January 6, 2025

Today's Reading: Matthew 2:1-12

Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 66:1-20; Luke 3:21-38

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

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Herod had a problem: he wanted to be first. It is why his life was a constant rat race. It was why he, an Idumean, usurped the Jewish throne. It was why he entertained Caesar and borrowed his legions. It was why he styled himself Herod ‘the Great.’ It was why he married into the last remnants of the great Jewish houses to insert himself into a genealogy and birthright that was not his. It was why his family tree was heavy with fratricide, patricide, matricide, and murder. He killed at least one of his wives, their two sons, his brother-in-law, his mother-in-law, and his grandfather-in-law. Yet Herod still had a problem: he was not first. Despite his treaty marriages and mass murders, Herod remained last. Another claimant to the throne was and is and forever will be the rightful Heir. When the Magi came to seek after the One who had been born King of the Jews, Herod was troubled. And when Herod was troubled, all of Jerusalem knew the wrath that was brewing. The pretender-king’s sin rolled down on others. 

The Magi listened first to God. He preserved them from Herod’s wrath and instead led them to the true King—the King who does not demand to be first because He truly is first. Indeed, the whole earth is but His footstool and even that analogy does not do His grandeur justice! He was present at creation and saw humanity plunge the world into sin. He knows the wrath this world deserves. But Jesus is not the King who merely takes what is rightfully His; He redeems it. This is why He, the first, became the last. He suffered the pain and agony that our sins would demand so that we would be freed from the punishment we deserve. For this magnificent work, Jesus is the sole King to whom God the Father says: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Through Baptism into His name, His birthright is transferred to us. We are grafted into His family tree and are empowered by His Holy Spirit to rise forgiven each day– made first by Him.

In the Name + of Jesus, the first and last. Amen.

What joy to know, when life is past, the Lord we love is first and last, the end and the beginning! He will one day, oh, glorious grace, Transport us to that happy place beyond all years and sinning! Amen! Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! Crown of gladness! We are yearning for the day of Your returning! (LSB 395:6)

-Rev. Donald Stein, pastor of Saint Andrew Lutheran Church in Rockton, IL.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.