Christmas Is A Collision of Kings
That isn’t going to end well. One of the interesting parts of growing up in Montana is that you have to deal with problems that people elsewhere don’t really have to deal with. When we were children in school the teachers would set aside special time to have a special talk with us as a class. What was the talk about? Evidently, when you became a teenager and got your driver’s license, every teenager had this unquenchable urge to beat the train to the intersection. And if a train and a car collide, who is going to win? Now, the trains in MT could be more than a mile long, so you could see the incentive a person might have to beat the train. But still, train always beats car when they collide. This evening, as we look at Psalm 2, we see a collision. But it’s not a collision of cars. It’s a collision of kings. What will happen when the kings of the earth collide with the king that the Lord has chosen? In Psalm 2 we read these words: “1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and his Anointed One: 3 “Let’s tear off their chains and throw their ropes off of us.”” (Psalms 2:1–3 CSB17)
What happens when the Lord’s chosen king and the kings of the earth collide? The kings of the earth plot and plan. In a few weeks down the road, on Epiphany, we’ll see this in more detail. The Magi came to Herod asking for advice. And we might make fun of Herod because he was a sad excuse for a king in a super-small territory in the far-flung nether-reaches of the Roman Empire. But Herod knew what we might not. As soon as the Magi spoke about the king prophesied from of old, there was a collision of kings. And whenever there is a collision only one walks away. And Herod wanted to be that king, who at the end of the day walk away from the wreck.
It’s always been that way. It was that way in King David’s time. It was that way at Jesus’ birth. So what then is the Lord’s response to the plotting and planning that the kings of the earth take part in? “4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them. 5 Then he speaks to them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath:” (Psalms 2:4–5 CSB17)
Notice how the Lord has two reactions. First, he laughs. This reminds us that the Lord wasn’t just in control. He was in complete, absolute control. There is nothing any king of the earth could do to overrule or over throw the king that that Lord chose. And second, after the laughter dies down, the Lord terrifies them in his wrath. These are words to pause and ponder. What happens to every earthly king that takes his stand against the king the Lord has chosen? The Lord limits their power while they are a king here, and then when they die he gives the every reason to be filled with terror as they collide with their own well-deserved judgement in hell.
It’s good for us to walk through these words this evening. For in these words we see our own temptation to sin. For when we see Christians cut down in Africa or sent away to torture chambers in China or the freedom of religion in our own nation be put in quotation marks as if it’s in the same made-up category as pink unicorns—when all of this happens, our great temptation to sin is that we forget these words. We forget that right now our Lord is laughing. Their pathetic and petty attempts to out-rule and overthrow Jesus are laughable in God’s sight because he is in complete and absolute control. And we forget that for all the evil they plot, plan and then produce, there is wrath waiting for them at the end of their time here.
These words are a reminder of our sin. But they are also a reminder of the Lord’s love for us. If the Lord is laughing at the kings of the earth and all their plots and plans, then in our own hearts, we can too. And if the Lord promises to bring them just wrath for trying to overthrow Jesus and destroy his church, we can be content and at peace with that.
Christmas is a collision of kings. And when that happens, the Lord threatens to make these kings afraid. But what happens next is surprising and shocking: “6 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” 7 I will declare the Lord’s decree. He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” (Psalms 2:6–7 CSB17)
What happens when kings collide? First, the Lord opens up and reveals to them mysteries that he and he alone knows. He lets the kings of the earth in on the secret that God the Father has begotten his Son…from eternity. This passage has presented translators with problems for hundreds and hundreds of years. First, the word here is usually spoken of a mom giving birth to a child.1(Psalms 2:7 BHS-T)}} But fathers don’t give birth to sons. Second, How can the Father give birth to the Son from eternity? This here is not speaking about Mary giving birth on Christmas. Instead, it’s speaking about the Father having the completely unique relationship with his Son from eternity. This is an amazing mystery that we struggle to understand. But, in these words, who is the intended target for this amazing mystery? The very kings that take their stand against Jesus are the ones who are addressed. And that makes us ask the question, “why?” God answers that question in the words which follow: “8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will break them with an iron scepter; you will shatter them like pottery.” 10 So now, kings, be wise; receive instruction, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling. 12 Pay homage to the Son or he will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion, for his anger may ignite at any moment.” (Psalms 2:8–12 CSB17)
What happens when kings collide? The Lord threatens to make them afraid. But notice what happens here: the Lord is inviting them to be afraid. No, my friends in Christ, fear isn’t always a bad quality. Fear in the bible doesn’t just mean being terrified and trembling. It is also a positive attitude. As is says here in our version, “reverential awe” (Psalms 2:11 CSB17). The Lord goes out of his way to win these unbelieving kings over not with threats of wrath, but instead with invitations of awe and wonder.
This too reminds us of our sin, doesn’t it? For, when it comes to the leaders of the land and rulers of the world that take their stand still today against Jesus, the Lord’s chosen king, what, so often, is our attitude towards them? Our temptation is that if they take their stand against Jesus, then the Lord should waste no time and just put them to death and send them to hell. But that’s not Jesus’ desire and plan. No, instead, he wants them to take their refuge in him. And how do we know this? He tells us: “All who take refuge in him are happy.” (Psalms 2:12 CSB17)
Just as he took you, as cruel and rebellious as you are and shared with you mysteries that the unbelieving world does not understand, so also, he wants to do the same with the rest of the unbelieving world. He wants them to look at not just this amazing mystery that God the Father from eternity begat his own Son, but also the amazing mystery that this Son took on our humanity for us, to save us from our sin—even the sins we commit when we forget that God is in control, laughing at the plots of kings—even the sins we commit when we forget that we too at one time were just as unbelieving and rebellious as the the godless kings of the earth. Those sins are forgiven in this mystery of the Lord’s chosen king taking on human flesh and blood for us.
What happens when kings collide? First, the Lord threatens to make them afraid. Second, he invites them to be afraid—filled with holy, joyful, reverent fear. Amen.
1 ”יְלִדְתִּֽיךָ“