Good weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Our world is a little more than 30 days away from a new American president. In our journey toward Christmas ’24 we’re seeking to answer one Christmas question each day, and so today it’s a government question: “WHO was King Herod and what is his role in the Christmas story”?
As you may know Jesus was born during the time in history when the Roman Empire was the global dominant power. The people living in the region of “Israel”, like many other peoples of the world, had an ancient history of being a free, independent nation, but not in the days of the Roman Empire. In fact, the last time prior to Jesus’ birth that Jerusalem was a free city, under the sovereign rule of Israelites, was the days of King Josiah and he had died in 609bc! From then until the days of Jesus, Jerusalem and the region we know as Israel was continually under the authority and control of conquering Gentiles! The Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans. Now ponder that a moment as you think about your city, your country and whoever the ruling authority is over your part of the world.
The Christmas story begins with these words: “In the time of Herod king of Judea… In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)” (Luke 1:5; 2:1,2) Do you see three significant leaders mentioned in these verses which declare the time of Jesus’ birth? Who are these three prominent leaders when God made His visit to planet earth in the person of Jesus Christ?
Caesar Augustus was the most powerful man in the world at that time, the Sovereign over the Roman Empire, reigning in Rome from about 30bc till his death in 14ad. Like his uncle Julius Caesar, Augustus was declared divine at the time of his death! Quirinius was a Caesar appointed leader sent to govern the region of Israel from Syria. He led the Roman military in putting down rebellions against Roman authority. King Herod was assigned, by the Caesar, to reign over the Jewish region of Judea which was essentially the ancient southern kingdom of Judah with its capital city Jerusalem, from 37bc to his death in 4bc.
This Herod is known as Herod the Great in world history. He was only partially Jewish by birth and both distrusted and disrespected by the Jews. Knowing this, Herod lived in paranoia, always fearful his assassination was being planned and may be attempted at any time. Herod even killed some of his own family in fear they were plotting his death. Herod lived an extravagant lifestyle building the great fortress Masada for himself down near the Dead Sea, perhaps some of you have visited Masada. Herod significantly expanded the great harbor city Caesarea along the Mediterranean coast, in honor of the Caesar; and Herod directed an almost 20-year expansion and refurbishing project of the great Temple mount in Jerusalem in an effort to gain Jewish support. That is the Temple Jesus frequented.
King Herod’s primary fame in the Christmas story of course is found in Matthew 2 when Magi travelers from the east arrived in Jerusalem inquiring about a newborn ‘King of the Jews’. Matthew describes it like this: “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi came from the east to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matt. 2:1-3)
I doubt we can imagine the fear which swept through the streets of Jerusalem as word spread of these Magi visitors to King Herod’s palace and their inquiry! Herod’s fierce temper and his unpredictable, irrational reactions had caused the deaths of many people in Jerusalem. Matthew describes the hoax King Herod devised as he urged the Magi to continue their search and send word back to him when they had found this newborn king, for he too claimed he wanted to join them in welcoming this king to Judea! (Matt. 2:4-8)
As we’ll see when we consider the Magi and their role in the Christmas story the Magi did not send word back to King Herod because they were warned in a dream to return home by a different route to avoid any further contact with wicked Herod. Matthew gives us this insight into what happened next: “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi...” (Matt. 2:16,17)
I wonder what horrific pictures come into your mind as you imagine this. What screaming and ranting took place in the palace? What words were used when Herod called the soldiers and gave them very specific orders for this holocaust? How much time elapsed between when the Magi found Joseph, Mary and young Jesus in Bethlehem till the soldiers came charging in slaughtering innocent babies and breaking the hearts of young parents?
We know King Herod died about 4bc, but I’ve always wondered how he died and if God perhaps poured out some unusual punishment upon him in his death. Here’s what I found in some medical research: “King Herod the Great, the bloody ruler of ancient Judea, died from a combination of chronic kidney disease and a rare infection that causes gangrene of the genitalia, according to a new analysis of historical records.” (“New Scientist” January 2002)
Now if that is true, I find it really interesting as evidence of God’s protection of the Christmas miracle and His Son Jesus, while at the same time God using King Herod, Caesar Augustus and Quirinius to coordinate the political and military circumstances so Joseph and Mary would arrive safely to Bethlehem just in time for Micah’s prophecy to be fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. (Micah 5:2)
But also, in God’s omniscience of all things, even deep in the heart of wicked Herod, God protected little Jesus in Bethlehem until He would be old enough to be rushed out of Bethlehem in the middle of the night with Joseph and Mary, fleeing to Egypt where Jesus would live as a refugee until King Herod died and they could return to Israel! (Matt. 2:19,20) Most Bible scholars believe Jesus was about 2 years old when the Magi visited and that is based upon the calculation Herod made to kill all the infant boys, age 2 and under.
Now my friends, I wonder if wicked King Herod’s role in the Christmas story gives you hope today that God is watching over all events in our world and confirms the truth of Proverbs 21:30 “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.” Let’s praise God today for His Sovereignty over all things with this Christmas worship song.
Today’s Scripture: Matt. 2:1-17.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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