Oh! come, Divine little One, come with Thy Key while yet there is time and unlock the many hearts which still find no place for Thee, no time to attend to Thee waiting so patiently, no desire to give Thee an invitation this Christmas; and give them grace to respond.
Point II. The Sceptre of the House of Israel.
The little One Who is to come not only has a Key on His Shoulder, but a Sceptre in His Hand. The word used for Sceptre (shebet) in the Hebrew has four distinct meanings and we can apply them all to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is:
(1) a rod of command, a sign of royalty (Esther iv. 11, Ps. xliv. 7);
(2) a rod of iron, a rod of correction (Ps. ii. 9, Prov. xxii. 15);
(3) the shepherd's rod or wand (Lev. xxvii. 32);
(4) the flail which separates the grain from the chaff (Is. xxviii. 27).
(1) A sign of royalty. He is my King—how much that says to me! He has authority over me and a right to command me, a right to my service from every point of view; but He will not exact it from me. He stretches out His Sceptre of mercy in token of clemency. He wants my service, but He wants it to be the outcome of my love and so He uses His Sceptre to attract me. He brings Himself down to my level, He calls Himself my Brother, my Friend. He tells me that if I will throw in my lot with Him and do as He does, one day I shall share His Kingdom and reign with Him. Such is my King and such is the meaning of His Sceptre. "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" Thou art as yet hidden, O my little King, but Thou wilt be born a king for "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, a sceptre of justice is the sceptre of Thy Kingdom" (Heb. i. 8). What is my response going to be to that Sceptre stretched out once again? That of a loyal, whole-hearted, loving subject or that of one who is still hesitating between the service of self and the service of the King?
(2) A rod of correction. For His enemies it is a "rod of iron," but for His children a rod of love, for what son is there whom the father doth not correct? "Whom the Lord loveth He chastiseth; and He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. Persevere under discipline. God dealeth with you as with His sons." (Heb. xii. 6-7). We are not to "faint" nor "be weary" nor "neglect the discipline," not to be inclined to give all up and choose an easier path; no, but to regard the discipline as a "consolation," (verse 5) a proof of love, a sign that we are really the children with whom He does what He likes, instructing us according to His own pleasure (verse 10).
Oh! my little King, come with Thy rod of correction, come and make me a saint and do not spare me in the making. He that spareth the rod spoileth the child. I do not want to be a spoilt child, but a child on whom Thou canst count, that is, a child to whom Thou canst say what Thou wilt and whom Thou canst criticize as thou wilt, by the mouth of whom Thou wilt, a child whom Thou dost not consider because Thou art sure of its love, sure, that is, that it loves Thee and Thy ways better than self and its ways.