Jesus Threatens our Way of Life
January 4, 2026
Ven. John Motis
Second Sunday after Christmas Day
Jesus, a threat to our way of life.
Jesus threatens our illusions of happiness.
I suspect and I hope that when I make these statements something sounds wrong, perhaps even offensive.
After all isn’t Jesus supposed to make me happy.
Yet for many of us, the moment we encounter the real Jesus, we feel unsettled, disrupted, and even threatened. Not because Jesus is unkind, but because He challenges our deepest assumptions about what happiness truly is. The problem is Jesus does not come to improve our lives on our terms. He comes to redefine life itself. Because of that, we can be threatened. Jesus does not threaten joy. He threatens false happiness. When we meet Jesus, we cannot help but to be changed.
Matthew tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. However, most of the people living at that time, had no awareness of a birth and least of all, birth of more than a King. They probably hadn’t even noticed a new star. That was until the “Magi”, Wise Men who had been watching for a sign, brought news of a birth and at it was the birth of a king to King Herod in Jerusalem.
Matthew tells us that when King Herod heard of it, he was disturbed, and because he was disturbed, all Jerusalem with him, (with Herod’s track record, they had every reason to be disturbed). Jesus hadn’t even spoken a word, performed a miracle, or gathered His followers. Yet, His very existence was a threat. The Gospel immediately frames Christmas not as sentimental, but confrontational. A new King has arrived, and every other kingdom is exposed.
This King Herod was the same King Herod who decades before Christ’s birth had built the fortress Masada. A last resort refuge built high on a high plateau, nearly 1,300 feet about the Dead Sea level. Herod had it stocked with food, water systems, weapons and items of luxury. This same Herod known as Herod the Great was ruthless, paranoid, and obsessed with control. He murdered rivals, even members of his own family, to protect his throne. When the Magi speak of a newborn “King of the Jews” Herod hears competition, a threat to his power and way of life. He would stop at nothing to protect his throne. Even if it meant executing all the male babies under the age of 2 in Bethlehem and the surrounding region.
Light had come into the darkness in form of a helpless baby. This is the dark world that the helpless baby Jesus was born, a dark and dangerous world.
Scripture tells us, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light shone.” Isaiah 9:2. And from Matthew 4:16 “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and “shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” And we know from John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Herod’s response reveals what happens when power becomes ultimate: fear, deception, and violence. Jesus still threatens modern day Herod’s; that is any system or heart that insists on remaining in control no matter the cost or means. Herod feared losing his throne, so he tried to destroy the child who might challenge his authority.
Is this an isolated case found in history?
I think not. Let’s consider: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s record toward political opponents, critics, and challengers has been widely scrutinized by journalists, historians, human-rights groups and governments. Over his more than two decades in power, a pattern of repression, legal prosecution, suspicious deaths, and targeted violence has created a climate where dissent is often met with severe consequences. All to neutralize internal challenges and maintain political control and power. Today, we have a CEO who silences whistleblowers instead of addressing corruption. A pastor or ministry leader who removes gifted people because they might “outshine him”(not the case at Good Shepherd with Fr. Tim), a politician who uses fear-based rhetoric to cling to power. Employees who choose to remain quiet when they see a problem that will lead to a failure making a fellow employee look bad. Preserving power matters more than doing right.
The Chief Priests, Scribes, (the religious leaders) know the Scriptures. They quote Micah 5:2 perfectly, identifying Bethlehem as the Messiah’s birthplace. Yet they do not go! It was only 2 miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem! They had spent years gaining knowledge, however, without obedience all that knowledge leaves them unmoved, unchanged.
Herod was fine with religion- as long as he remained king. How about these attitudes? Don’t we all recognize a Herod in these attitudes? I like Jesus as a teacher, just not as Lord. Faith that’s welcome in private but not allowed to challenge public values. Spirituality is just fine as long as it’s without repentance, obedience, or submission. Worship, that’s a Sunday thing, it is fine as long as it doesn’t change how I live the rest of the week.
Jesus is a threat to a form of religion that can explain the words of the scriptures without embracing them. Words without reshaped lives. Religion without changed hearts. This is faith that informs the mind but never reshapes life. Attendance on Sundy, leaving without a changed heart. Is church attendance a duty, something that we mark off the list?
The Magi arrive in Jerusalem as outsiders-Gentiles, scholars, travelers from the East. They bring costly gifts and genuine worship. Unlike Herod they rejoice. Unlike the religious leaders they move! They travel from far away!
The Magi demonstrate to you and me that true worship always involves costly devotion. They kneel before a child, offering gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gifts fit for a King, a Priest, and a suffering Savior.
After encountering Jesus, the Magi are warned in a dream not to return to Herod. Matthew simply says, “They went home by another road.” A small detail. However, a small detail with profound meaning. Meeting Jesus changes direction. Obedience becomes necessary, even when it is inconvenient, risky, or costly. You cannot encounter the true King and not be changed; you cannot continue on the same path.
Like Herod, modern life often revolves around advancement and recognition. Jesus threatens success built on self-promotion rather than faithfulness. He asks not how high we climb, but why are we climbing? Who rules our ambitions?
Herod refused to yield to authority. He believed that he was it. Our culture mirrors this resistance, treating personal choice as sacred. Jesus’ call to “Follow me” confronts the illusion of self-rule and redefines freedom as joyful surrender.
Herod’s fear drove him to protect his position at all costs. Today, comfort and image often serve the same role. Jesus threatens a life organized around safety and appearance, inviting trust, humility, and faith instead.
We have two responses to meeting Jesus the King. We have two paths. Herod resists the King, insisting that he is King and he becomes even more destructive. The Magi come and worship the King and they are transformed. I wonder If the star of Bethlehem was some brilliantly visible sign, why were there no other people in the story who saw it? Rather than being an irrefutable sign pointing the way to Bethlehem, what if it was visible just to those who were seeking?
I think a really good question for us to consider. What are you seeking? What are you really seeking in your life right now? Where do you put most of your time and energy? Are your thoughts typically consumed with opportunities and problems in your work life? Could the drive, or overdrive for work reveal something you are inwardly seeking like reward, success, recognition, fulfillment, or something else?
Are you seeking approval? Do you find yourself seeking acceptance among friends and peers? Do you long for a sense of value from certain people? Do you seek escape? Frequently daydreaming about the next vacation or getaway? Then when on vacation, spending time planning the next one? Do you have trouble sleeping or worrying about relationships?
Mind you all of us are usually seeking something, if not many things, at any given time. I believe that we are all born seekers. The Bible says God “has planted eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) We are made to search for more in life, and it is part of our human condition to have a longing for satisfaction and yet have trouble being fully satisfied at the same time. This side of heaven, though, we will always long for more because the perfect has not yet come.
Seeking isn’t bad, it’s where our seeking can take us that becomes the problem. Sometimes our drive for satisfaction just makes us selfish, always pursuing our own happiness. Seeking and wanting more in life isn’t bad as long as we take our yearnings to God.
Jesus still threatens our way of life because He is the rightful King. He dismantles false kingdoms not to ruin us, but to lead us home – by another road.
Every January, people make resolutions: I’m going to do better, I’m going to change, I’m going to lose weight, I’m going to get in shape, this year will be different. Most resolutions fail-(the average is less than 4 months) not because people lack sincerity, but because they aim at self-improvement rather than heart transformation. Heart transformation is only possible with God.
How do we go about heart transformation? Reading the Bible, Prayer, Alone time listening to God, A daily Bible study? Fr Tim is recommending The Journey for a group Bible Study.
How about resolving to start a Daily Prayer Habit?
My resolution: I resolve to getting closer to Jesus this year. How about making it yours as well?
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever, “follows me will not “walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus threatens the happiness built on self-rule, but He offers a joy grounded in grace, truth, and eternal life. The question is not whether Jesus threatens your happiness-the question is whether you are willing to let Him redefine it. Happiness and joy rooted in a relationship with Him.
AMEN.