There is something quite surprising that can be seen at the very beginning Of Matthew's description of the nativity. It comes when we are first introduced to the character of Herod.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
Matthew 2:1-4
There is a small detail in this passage, that can easily be missed. But it comes between what the Magi say and what Herd asks about. The Magi arrive speaking about a king that has been born, but he read asks the chief priests and the scribes about Messiah.
We are so familiar with this story that it can be easy to miss this sort of detail. Our brains constantly jump ahead to what we know is coming. For people who are familiar with the nativity story, this whole episode can feel like the set up for what comes later – specifically, Joseph fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod while the Magi return by a different route. Because we awe so focused on Herod's power trip, we don’t stop to think about what his question actually means.
Herod asks about Messiah, because he knows to expect him. When he is asked about a child king, his mind immediately jumps to the coming of the promised Messiah.
It is tempting to think of Herod as just a power-hungry Roman king – another Antiochus with no appreciation of the Jewish religion. But this is a mistake. Herod had been raised as a Jew, and during his reign he had commissioned renovations of the temple in Jerusalem. He would have been deeply familiar with the promise of a new king like David who would rescue the Jews and restore justice. It was the promise that many of his subjects would pray for everyday. But what follows shows that this was not a hope that Herod shared.
Herod was a client king of Rome. His power derived from Roman rule. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Herod had a great deal to lose if the Jews were freed. So for him, and his entourage, the sudden announcement of a child king was not a glimmer of hope but rather the distant sound of impending fate.
Most people know what comes next. Herod asks where the Christ child would be born and sends the Magi to find him. He tells them to come back and tell him where the child is so that he can go and worship him. But in his heart, he plans something different. He plans to murder the child. It is a plan that he is so committed to carrying out, that when it fails he murders an entire town of children to achieve his purpose.
But when Herod sends the Magi on this mission, he is not merely some Roman despot eager to keep his place by killing a competing king, he is a Jew who is prepared to hunt down his own Messiah to ensure his role continues.
There is a grand difference in scale between these two things. In either case, Herod is desperate to maintain his own power. But what Herod does goes beyond simple palace intrigue or fighting between rival kings (both unexceptional for his time and place). From Herod perspective he is prepared to commit theocide, or at the very least to kill Judaism is greatest prophet, in order to avoid a threat to his own power.
What Herod does he does knowingly, aware that he is working against the very plans of God. His own question – hunting for the birthplace of the Messiah – shows that he fears that Messiah has come.
It is often tempting to imagine that man like Herod – a tyrant – is only doing what he does because he believes that God is far off; that he still has time to mend his ways. We imagine that when Herod faces the truth here it will recant, he will seek forgiveness, he will change his ways. But that is not how he reacts. Instead, he does the opposite. Like Pharaoh, when he is presented with the clear fact (from his perspective) that God’s promised day is at hand, he hardens his heart. He fights to preserve his earthly power - to try and delay heaven’s coming for the sake of one more day of early pleasure.
The story of Herod speaks to us about our own hearts. We like to think that if we were faced with the truth up close and personal, we would mend our own ways. If we knew Christ would return tomorrow at least, we would knuckle down and prepare ourselves for his arrival. But Herod’s example reminds us that this reaction is not guaranteed. There are plenty of people who – faced with the immediate reality of Chrisy, who have no way to deny him – will only try harder to turn their backs on him. Revelation speaks to the same reality, speaking of those who will see the manifest power of God, and all reject him.
Herod was the same man before Christ came and after. His actions when he learned that the Messiah was coming were exactly what we should expect from who he was previously.
We might find the same applies to us too. We are who we are – and if we are waiting for the moment when e need to get serious and actually start working out our faith, we might find that it has atrophied so much that even the final proof will not bring us to our senses.
I like to think this is not inevitable. Scripture is full of examples of hearts changed by God – of Josiahs who chose the right path against all odds. But the warning in Herod’s story is stark. If this is our hope – to be transformed and to be ready for Christ’s return – then the day to begin is today.
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