Today we will explore the negative character, or the villain, associated with the birth of Christ. His name is Herod. Historians tell us that he was a power-hungry ruler over the Jews in Israel in the time before Christ. He was arrogant and insisted on being called “Herod the Great.” He was born around 73 B.C. to an Idumean man named Antipater, and his mother was Cyprus the daughter of an Arab sheik. He was known as a schemer who took advantage of the Roman political unrest to maneuver his way to the top. Once king, he launched an ambitious building program both in Jerusalem and the city of Caesarea. He restored the magnificent Jerusalem temple that was later destroyed by the Romans following the rebellion in A.D. 70.
This man was all about himself and the power he could gain. He sought to destroy anyone or anything that would stand in his way. When he heard that the Messiah, the king of the Jews, was born, he became angry and sought to find the child. His goal was to eliminate this baby that he felt threatened his reign.
Matthew 2:1 “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,”
In Matthew 2:1, we find that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the King. Herod saw this tiny baby as a threat. He sought to have him killed. He was a ruthless ruler and obviously very paranoid. Any threat to his kingship threw him into a frenzy.
Matthew 2:2 “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
The Wise Men met King Herod on their way to worship this baby. The star was leading them to the child. Herod tried to trick them into revealing the child’s location in Bethlehem. On their way home, they were warned in a dream to avoid Herod, so they returned to their countries by another route. He had not voiced his true reason for wanting to see the child but said it was so “that he may go and worship him also.”
Matthew 2:3 “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.”
When the wise men did not return and give him the exact location of Jesus, Herod was very angry. He felt the threat was real for his kingdom to be overthrown, and in a rage, he ordered all boy babies below the age of two to be killed.
Matthew 2:16 “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.”
Herod didn’t realize that no one could outsmart God! In a dream, an angel warned Joseph that Jesus’ life was in danger, and he was to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt to escape Herod. Will we be like Herod and fail to glorify the Son with our lives, thereby provoking the Father to raise up others in our place? God had a plan, and His will shall always come to pass, even if he has to use someone else.
There will always be opposition to God and His plan, but we need to seek His will and follow. Many people are like Herod. They may not have the power to get rid of those in their way, but they manipulate to get what they want. Like spoiled children, most people seek their own way and try to add God into the plan, but God wants us to seek His way first. To have the desire to please him above everything else. It is only when we seek him first that we will be totally at peace with who we are and where we are in life. When we live life any other way, we are in opposition to God. We are no different than Herod, just more sophisticated than Herod about how we get our way.
This Christmas, seek him above everything else. Take time to be alone with Him and think about all the gifts He has given you. Take time to share His love with those who don’t know Him. Keep the main thing the main thing.
