Herod’s Failed Understanding
Herod the villain has been the focus of our devotions this week. His fearful heart, his false words, his furious response all revealed the villain within him - and maybe we have seen ourselves in him, in some way.
Herod was actually an excellent politician in some senses. In fact, one commentary I read said that "everything he touched diplomatically turned to gold". He was a very good politician and did a lot of good in society.
But with all those brains, he failed to understand the basic mission of Jesus. I mean, he caused such a big massacre, so many innocent children, because he was politically threatened by Jesus. He thought Jesus was going to take the throne of Israel. He thought that the Jews were going to get this new King who was going to take over all the politics and rule the world with power and with dominion.
Jesus' True Mission
And Jesus actually did that but not in the way that Herod thought - he misunderstood this whole thing.
Jesus said things like this:
"My kingdom is not of this world... my kingdom is from another place." (John 18:36)
"No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again" (John 3:3)
"The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is in your midst." (Luke 17:20-21)
Herod didn't understand that Jesus was not coming to sit on a physical throne as the king of the nation of Israel. He was coming to bring the kingdom of God to all people who would believe! He was coming to reign in our hearts so that the kingdom could spread over the earth in a spiritual sense!
Jesus the Good Shepherd
In fact, when he asked the chief priests and the teachers of the law about the Messiah, they said this in Matthew 2:6: "Out of Bethlehem will come a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel."
Jesus didn't come to be a slick politician, He didn't come to rule with a sword and force people into submission. He came to be a Shepherd, and if Herod had known this, perhaps he wouldn't have done all these terrible things.
How do you see God? Do you see God as a tyrant waiting for people to step out of line so He can strangle them back into submission? Or do you see God as a Shepherd, as a good Shepherd who leads and guides His sheep as they live their life?
What Herod didn't know was that this same Jesus could have been his shepherd. And changed his life for the better. He could probably even have kept his job and started doing it with a new godly focus, if he had taken the time to understand what the Messiah was all about.
This little Child, Jesus, of whom Herod was so afraid, grew into a great leader, the greatest leader of all time. But He was a servant leader. A leader who washed His disciples' feet. A leader who went to the cross. Who died so that His followers could have full life and could be reconnected with God.
Don't make the mistakes Herod did. Put your faith in the Christ child, and be redeemed today.
Herod misunderstood Jesus, and missed out on redemption. It turned out, Jesus had come to reign in a way Herod didn’t expect!