in Smyrna suffered from Roman persecution kung saan ang mga tao ay pinipilit na sumamba kay Caesar, the emperor. At hindi lang iyon, hindi lang sila basta pinipilit sumamba kay Caesar kundi at the same time i-despise ang kanilang King, the King Jesus. Because of that Polycarp the pastor of the church, was arrested and on His trial before the Roman proconsul, the proconsul commanded him to “Swear by the fortune of Caesar and revile Christ”
This faithful pastor answered, “86 years have I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” He refused to deny Jesus, his true King, and didn’t worshiped Caesar as lord, after that the Romans killed him. We see in Polycarp’s life an example of a Christian who knows his King. A Christian who worships and will not deny his King, Savior, and Redeemer, and who is also willing to suffer and be despised by the world with his true King, even to the point of death. Like his savior. Like Jesus. Maybe today we are not facing the same intensity of persecution in our time today, but may the Lord find us faithful brothers and sisters, when the world starts to reject us because of our King!
Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophesies in the Old Testament, revealing that He is our true King.
We’ve also seen that these prophesies, are not arbitrary, but they reveal something about the person and work of Christ. We’ve seen that Christ the King is the greater Moses who redeemed his people from their sins and that He also came to this world in humility being despised by men.
These truths about our King should fuel our worship and obedience to Him, even if the world despises us with Him, and may we truly live our lives, all for the glory of Christ, our King! Let us pray.