Dear Christian friends:

When the wise men came from the East to Jerusalem they said: “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2)

Pontius Pilate asked Jesus: "Are you a king?" Jesus answered, "Yes, that's why I was born and that's why I came into the world." And our introit today says: "The Lord, the Ruler, hath come, and the Kingdom and the power and the glory are in His hand."

And yet Jesus, when he lived on earth, did not seem like a king. He had no large palace, no land and no army like other kings. He was born in a humble, poor stable. Mary, his mother, was not a queen and they called him the carpenter's son.

When He grew up He did not even have a house. He Himself said, "Foxes have holes and the birds have nests but the Son of Man hath no place to lay His head." When He died He did not die like a king with a crown of gold, but like a murderer with a crown of thorns.

Our text speaks about the King Jesus and His Kingdom and His Kingdom and answers that most important question for us; It says:


John the Baptist introduced Him to the people. He said: "I was sent to run before Him like men run before a king to prepare His way. I am his footman. I am not worthy to kneel down and tie his shoes."

Now our text says John was done. King Herod put him in prison and later cut off his head. Oh, we need to honor and love our King like John. Then we read in Matthew 4:13, that Jesus left Nazareth and came to live in Capernaum. Why? He didn't move because He wanted a split level house with a walkout patio on the lake. Verse four-teen answers why: "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Eaias (Isaiah), the prophet."

By this all people should know that He is the promised King. In his move from Nazareth to Capernaum He proved Himself to be the true one sent from God. In Jesus everything that God promised and foretold about the Savior King happened exactly.

So our King is the true God and Man: God's Son and Mary's Son. The people called Him Joseph's son, but when He began to preach at His baptism God says of Him, "My beloved Son."

We need to remember this, because the devil and many people try to make us doubt this and think it unimportant. They want us to think that Jesus was only a man, a nice teacher not the Son of God from heaven, the King of Heaven and earth. We will know this more surely when we also study the nature of His kingdom.

In our text Jesus calls His kingdom, "the kingdom of heaven." When Pilate asked Him about His Kingdom, He said, "My kingdom is not of this world." Jesus' kingdom is not like our earthly kingdoms or governments where pride, power, force and money rules. His Kingdom is the communion of believers where His Word and love rules in the hearts of His people.

God wants to rule us by His Word and love not forcing us with guns, soldiers or police as they do in earthly governments. By his sin man has cut himself off from God and resists God's will and is in darkness as our text says in verse six-teen.

In this darkness and ignorance man often appears wise and good and he is often wise and brilliant about worldly things like the atom and space. But all his wisdom and seeming respectableness he is still in darkness and sin. He has his own ideas about God and sin and self-righteousness, but with all his ideas and arguments he still sits in the shadow of sin and death.

That is why God sends His great light to shine in the darkness or establishes His kingdom on this dark earth, that men may see Jesus the light of the world. How does this Light come to people? That is why Jesus was born and that is why He came into the world to show and preach the truth to men. That they could compare their false ideas and false excuses and false righteousness with His true Word and life and know their sinfulness.

As He says in our text the kingdom of heaven is at hand, "Repent and believe the Gospel." It is the "Gospel of the Kingdom." Our King Jesus became like us His subjects. The story of His birth, life, death and resurrection is the Good News, the Gospel.

This Good News of Jesus, that God pities sinners and gave His Son for them, has in it power to change men from darkness to light so that they love Christ their King and promise to follow Him and serve Him gladly even die for Him as John did.

This Good News of the Kingdom has power to change any man, no matter which race or country he belongs to. The wise men who came from the East to worship Him as their King were not Jews. And our text says, "Galilee of the Gentiles" on them the light shined. To the Galileans in and around Capernaum Jesus preached the Gospel. Many of them were not Jews but Syrians, Greeks, mixed races, as the Samaritans. People even from Europe, Asia and Africa were living there.

This is good news for us. Most of us are not Jews, but Gentiles. This means Jesus is for us too. We are glad that He came to save both Jew and Gentile, all nations on earth.

That is joy for us, but it also means responsibility. Our King Jesus commands us to share this good news with "all the world", "every creature", "all nations." That is the exact reason why He lets this wicked world continue a little more, that we have time to spread the Good News. To bring the message of our King to others even as John the Baptizer did.

Sometimes we become tired of sharing Christ with others. We don't want any more P.T.R. Missions. We complain about too many meetings or we complain about the cost of missions in all the world. We say, "Keep the money here. Don't give so much to the District and Synod." But our King Jesus commands us to do this work. Can we say, "No." to Him?

His Light has come to us and we are glad. Let us arise and bring this light to others still sitting in darkness. It is the command of our Savior King.

Amen.