Opposition to Christ
In the book of Matthew, there appears to be two kinds of people in opposition to Christ and his followers .
The first kind is the people who simply do nothing in regard to him. He is a nonentity in their lives. This group is represented at the beginning of Jesus’ 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 inactivity on the part of the chief priests is staggering: why not go with the magi? Yet, they were not interested. The sheer silence and inactivity of the leaders is overwhelming in view of the magnitude of what was happening. They were not at all passionate about finding the Son of God and worshiping him.
The second kind of people who choose not to follow Jesus are the kind who are deeply threatened by him. That would be King Herod in this story. “When Herod the king heard this [about Christ’s birth], he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matthew 2:3)
Herod was really afraid. So much so that he schemed and lied and then committed mass murder just to get rid of Jesus.
So today, we see again these two kinds of opposition continuing to come against Christ and his followers: indifference and hostility. Therefore, as Christ followers, we must brace ourselves and hold fast to the faith. We should not be surprised or shaken by opposition. As Charles Spurgeon puts it….“Wherever there is likely to be great success, the open door and the opposing adversaries will both be found. If there are no adversaries, you may fear that there will be no success. A boy cannot get his kite up without wind, nor without a wind which drives AGAINST his kite.”
Blessings to you,
Karen