We considered the picture from the vantage point of Herod before Jesus; let s now look at it from the other side, Jesus before Herod.

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1 JESUS BEFORE HEROD. Lk. 23:8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. 9 Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing. Previously we were looking into the picture the Bible draws of the Lord Jesus standing in front of Herod Agrippa, a vile reproate man who Jesus once called a fox. This same man had heard so many things about Jesus and he wanted to see for himself whether or not they were true so when Pilate sent Jesus to him he was excited by the prospects of some very special court entertainment, with our Saviour as the star attraction. There was nothing about the Gospel message of the Saviour he wanted to hear. The Gospel had absolutely no appeal for him. He had no concern for his soul s eternal destiny. We considered the picture from the vantage point of Herod before Jesus; let s now look at it from the other side, Jesus before Herod. THE LONELINESS OF THE SAVIOUR As Jesus stood in the court of this rascal do you see anyone else standing beside Him? There is no one there to help Him carry the insults, the abuse and the offence that rose up from that place. Nobody lifted their voice in Christ s defence. Nobody stood with Him. There was no one in that palace of Herod who backed up Jesus! Oh yes, there were plenty of people there but that was a gathering who hated and despised Him more than words could describe. Indeed, that is the only way by which this event could have been made worse if there had been one with some degree of sympathy for Jesus and yet said nothing! Now, that would have been totally reprehensible How sad, - in the midst of that crowd in Herod s palace, - if there had been a single follower of Jesus mingling with His enemies.

2 D.G. 2 It s a reminder how the children of God ought not to be in the company of those who deny Jesus When you are in the company of the world anymore than you need to be it inevitably weakens your resolve and silences your voice. Yes, I know there are some places we must be, - because of our work, our family ties, or some other circumstances that necessitate we be there, - but it ought never to hinder us from speaking for our Saviour. And there He is Jesus, He stood bound in shackles, before Herod, like a common criminal, Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood. Yes, He was beaten and bruised, the hair on His face was tugged and pulled but sometimes it s worse than any sticks when people beat you with mockery and insults, - especially when you are there for their good! Can you see Jesus standing in all His humility? Jesus, the Son of the Almighty God, the King of Heaven, the Creator and Sustainer of life. Can you see Him bound in shackles standing in front of the cruel Herod and his cronies! Can you see Him? He didn t have to be there! With one whisper towards Heaven His Father could have lifted Him out and up into Glory With one whisper to His Father there would have been legions of angels to His immediate rescue. His Father looked upon that scene and He saw His Son humiliated and shamed an utter disgrace in the eyes of these religious people of Jerusalem. This same Jesus had come with the one intention on His mind to bring them salvation for that is what His name meant, Mt. 1:21 thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Yes, there were already wounds on His body tearing His heart! The Loneliness of the Saviour THE LONGING OF THE SAVIOUR He shall save His people from their sins. That s why Jesus was standing there in the court of Herod. Ultimately, it wasn t Herod or Pilate that had captured Jesus; it was the Divine and

3 D.G. 3 Sovereign will of Almighty God that He should be there as a captive, a prisoner. Yes, before Jesus had breathed His first earthly breath in Bethlehem He had already been offered upon Heaven s altar as the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. He knew it was the will of His Father to be standing there in Herod s palace. How did He know? He knew because He planned it! Why did He plan it? He planned it because he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (I Jn. 4:10) He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, as the means by which He, - the Father, - drew away the punishment our sins required by placing them upon His perfect and sinless Son. It was the longing of the Saviour that as He stood in chains before Herod He would endure the grief and the misery and the distress and the pain of the heart With the bloody sweat still damp upon His brow, with the spittles by now dried into His face, with a sense of the awful penalty of sin bearing down upon Him imagine! The great and only Substitute for sinners was molested by the jests and taunts and attacks on His dignity by the worst of the scoundrels of men! As the chief priests and the scribes (enemies of each other) left the places they were standing and came up to Him and surrounded Him can you see how much they despise Him? Can you hear the absolute wickedness and evil in their voices? I m sure their loathsomeness of Jesus built up into such a frenzy that Jesus could see the devil not only in their hearts, but also in their faces. Religious men, educated men, men looked up to in society this one is laughing, this one is sneering, another gestures in the rudest of manners. They are all in harmony against the Saviour, as He stands there bound in shackles all their voices reaching fever pitch, accompanied with all the vileness that sin could muster.

4 D.G. 4 And there is Jesus, standing silent Why is He standing in Herod s palace at all? He s standing there for only one reason He is on His way to the cross for it was the longing of the Saviour that despite all the suffering He must endure, He would redeem His precious people onto Himself. On His way to the cross He would be mocked, despised, scorned, ridiculed and shown absolute contempt, - He was disgraced but yet it was what our Saviour had come to this earth to do in order for God s grace to be demonstrated Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed (I Pet. 2:24). The loneliness of the Saviour, the longing of the Saviour our closing thought must be this THE LOVE OF THE SAVIOUR How difficult it must have been for Jesus to have remained silent! This was Herod s final opportunity to hear His words. Don t think that the Lord despised Herod as much as Herod despised the Lord. I m sure as Jesus stood there, with all the hatred surrounding Him, I m sure the pity of His soul went out to that foolish man on his miserable throne. Remember, Jesus appealed to the heart of Judas; is it not wholly likely that Jesus would have loved to have spoken this one last time also to Herod, and to all those religious reprobates belonging to the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin? Yes, Herod deserved eternity in Hell. He was making fun of the Saviour s sufferings and humiliation. He was treating the Son of God as mere court entertainment but I also believe that God s infinite love was breaking the Saviour s heart. God told Ezekiel, 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? And what did Jesus say on another occasion? Mt. 5: 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,

5 D.G. 5 do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. Jesus loved Herod despite what Herod did (I m not particularly saying that Jesus loved Him pertaining to effectual grace, but Jesus nevertheless loved Him for that is what He taught). Jesus even would have blessed him and would have done good to him, and would have been standing there praying for him Oh, what a Saviour! Jesus did not say a single word but yet, what a sermon He preached that day! How it must have cost the Saviour such a tremendous effort to remain silent, but silent He remained Is. 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. When you are in pain you simply want to cry out. When the agony becomes so great you want to shout; but Jesus remained silent even in Herod s palace. Don t you see what those people were doing? They were making sport of the Saviour for He was the brunt of their jokes. But do you see what else they were doing? They were flinging the salvation of God to the ground and holding on to their own false professions. They were stamping all over the Lord! Faced with Jesus, - the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, - they demonstrated their utter contempt. These were the same men just a few hours later who would whip the crowds into such a frenzy calling out for Jesus to be executed, Crucify Him, Crucify Him. Look again at v.11 and see what they did, Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate. They knew He deserved glory and yet they degraded Him and made Him so contemptible that Jesus was considered the lowest form earth-life! CONCLUSION

6 D.G. 6 Don t you see the picture? Sometimes it is said to me, David, I don t know how you are able to see it present it the way you do. I wouldn t boast in it for I ll tell you how I can do it When I see those religiously educated men, robed in their selfrighteousness and self-importance standing making fun of Jesus I see me. I m afraid that if I had been living in those days I would have been among them. I m afraid that I wouldn t have seen Jesus as the Son of God either. I see Him with the bruises because I surely would have put some of them there. I would have slapped Him, and the spit running down His face, - that more than likely - would have come from my mouth! I would have tramped Him into the ground if I could have got away with it and there is not a one of you here who could sit and think you would have done anything differently! There might even be some here and even now, you are among the crowd who are against Jesus. You wouldn t show yourself up like some of the men that night, but neither would you raise your voice in Christ s defence. He s not your Saviour; you don t love Him as such. He hasn t done the work of salvation in your heart not yet, but the message that comes to you is simple, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16:31), for the Bible tells us that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21) Do you see them putting that robe around Him? That was their sins of vanity you are seeing. He was being dressed in their pride and in their glittering apparel. How it was to their shame! I look at Him as you look at Him too, and I believe we would have done exactly the same. Do you see the friendships that were made that day? The scribes and the Pharisees, Pilate and Herod (v.12)... What a pitiful lot, and what a scourge on humanity! Hell, - again, - tried to do

7 D.G. 7 its worst against Heaven s Best They all joined up against them for no matter how much they hated each other, they hated more! Believer, do you see it what Jesus did for you? Do you see how much you owe Him? He has bought you with a price and He was paying that price, even as He stood before Herod like a common criminal. Unsaved, do you see what Jesus had to stand up to in order to purchase your salvation so that it would be pleasing to God? If you don t know Him yet as Saviour, take yourself away from standing among those who are gathered against Him and come today and stand beside the Saviour Who died for you. Amen.