The Paranoia of Power

When Herod the king of Judea was sitting in his palace, back in those ancient days, three magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem; they were making an enquiry about the location of an important child who might turn out to be a threat to his royal position. "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?" Herod asked. Herod was a little paranoid. He knew these Hebrews had scriptures and traditions upon which their ancient kingdom had been founded; and he knew that the Jews revered the words of the prophets that had been handed down for generations. Being a king whose personal identity and fortune was all wrapped up in power and the protection of his power in Judea, he pretended to be curious, when actually, in a paranoid frame of mind, he was being sly, like a fox, when he asked the wise men to report the location of baby Jesus' birth, under the guise of "so that I may come and worship him". But the Lord of the Universe, the Creator of all things, warned the wise men not to return to Herod. So they did not return to Herod's palace. Jesus Christ born in BethlehemThe magi followed the star to Bethlehem and visited Mary and Joseph with their newborn; then they returned to their homelands in the east. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Herod, sly as a fox, had inquired of the chief priests and scribes where Messiah was to be born. They spoke truthfully to their king, revealing that Messiah would be born, according to the prophet Micah, In Bethlehem.

So Herod sent his goons out to find the child and put an end to whatever it this kid was supposed to be. And you know the rest of that story. Joseph and Mary had to escape to Egypt for a while, until the coast was clear and they could return to Nazareth.  About thirty-three years later, Herod did come face to face with the man whose life he had wanted to end so many years earlier. The apostle Luke later reported that Herod was "glad" when, a lifetime later, he finally had the opportunity to meet Jesus. He wanted Jesus to do a miracle, or something like that, but Jesus, not being a show-off or a carnival performer, and fully comprehending his own destiny and the necessity of the crucifixion that was about to happen to him, declined Herod's request. With all the accusations that were being tossed around by the religious people, Herod just took the easy way out; he only mocked Jesus and commanded his soldiers to take the prisoner back to Pilate, who was the big cheese for the Roman occupiers of Judea at that time.  So we see that Herod, like many self-obsessed powermongers, passed the buck, or the prisoner, as the case may be, back to someone whose authority is greater. And you know the rest of the story. Smoke