It is a fact that not everybody HAS a Merry Christmas. The Holidays can be a source of sorrow with remembrance of a lost loved one. It is also a fact that if you live long enough, you WILL experience this particular emotion during this festive time of the year. After reading this article yesterday, I took considerable time to contemplate the message.

Two Kinds of Opposition to Jesus by John Piper

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:3)

Jesus is troubling to people who do not want to worship him, and he arouses opposition against those who do. This is probably not a main point in the mind of Matthew, but it is an inescapable implication as the story goes on.

In this story, there are two kinds of people who do not want to worship Jesus.

The first kind is the people who simply do nothing about Jesus. He is a nonentity in their lives. This group is represented at the beginning of Jesus’s life by the chief priests and scribes. Matthew 2:4 says, “Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.” So they told him, and that was that: back to business as usual. The sheer silence and inactivity of the leaders is overwhelming in view of the magnitude of what was happening.

And notice, Matthew 2:3 says, “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” In other words, the rumor was going around that someone thought the Messiah was born. The inactivity on the part of the chief priests is staggering: why not go with the magi? They are not interested. They are not passionate about finding the Son of God and worshiping him.

The second kind of people who do not want to worship Jesus is the kind who are deeply threatened by him. That’s Herod in this story. He is really afraid. So much so that he schemes and lies and then commits mass murder just to get rid of Jesus.

So today, these two kinds of opposition will come against Christ and his worshipers: indifference and hostility. I surely hope that you are not in one of those groups.  (I, K.C., Hope that you ARE!)

And if you are a Christian, let this Christmas be the time when you ponder what it means — what it costs — to worship and follow this Messiah.

End of Message from John Piper

In reading the line, “two kinds of opposition will come against Christ and his worshipers: indifference and hostility. “ followed by “I surely hope that you are not in one of those groups.” The thought made me pause!

If you are Believer in Jesus Christ, you WILL SUFFER for that belief! Jesus said so Himself. You WILL experience the knowledge that life is tragic…AND understand that YOU need a Savior. When making the decision to follow Jesus Christ, you WILL experience indifference and hostility from those who have not! It is simply a given.

So for the first time in my life, I’d like to take a VERY brief moment to wish YOU, in some small way, a ‘kind of’ SUFFERING CHRISTMAS!

You’re welcome!