Christ The Blessed Hope

December 24, 2006

Read Luke 2:7-20

• The question is what are you looking for? Is it happiness? Enjoyment? A job? A car, invite somewhere what has your attention and focus? In Luke 18:8, Jesus asked an interesting question after giving a parable that described the importance of persistent and consistent prayer - when He comes back will He really find faith on the earth? The emphasis is on the word “really,” implying that all faith is not true faith, and when He returns true faith will be extremely rare.
• This was exemplified when Jesus came the first time. Notice in Matthew 2:1-12 Herod, the ruler in Judea--the one responsible for rebuilding the temple, surely he would be excited to hear that the Lord of the temple that he is building is coming. Verses 2 and 8 tell us that Herod claimed a desire to worship Jesus. Well just like here, today this would be interpreted as faith, right?! Verse 12 states that the wise men were warned not to tell Herod the exact location of Jesus because of verse 16, which indicated that Herod saw Jesus as a threat and wanted to kill Him. Herod instead displayed what we see today, which is a false faith. Notice he is building a place of worship but unfortunately it’s not to worship the true Messiah, but rather a monument to himself.
• Two things you don’t want to miss here:
  1. You can only build upon what you know about (v4) - Herod did not know or care about the Messiah, therefore he worshipped who he knew (himself)
  2. Those who did know where the messiah was made no effort to go (v5)
• We see two types of people here: (1) those who had no desire to know the Lord and, (2) those who knew of the Lord but did nothing about it. Both have the same results (no faith).
• You say, “Herod, we understand this guy was a complete heathen and did not want to give up his power; we see his deal but what about the scribes who knew what the scriptures said? I don’t get it?” Well it all goes back to the original question - what are you looking for?
• These same scribes, when Jesus was performing miracles right in front of them, knowing scripture said this is what Messiah would do, responded with pride not faith according to Luke 5:17-30, Luke 20:45-47 and Luke 22:2. Ultimately, it boils down to this: when you hear the truth, is it met with faith and trust or is it met with doubt and resistance? The answer will lie in the actions (Hebrew 4:2).
• In contrast, when truth meets faith here is the result: Luke 2:25-32 - Simeon is looking for the Messiah and when he finds him he is content; Luke 2:36-38 - Anna is looking for the Messiah and when she sees him she knows him. The scribes, Herod and religious leaders with Jesus walking right under their noses did not know Him or recognize Him, yet Anna, without introduction, does.
• In closing, Titus 2:13 says we should be looking for the blessed Hope. “Blessed” means happiness, so if that’s what you want then look for Jesus. “Hope” means expectation or future. If you want a secure future then look for Jesus. And know that when you do 2 Timothy 4:8 comes into view. Unlike Herod, who feared Jesus’ coming, you will love His appearing and receive an imperishable crown.