Herod the Great – taken from God With Us
Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.’ (Matthew 2:7–8)
Some people feel that King Herod is too nasty to belong in the Christmas story. Known as ‘Herod the Great’ his achievements were legendary. He had outlasted countless rebellions and outmanoeuvred innumerable coups. Only half Jewish by birth and not terribly committed to the Jewish religion, Herod always felt vulnerable.
Jesus’ birth probably occurred towards the end of Herod’s life. By this point, the aged Herod was politically and mentally unstable; his remarkable instinct for survival had degenerated into a deep, ruthless and furious paranoia. And so, into Herod’s city of Jerusalem, the Magi came – and their arrival would have been impossible to overlook.
Yet for all their wisdom, these men asked precisely the wrong question. People like Herod inevitably have a network of informers and it is presumably through them that he heard what they were asking. He consults his religious advisers and then summons the Magi to a secret meeting. Herod has lost none of his cunning and when someone with his track record detects a threat it’s time for everybody to be very concerned.
If we remove evil from the Christmas story, we create an unreal world and water down the significance of the message of Christmas, that, in this infant, God himself has come to do battle with the powers of evil.
Ironically, the idea that this Messiah has come to fight evil is a truth that Herod seems to have sensed, that the coming of the Messiah was such bad news for him that it could only be dealt with by brutal force. He knows that this child is a threat to him and to all like him. This has not changed.
To all who love him and all he stands for, Jesus offers the promise of an indestructible hope; yet to all who have contempt for him, his coming brings inescapable judgement. The birth of the child in Bethlehem proclaims to the whole world, ‘God’s justice is coming.’
That’s a challenge that the world needs to hear.
Prayer: Lord, as we anticipate you coming again the knowledge of your perfect justice is a source of rejoicing. You see this world as it is with all its inequality, corruption and darkness. We know that in the end you will triumph. Help us to be your hands and feet to bring this hope to many struggling today. Amen.
Ponder: ‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance’ (2 Peter 3:8–9).
