Today's Devotional Thought
December 22, 2010 by Wendy Foreman
King Herod
Not very often do you hear someone taking the time to talk about Herod when telling the Christmas story. It’s hard to not bring him up though when you talk about the birth of Jesus because he is the king in power at the time and is really the bad guy in the Christmas Story. We like to talk about the shepherds, the wise men, Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Herod is not at the top of our list to talk about during this time of year.
Herod was so disturbed when the Magi came to him looking for the newborn king of the Jews. Herod was not the rightful heir to the throne and was quite hated because of that. If this baby they were talking about was really the king of the Jews then trouble could arise within his kingdom and nation. Herod knew that the Jews were expecting their long awaited Messiah and soon. The first part of Luke 3:15 tells us that the Jews were waiting expectantly. Herod was also a ruthless king and had made many enemies during his reign so he was a little paranoid that maybe someone would try to overthrow him. A lot of what Herod was also concerned about was political power. If the Jews really had their King then the power would shift and Rome would lose all their power.
As I have looked at the life of Herod I see his story being weaved with jealousy. He was power hungry and that is where he found all his worth. And, to think of losing that to some baby who the Jews thought was their King was more than he could take. If he could have only seen that this baby came to save him as well. If you read on in Matthew 2 you see that Herod calls the Magi and wants them to search and find this baby so that he too can go worship him. Herod is manipulating these wise men because what he really wanted was to go and kill this child. We see though as we read on in Matthew 2 that God has everything under control and the wise men have a dream that tells them to flee without telling Herod where the babe is.
What can we learn from Herod? Obviously Herod is not someone that we want to model our lives after. We can, however, learn from his mistakes. Herod had gained great power in his reign as king, but we see that it does not bring him peace or offer him any real security. He is found being paranoid and insecure all throughout the Christmas story. Herod also tried to ruin God’s plan. No one can ruin God’s plan it will be carried out just as he says.
In life we strive for so many things. Some of us strive for power and success and to be honest I am not sure that it is wrong to desire those things. But if they take away from your relationship with the Lord and taint your life in such a way that that is all you are striving towards then I am afraid that you may be a Herod, someone who is left empty and searching for real peace and security. If this is you this Christmas, if you are searching for that peace and security, why not turn to the one who can give it to you? That tiny baby whose name is Jesus that was born in a manger one holy, silent night in Bethlehem so many years ago.
December