HEROD BEFORE JESUS 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. Jesus had been arrested and had first appeared before Annas Here is a flavour of the people who were trying Jesus First of all, Annas. His name means humble, and he was actually a former high priest (Jn. 18:13). He was elevated to the office of high priest by Quirinius the governor of Syria c. 6 or 7 AD, but afterwards deposed by Valerius Gratus, the procurator of Judaea. This Valerius Gratus replaced Annas with first Ismael, son of Phabi, and shortly after Eleazar, son of Annas. From Eleazar, the office passed to Simon; from Simon c. 18 A.D. to Caiaphas So the influence of Annas remained very much in the background. The upper echelons of Jewish power were absolutely rotten and, they were also bolstered up by the foreign policy of pagan Roman empire who directed its governors in the area. Now, Annas then handed Jesus over to his son-in-law Caiaphas ( comely ), who was the present High Priest (27-36 AD). Caiaphas was a Sadducee. Among other things, the Sadducees did not believe in the immortality of the soul, - there is no afterlife, no rewards and no penalties. They did not believe in the resurrection. After Jesus had been tried by Annas and Caiaphas, He was then brought before Pilate who quickly passed Him on to Herod, the tetrarch, - the local governor, - of Galilee who was in Jerusalem for the Passover season. So, within the space of a few hours, the Saviour was appeared in front of no less than four authorities.
D.G. 2 And here you have an unashamed and callous anti-christ coalition. It was this opposition Peter referred to in the days following Pentecost, Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together. As we look at these events there are two directions from which we can come to consider what was taking place Herod before Jesus, and Jesus before Herod. First of all Herod before Jesus. Now, obviously this isn t the same Herod that the wise men of the East visited thirty years or so earlier, - that Herod was known as Herod the Great This Herod, - known as Herod Antipas ( like the father ), - was one of Herod the Great s three sons. He was indeed very much like the father. In fact, history affirms him as even more vile than his father. Jesus had previously called him a fox (Lk. 13: 31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. 32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox ) When you study this man you find he was so full of himself that other people were simply a distraction. Mind you though, this was the Herod that feared John the Baptist (Mk. 6:20) but also the same Herod who was ruled and manipulated by his mistress and her daughter and had to put John to death. Something else about Herod, - he was an Edomite, a descendant of Esau and not a true Israelite. For centuries the old hostilities continued between the descendants of Esau and the descendants of Jacob. As a result, Herod was so unpopular with the Jewish scribes and Pharisees because they belonged to the lineage of Jacob while Herod s ancestry came from Esau.
D.G. 3 And Herod was rotten from the core out! He was simply chasing after the best he could get for himself and his religion depended upon what was of most advantage to him so it took nothing out of him to be sitting in judgement over Jesus. And when you look at him sitting there on his throne, - pumped up with his idle curiosity, - he wanted to see Jesus doing some of these great miracles everyone was talking about. He wanted Jesus to entertain him, and be the star attraction in his court, 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. To him, Jesus was nothing more than a form of entertainment! And can t you see his evil eyes dancing! Herod would have got off his miserable throne and gone out to dig up a dead corpse if he thought he would have had a good story of Jesus raising it from the dead! He reckoned he had power over Jesus and to compel Jesus Imagine, having the cheek to think he had power over the Son of God! He mocked Jesus. He treated Jesus as the kind of dirt he would rub off his shoes. Earlier on Herod was worried about Jesus He was worried that maybe John the Baptist had risen from the dead. He had previously asked the question, Lk. 9:9 John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him. Here and now, - with Jesus shackled in his chains, - Herod no longer had the fear he had previously and he had no inclination to accept anything Jesus said His conscience that had been troubling him before wasn t bothering him any longer. That is a frightening state for the sinner to be in, - when the conscience is silenced and no longer troubles you. When the Gospel no longer beckons to your heart When the preaching of the Gospel no longer convicts you of you sin When you no longer fear for your soul s eternal destiny When Christ and the salvation He offers falls upon a hardened heart and a deafened ear! That is a frightening condition to be in!
D.G. 4 Herod had lost all dread of what John the Baptist or Jesus would say for he was a man who would not allow the truth of Christ s Gospel to penetrate his soul. He had no fear of God. And as Jesus stood there, Herod began to ask him questions. The Bible doesn t tell us what the questions were but you could be very sure the tone in his voice, - to start with, - would have been trying to cajole Jesus into doing something spectacular. Then when he saw he wasn t getting anywhere Herod s questions would have become more barbed, with the smartness and cruelty that an enemy of Christ could muster. He didn t want questions that would appeal to the correction of his wicked heart because he was simply not interested in it that way, - he was just full of mere idle curiosity. Do you see there too how his idle curiosity was disappointed? Do you see what Jesus said to him? Do you see how Jesus answered his questions? Jesus said absolutely nothing! Here is Herod before Jesus! If Herod had wanted to believe Jesus would have answered. If Herod s heart had been broken Jesus would have spoken in the most tender of ways but Jesus could see the state of Herod s heart and it was as hard as hard could be. Jesus saw in Herod a wall of stubborn and unrelenting unbelief and Jesus stood there, and uttered not a word. Jesus didn t come into this world to perform miracles for entertainment. He didn t come to jump through hoops or work up the human appetite for the spectacular and the fantastic. He didn t leave Glory to put on a circus show, or to do man s bidding! Sometimes, as Christians, our friends, family or workmates try to provoke us into arguing about our faith, and if we were to launch into the argument they wanted it would do more harm for the cause of Christ than good and we would have been better
D.G. 5 keeping quiet. Well, that is what Jesus did, - He uttered not a word because this man Herod s heart was so hard. There is another frightening way of looking at this and it is frightening for any in our meeting who don t know Christ as Saviour and who have silenced the voice of God over and over again. Remember John the Baptist and how he described himself to the priests and Levites who came from Jerusalem and asked him, Who art thou? John replied to them, Jn. 1:23 I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. Well, Herod had already heard that voice of John also but he had silenced it, - he had heard the Gospel message but chose not to receive it Instead, he put John the Baptist and his message to death. And now, with Jesus standing in front of him, he thought he could play about with Jesus but how wrong he was because Jesus would not answer him a single word. Herod had been given his opportunity and he had lost it! Jesus had nothing to say to Him! Jesus had no Good News for Him! It s a dangerous thing to play about with God and His offer of mercy for you could silence His voice once too often and He will never speak to you again! Indeed, one of Scripture s earliest warnings is this Gen. 6:3 My spirit shall not always strive with man. God won t be messed about with! Consider also how Herod could have heard Jesus hundreds of times if he had really wanted to. Jesus was often in and around Galilee, - Herod s territory. There was nothing secret about the meetings at which Jesus spoke. They gathered such massive crowds, - he wasn t running hiding from the authorities. Herod would have known, at any time, - where to go and listen to hear Jesus speak or to see Him work miracles. But it had never suited Herod on those occasions and now, - with Jesus standing in chains before him, - he reckoned he could use Jesus when it now suited him.
D.G. 6 How wrong! How badly Herod had foolishly misjudged and miscalculated! It might have worked with other people, but it didn t work with Jesus! If Herod wanted Jesus to speak to him then he had missed all the opportunities for Jesus would not speak to him now! Herod had left it too late! Some people, - like Herod, - think they can decide when they will call God in and take advantage of His grace. Maybe when they get older, or more settled in life and it would suit to become a Christian. Here is the lesson though, that if God is speaking to you, don t mess Him about, - ask Him today into your heart for today is the only opportunity you can be sure of. Something else too Herod was sitting there on a throne he had made for himself. If truth be known, it wasn t even a proper throne, - it was only a makeshift authority the Romans had granted him. They were patronising him keeping him sweet but he had no real authority and he couldn t see it. So, Jesus would not talk to him. There were no signs and no words of repentance from Herod, and no words of forgiveness from the Saviour. There was no indication Herod was going to come down from off that throne. He was mocking Jesus and, inevitably, what he was sowing, he would one day reap! Jesus didn t come to call everyone to salvation, for that is what He Himself said, Mt. 9:13 I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. There is nothing in the Gospel to please the self-righteous and that is why Jesus answered Herod nothing. Herod s opportunity had gone for he had wasted it, - he had trifled about with the most important issue anyone has to deal with the matter concerning the eternal welfare of the soul. And Herod received no answer from Jesus. And then his disappointment and curiosity went sour and turned into scorn and ridicule and the deeper Herod got into his unbelief the further he sank in it.
D.G. 7 Once upon a time he feared for his soul, - when he beheaded John the Baptist, - but his heart became so hardened there was now no longer any fear of God. It took nothing out of him to mock Jesus and encouraging others to do the same, Lk. 23:10 And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. 11 And 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. This was what he did... to the Saviour. Herod had grown weary of Jesus; he had finished with Him and he cast Him off. That was the end. That was the last time Herod saw Jesus. That was it and away goes Jesus, never to return, and never to meet again with Herod. It is indeed a fearful account of a man who met Jesus, but rejected Him, Who is the only means of salvation I would hope and I would pray that none here this morning would be so foolish. Well that s Herod before Jesus. We shall come to this passage again to see another picture that of Jesus before Herod.