Daily Devotional by John Piper- December 09, 2020

Two Kinds of Opposition to Jesus 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 brings out opposition for those who do. This is probably not a main point in the mind of Matthew, but it is inescapable as the story goes on. In this story, there are two kinds of people who do not want to worship Jesus, the Messiah. The first kind is the people who simply do nothing about Jesus. He is a nonentity in their lives. This group is represented by the chief priests and scribes. Verse 4: "Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [Herod] inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born." Well, 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 chief priests is staggering — why not go with the magi? They are not interested. They do not want to worship the true God. The second kind of people who do not want to worship Jesus is the kind who is deeply threatened by him. That is 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. Are you in one of those groups? Let this Christmas be the time when you reconsider the Messiah and ponder what it is to worship him.

Bible Gateway Recommendations

Buy Now A Godward Heart: Treasuring the God Who Loves You Did you find this devotional helpful and inspiring? Read the book for more!

Copyright Information This devotional is written by John Piper. For more information about Piper's ministry, writing, and books, visit DesiringGod.org. Subscription Information This email was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog by Bible Gateway, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA. This email is part of a devotional or newsletter that you signed up for on BibleGateway.com. If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, please contact us. *Manage all Bible Gateway subscriptions —  *Opt Out of all Bible Gateway communication *the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally John Piper John Piper is founder and lead teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary.  He served for thirty-three years as the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota,  and is the author of more than fifty books, including Desiring God ; Don't Waste Your Life ; and Reading  the Bible Supernaturally . Want to buy books by John Piper on Alibris?