Why does the world love the baby but not the King?

At Christmas, even a secular world finds "baby Jesus" appealing. In Isaiah 6, Dr. Toby Holt shows that the child in the manger is the King — and that changes everything. A baby, a teacher, even a healer the world will accept. But Jesus as King, Jesus as God, is another matter. As John 12:41 reveals, the Lord Isaiah saw "high and lifted up" was Christ Himself — the same Jesus the shepherds adored. Holt presses past the sentiment of the season to the real identity of Christ: the holy King who calls for our allegiance, not just our admiration.

Questions this sermon answers:

1. Why is the world comfortable with "baby Jesus"? Because a harmless infant makes no demands. It is Jesus as King and God — with authority over our lives — that the world resists.

2. What happens when a sinner sees the holy King? Isaiah, as righteous a man as there was, cried "Woe is me" before the One the seraphim praise as "Holy, holy, holy." Yet the Lord provides the cleansing: a coal from the altar takes away his iniquity, pointing to Christ's atoning sacrifice.

3. What does Christmas really call us to? Not just sentiment, but submission. The King of kings still asks, "Whom shall I send?" — and calls us to answer, "Here am I! Send me."

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: 'Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.'" — Isaiah 6:8 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt

Listen and go deeper: This study comes from New Geneva Theological Seminary, a confessionally Reformed seminary teaching fully online. Find more Bible teaching at newgeneva.org, or begin your own studies at newgeneva.org/apply.

More from Dr. Holt: Matthew Explained · John Explained · Acts Explained · Galatians Explained