When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. -Matthew 2:16
You have been called and placed as a holy priesthood. You belong to the kingdom and household of God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth. This is because Christ Jesus has taken up your flesh and joined Himself to you, for that is what it means to be baptized. That is what it means to be a disciple.
As a disciple you are not called to whittle away your time in isolation and to serve yourself. Instead you are cast out into the world while holding the holy estates God has placed you into. That of citizen, husband, wife, parent, child, employee, employer, youth, widow, and so forth.
Your Father in heaven has not been lax in letting you know what your duties are about as you hold the holy estates that apply to you. You may look to the table of duties as a full and satisfactory overview of your day to day responsibilities. As you go about those responsibilities out of faithfulness and love toward your neighbor you may also, by faith, be still, and know that the LORD God is the LORD God. You will not thwart or defeat His purposes, now matter how hard you wish or try to defeat them.
That is a good thing, and this is a good place to be, namely, within the kingdom and household of God, but it is not a place without trouble. It is not a place without a cross. You know and have learned that thus far.
In reviewing the table of duties as listed in the Small Catechism, however, have you ever noticed there is no particular duty to that of a king or queen or president? When high authorities such as these are referenced in the table of duties, it is YOUR OBEDIENCE TO the king or queen or president that is enjoined. Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But there is no explicit word to Caesar, instructing him how to conduct himself.
The closest we come is in the words given to masters, parents, and to all.
To the master: Do the same things [that is, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh], with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
Masters, do the same things to them [that is to your servants], and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
This is good and salutary advice for any king, queen, or president.
And the words given to all: For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Yes, these words, too, are befitting for any king, queen or president; for anyone who holds a high office, who holds a position of authority.
And we may also add the table of duties as each parent under Christ Jesus has come to learn and is still learning: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
This, too, is advice fit for any king, queen, or president.
But if you go through the table of duties in the Small Catechism, there is no specific call out for kings, queens, or presidents. Why is that? Is it because we would not expect to find a king, queen, or present in this parish? Well, we don’t. Kings, queens, and presidents are fairly few and far between. What are the chances of your President subjecting himself to the discipline of your pastors when it comes to eternal things?
Is it because kings, queens, and presidents are not subject to any things that pertain to the Church and God’s kingdom of discipline through Christ Jesus? No. They most certainly are subjects, whether they know it or not.
Like King Nebuchadnezzar of Assyria, whom God used as an instrument to discipline the children of Israel in their exile to Babylon, and King Cyrus of Assyria whom God used as a tool to re-establish their home in Israel after decades of exile, kings, queens, and presidents, no matter how much they may think otherwise, or no matter how much you may think otherwise, they are ultimately subject to God’s almighty hand and providence.
And that brings us to King Herod the Great. King Herod, who as referenced in the Holy Gospel appointed for this day, undertook to slaughter every single male child two years old not only in all of Bethlehem, but in the surrounding region as well. He did this not out of service to the people under his governance, but in service to himself, out of fear that his power would be usurped by a king whose kingdom is not of this world.
Maybe he felt the table of duties had nothing to do with him since the office of king, queen, or president was not specifically mentioned. True, the Small Catechism was still fifteen hundred years away from being written, but he professed himself to be Jewish, and as such he had the ten commandments for reference and much, much more, including the promises of the Christ to come. But what did he do as a Jew? He did what many in the world do, but what you must not do. He despised and neglected the Word of God.
King Herod the Great was not autonomous. He served at the behest of Caesar. He used his political skills to win favor with Caesar, and to win favor with as many people as he could, so that he could hold power. So, on the one hand he was quite powerful. On the other hand, he was subject to a man more powerful than he, and ultimately he was subject to the King of Kings whom he sought to wipe out.
Thus your Father in heaven turns everything on its head for you. By all appearance King Herod the Great has the upper hand. He’s the big winner, dastardly as his deeds are. But his deeds do not succeed in rooting out the Root of Jesse. King Herod is not going to kill the Christ before the Christ has fulfilled all righteousness for you and for all people for all time, from Adam and Eve till the end of the age. Period.
But he does kill a lot of innocent children. His actions are not much different than the current Governor of New York, who has enacted laws that allow infants to be killed as soon as they are born for no other reason than they get in the way.
But these innocent children who are killed, and the tiny, frail, holy little ones whom God forms and gives life to in perfect love: they are not forgotten. They are not lost. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.
It is tempting, when hearing of King Herod the Great and his reckless pursuit of power to the point of shedding innocent blood, to point the finger and accuse him. To be sure, he serves as an example of precisely how NOT to be a public servant, for his interest is in serving himself. Let this be an example to you, when you exercise the privilege of self-government in this county, to seek out and vote into power those who understand the public office is not for self-service, but for the service of others.
But know this: If your own flesh had not been called out of darkness into the light which lightens the world, even Christ Jesus our LORD, your own flesh would take up and pursue the same unbridled pursuit of power to the end that you would be guilty of everlasting damnation.
King Herod the Great could not possibly take the life from your King of Kings. No. Your King of Kings lays down His own life at the proper time and in just the right way. For He was given among men to be the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world, voluntarily shedding his holy, perfect, innocent blood after fulfilling the law for all who have transgressed. He still lives. He richly and daily bestows forgiveness. He is present for you here, and here gives you his own body and blood for the forgiveness of your sin and for your everlasting life.
The abuse of power so often demonstrated by kings, queens, presidents, and tyrants is but a passing aberration on the creation as a result of the first Adam’s disobedience. Your LORD Jesus Christ, Who is present to give you His gifts this day, has defeated the worst of tyrants, namely sin, death, and the devil.
Come here and receive him, and rejoice with me as we together go out into the world and do those things we are given to do in our holy estates as citizens, fathers, mothers, children, employees, employers, kings, queens, and presidents, for we are all one body in Christ Jesus, the Savior of all forever and ever, being joined also to those who have gone before us and are with Christ, including those little ones slaughtered in Bethlehem Ephrathah and its surrounding region, and the Eleven Christian hostages who were killed by Islamic State terrorists in Nigeria on Christmas Day this year.
Fear not. The LORD Christ Jesus is their rock and Fortress, and your Rock and Fortress. For His Name’s sake He will lead you and guide you as He has to this day. Into His hand you may commit your spirit, for He, the LORD, your faithful God, has redeemed you through His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus.
+ + + In the Name of the Father, And of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. + + +
