One of the most striking scenes associated with Christmas is that of the Magi coming to Jerusalem asking: 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?'
The answer they got was that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea - the home town of Israel's most famous king - David.
In the Old Testament, God, the LORD, is Israel's king (Deuteronomy 33.5), but foreseeing that they would want a human king, God explained to Moses what such a king of Israel ought to be like. We read God's instructions for his pattern of kingship in Deuteronomy 17.14-20 - it makes interesting reading.
How big is too big?
During the depths of lockdown I was out walking having a pastoral conversation when we bumped into someone who went …