f the two groups most inimical to Christ, the second, Jewish Leadership, proved far more lethal to Israel's history than Herod's effort to kill the king. The Sanhedrin, the 70 man-ruling body in Israel, represented the Religious Bureaucracy response to Jesus that has historically been the enemy of Biblical Christianity. Note that Matthew 2:3 said that "all Jerusalem" accompanied Herod in "being disturbed". Consider two reasons why.
First, their knowledge of Messiah's birthplace, and Israel's longing for Emmanuel, theoretically pitted the leadership against Herod. Who but they would he consider likely to embrace such a king? Given his suspicious nature, Herod could very easily accuse the priests of harboring the secret the foreigners revealed, if for no other reason than "guilt by association.". Second, he need not worry, though his unpredictable nature would anyway. For the leadership had for decades bound its future to politics, and would be equally troubled as Herod by a rival king. The STAR as the source of the Wise Men's information would negatively affect the leaders, though Herod's suspicious nature might not appreciate it. Understand that such a star existed, whether in Copernicus' theory of a conjunction of planets or God's specially-chosen heavenly body. But in first-century Judaism, the priests abhorred astrology, and would consider such a birth a false alarm. Since Herod embraced astrology, he considered it an alarming truth. The leaders may have felt compelled to avoid going to Bethlehem, not only to protect their positions but by thinking it fruitless. The truth stands as an indictment against both groups, however. Neither wanted a king born to the Jews since they already had one! Herod malevolently opposed Jesus by trying to kill him. The religious bureaucracy malevolently disputed Christ's every teaching, claim, miracle and exorcism. Now, it's ancient history that the two groups had no room for Jesus. While Jesus IS as well as WAS, as well as WILL BE—the EVER PRESENT God Almighty. He won't have any of us escaping personal responsibility by studying historical figures. He demands personal introspection from us. He always gets uncomfortably personal in coming Face to Face with us, looking us in the eye and asking, "How much of you is Committed to ME? Into how much room in your life am I welcomed and regnant?" Good question: do we have room for Jesus when he demands something hard of us? Or costly? Or time-consuming? Or out of our comfort level? Fini. Back to blogging January 3, 2022! Hope to have you as a reader.
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