In Genesis 6 we have Noah’s construction of an ark (a ship) – preparation for the upcoming world-wide flood. Just for fun, let’s say that one of Noah’s neighbors owned a logging and lumber business. When that man saw a big building project next door, he offered to supply lumber at a reduced rate. For decades there was a business arrangement between the two men, and slowly the ark took shape. Of course, Noah shared with the man what God intended to do, but the neighbor just chuckled. He was delighted to have the business and the financial boon, but he considered it to be a fool’s errand. Noah implored the man to repent of his sins and to join him in the ark – or build one for himself and his family. But it didn’t happen. As it is with all of us, the heart of that man was not going to change without God’s direct intervention. And finally the day arrived. “In the 600th year of Noah’s life, in the 2nd month, the 17th day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” “And the rain was upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast… and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.” Without doubt, when the flood began there were tens of thousands of people who rued the day they missed the opportunity to be saved.
Moving from the Old Testament into the New, I would like to consider King Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee. And before you begin to wonder why, I’ll tell you. Like that fictitious lumber dealer, Herod had an opportunity to be saved – to meet Christ Jesus and to bow before Him – but he squandered it. Again, someone might say, “So what; what has that got to do with ME?” Well, the fact of the matter is – you need Christ as much as Herod did. And you need deliverance from God’s judgment, just as much as the people of the world in Noah’s day.
Specifically, why are we considering HEROD the Tetrarch? Because we are coming up to the time of year when Christ Jesus was crucified. Next Sunday I am planning on having another message relating to the crucifixion. And today, we are looking at Herod because he is a part of the story of Christ. Every true Christian is interested in that gospel story. We are looking at Herod, because he was a part of the plan, counsel and decree of God. The sovereign God chose to include him in the providential plan which lead up to the cross. And Herod became an incidental part of the fulfilment of prophecy about Christ. Through that man, we have yet another declaration of Jesus’ innocence. PILATE, the Roman Governor, said, “I have examined Christ and have found no fault in him.” “No, nor yet Herod; for I sent you to him and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him.”
And then there is the fact that Christ could have gone to the cross without any contact with Herod. Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, after His betrayal by Judas. From there He went to the palace of the high priest, where Peter denied knowing Him. Then we come to verse 1 – “and the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate.” A few minutes later, “then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man.” At that point the Jews said something about Jesus beginning His ministry in Galilee. “Aha,” thought Pilate. “Galilee? That is the jurisdiction of Herod. I know that hypocrite is in town for the Passover, so I’ll send this man to him.” Thus, Jesus spent some time with Herod the Tetrarch, before being sent back again to Pilate. And from the judgment hall of Pilate, Christ Jesus was taken to Golgotha to be crucified.
Without missing a beat, Christ’s encounter with Herod could be eliminated. PILATE is the Roman who is accused of crucifying Christ – not Herod. So why did God introduce Herod to the Saviour; why was he included in the whole process? Essentially, for the same reason that the Lord brought you to be here with us here today. God gave Herod a special opportunity to meet and investigate Christ. The Lord gave him the opportunity to bow before the King of all kings and Lord of all Tetrarchs. And He is giving you a similar opportunity. But what did Herod do with Christ? And what will you do with Christ?
We see a PAST in Herod, but WITHOUT EXPOSURE.
“Herod” is a name which pops up throughout Acts and the Gospels. It is not the same thing, but it is a bit like our family names. Here in our church we a whole bunch of Kjeldgaards, but they are from three different generations. The first of the Herod family, as far as we are concerned, was Herod the Great. He was the king of Israel at the time of Jesus’ birth. It was Herod the Great who slaughtered the babies in Bethlehem in an effort to eliminate the Messiah. He was far, far from being a “great” man. Herod the Great had a grandson to whom I referred a couple weeks ago. He is known as Herod Agrippa. Acts 12 – “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” But later, “the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God (His due glory), and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.”
The Herod of our scripture was son of Herod the Great and an uncle of the Herod who died in that horrible way. This Herod, also called Herod Antipas, was a true son of his wicked father. This man, stole and married his brother’s wife, living in adultery. And when John the Baptist mildly said, “It is not lawful for thee to have her,” he tossed him into prison. Then later with the encouragement of his new wife and her licentious daughter, John was murdered. This is he who “had heard many things of (Jesus) and he hoped to have seen some miracles done by him.” Even back as far as Matthew 14, we are told “at that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus.”
Here is my point in this: Herod’s past is NOT brought up in the context of his eventual meeting with Christ. Jesus didn’t remind him that he had beheaded His cousin, John, and He didn’t speak of Herod’s adultery. It was a simple fact that Herod was a sinner unworthy of Christ, even as I am, and you, are – sinners. Nevertheless at that point and time, there was Herod seated before the Son of God. We don’t need to create a list of outstanding warrants and sins, to prove our unworthiness of Christ. We are who we are, and the Lord is fully aware of our sinful wretchedness. And yet, here we are this morning, looking into the face of Saviour and hearing His words. Praise God for the opportunity – praise God for this tiny bit of grace.
Herod was filled with QUESTIONS, but WITHOUT ANSWERS.
“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. Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.” Apparently the questions just poured out of Herod’s mouth with “many words.” Matthew 14 tells us that one of his original questions was whether or not Jesus was, or was not, the resurrected Baptist. Perhaps that question had already been settled, but he still might have foolishly asked Jesus about that.
As a Bible-denying, liberal, quasi-Jew, Herod may have had a hundred questions about the Old Testament. Did Jehovah create all things by the word of His mouth? Was Noah a real person, and did the flood cover the entire earth? Did the Red Sea open up and swallow Pharaoh and his armies? Was Goliath really that tall, and did David kill him with a mere stone? Did Elijah call down fire to consume a water drenched sacrifice over there on Mount Carmel? Will there be a thousand year period of peace in this earth with the Messiah sitting on David’s throne? People have hundreds of questions about the Old Testament scriptures, and Herod might have been one of those people.
But more likely, his questions were more related to Jesus Himself. Where were you born? My father believed you were born in Bethlehem, but you come from Galilee. And how did you escape the net he cast to catch you? Do you really believe yourself to be the Messiah? Did you really feed 5,000 people with hardly a scrap of food to begin with? It is said that you have raised the dead; is that true? Can you change water into wine. If you can, do that for me. I can only imagine the questions the man had for the Lord.
“But Jesus answered him nothing.” As is said in another context, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded , though one rose from the dead.” God, the Holy Spirit, has placed in our hands a copy of His inspired word – the Bible. And while admitting there is much in its pages that we might not fully understand, there are thousands of important things that are as clear as crystal. What are we going to do with those thousands of easily understood scriptures? Herod, if you don’t want to listen to the testimony of Moses, or David, or Peter and Matthew, then God is under no obligation to personally answer the questions flowing out of your deliberate unbelief. And as for us today, with even more scripture than what Herod have – we have no more right to demand answers than he did.
Furthermore, if the Tetrarch’s questions were about Christ’‘s guilt or innocence, Jesus’ silence even further satisfied prophecy about him. Hundreds of years earlier, Isaiah had described Christ’s death as our Saviour. Part of which was, “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.” For a time, Jesus was also silent before Pilate, and between them God’s prophecy was fulfilled.
Similarly, Herod was filled with CURIOSITY, but WITHOUT SATISFACTION.
“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.” Herod was looking for some miracle from Jesus, the Son of God. Yes, he might have been interested whether or not Christ could fill his wine cellar with the best vintages. But he might also have suffered from arthritis or his eyes may have been growing dim. He could have had syphilis or gonorrhea, and would really have liked some relief from the effects and symptoms of his sins. He yearned for some obvious physical miracles. But his curiosity didn’t extend so far as to his eternal soul or Christ’s ultimate purpose.
There haven’t been many, but every once in a while someone will visit our church out of shear curiosity. Perhaps they have seen the Lutheran church down the road with the same name as ours – “Calvary.” Why are there two “Calvary” churches within three or four blocks of each other? They have seen a Nazarene church two blocks away and another Baptist church four blocks from us. Some people want to know why there are so many churches, and what makes us different. Herod’s interest in Christ might have been somewhat along that line, and I have no problem with that.
But it isn’t enough to be curious about religious superficials. Until King Herod becomes interested in Christ and what the Lord might do for his soul, everything else was pointless. Until, like the Philippian jailer, he cries out, “What must I do to be SAVED,” all his other curiosity is in vain. There is a difference between intellectual curiosity and a curiosity which the Holy Spirit plants in a soul. Christ didn’t deal with the shallow interest of this man.
But then things became more serious.
There were ACCUSATIONS made, but WITHOUT REBUTTAL.
“The chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him.” I picture the initial scene with Herod on his throne and Christ, between two guards, standing before him. The Tetrarch is asking questions, but the Saviour is silently and yet pleasantly looking straight at him. Off to the side there is a gaggle of powerful Jewish priests, including the high priest, Caiaphas, and the former high priest, Annas. Maybe they are seated. Their faces are filled with hatred and rage. Hearing Herod’s questions, they are getting even more agitated.
Then during a brief pause, they jump to their feet, or leap forward, vociferously accusing the Lord Jesus. “This man has claimed to be the Son of God,” which was both true in reality and true in the declaration. “This man has tricked people into thinking he can heal the blind, which was prophesied of the Messiah, but we have reason to believed it was all a deception.” “It is said that he has raised the dead, but none of us, the leaders of Israel, have seen it. There is no proof.” “He said that he would destroy the temple – which your honorable father, King Herod, built for us.” “And then he had the audacity to say, he’d rebuild it in three days later.” “The man is insane.” “But the ignorant people of our nation are listening to him and believing him.” “And some who are as insane as he is, are actually becoming his disciples, and spreading his garbage.” On and on they went with their twisted accusations. But the Lord Jesus continued to be as silent at a sheep being delivered to the shearer.
Over the years, there have been dozens of unbelievers sitting in our preaching services. Sometime their faces have been as flushed and red as the faces of those priests that day. Most did not vent their skepticism and anger publicly, but they have shared it privately with some of you. Generally speaking, there is little point in denying or answering their accusations. “He who is convinced against his will is of the same mind still.”
All we can do is essentially what we the Lord Jesus doing here. He let the facts speak for themselves. Christ DID raise the dead, and He did heal the blind and leprous, because He is God. When he spoke of the destruction of the temple, he was speaking of his body being destroyed by those people in Herod’s palace that day. And 72 hours later, He arose from His grave after which a multitude of people began to see Him alive. But at the time, standing before Herod, the Lord made no reply or defense against the charges against Him.
Then He was MOCKED and ABUSED, but without any sort of RETALIATION.
“And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe…” The Tetrarch got tired of Christ’s refusal to play his game, so he turned on Him. Herod joined with his men of war to “set him at nought.” That word “nought” refers to their disgust and their effort to belittle Jesus. They made fun of the infinite Son of God, the Lord of lords. They covered him with a gorgeous robe. From where did that come? Was it from the closet of Herod himself? This was the first elaborate robe Christ wore that day. Pilate’s men would cover Him with a scarlet and purple robe, again pretending to honor the King of kings. To all of this the Lord Jesus simply turned the other cheek.
And by the way, even though Herod and his soldiers mocked the Saviour, their abuse was only verbal. The Jewish priests, however, were not so lenient. Mark 14 – “And some began to spit on him, and cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy; and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.” Then most likely they cleaned Him up before taking Him Pilate. Later, when the Lord was taken back to Pilate, He was more severely beaten and abused. John 19:1 tells us that Pilate had Jesus scourged – whipped. It was not because he hated Christ, or that he had anything particularly against Him. I think he was hoping to make the Lord look so pitiful, the Jews would agree to let him release Him.
Throughout all this physical and verbal abuse the Saviour made no attempt to retaliate or to defend Himself. What a testimony this could have been – and should have been – to Herod and the others. From our vantage point, knowing who Jesus is, we are amazed that Christ endured it all so meekly. But then, we also know that it was a part of what was necessary for our deliverance from sin. Our salvation required not only an outwardly innocent substitute, but one internally and completely pure. There was no retaliation against Herod or others, because Christ had no personal pride to defend. There was no instant retribution, because the Lord had no hatred toward any of these men. Herod, you have no idea how blessed you are.
And that brings me to my last point:
Christ poured important BLESSINGS upon Herod, but they were WITHOUT EFFECT.
As the Tetrarch of Galilee, he had been hearing about Jesus’ ministry for three years. He had heard the reports of many, many miracles. Perhaps he was given outlines of Jesus’ sermons. He had been curious about this interesting man, but he never went to the trouble to summon Him. And now, thanks to his rival, Pilate, he has the opportunity to see Jesus face to face. But he was NOT impressed; his unbelief wasn’t surrendered; there was no repentance.
And this aspect of Herod’s life has been replicated thousands of times throughout history. Jesus’ disciples spread across the world, starting churches and preaching Christ and His word. Over and over again, sinners like Herod have entered those worship and preaching services where the Holy Spirit painted a picture of the Saviour for them to see. The Spirit has disturbed, convicted and broken people’s hearts with the message of God’s love for sinners. But millions have left those services still in their unbelief, mocking the gospel and the Saviour. And it will happen again today in hundreds of gospel churches; perhaps even in this one.
Please, I beg of you don’t join Herod. Put your arm around the Saviour, not your old hand-me-down robe, making fun of Him. Believe what has been said about Christ, and put your trust in Him as your Lord and Saviour. Repent Herod, admit to your sin and your need of a Saviour.
There is one more interesting question with which I’ll close today.
Verse 12 says, “And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together; for before they were at enmity between themselves.” Believing, as I do, in the plenary, verbal inspiration of the Word of God. Or to put it another way, since I believe every word in the Bible has been given to us the Holy Spirit… I therefore believe that every sentence has its purpose, whether or not I fully understand that purpose.
We are told here that the animosity between Pilate and Herod was dissolved that day by the Lord Jesus. What animosity, what enmity? Pilate, as a Roman, governed Judea, while the son of Herod ruled Galilee. I’m sure there was a general rivalry between them. Was it more than this? Perhaps.
Earlier, I asked one of the men to read from Luke 13 – “There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” As I just pointed out, Pilate was the governor of Jerusalem and Judea, while Herod ruled in Galilee. It is suggested by historians that a group of devout Galileans were plotting against the Roman government. When they traveled to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple, Pilate’s soldier attacked and killed them all. It could be that Herod considered this an attack on his authority and his citizens. He may have wished to report to Rome that he had done something to protect the Empire. But Pilate stole the privilege.
Whether or not that was the problem between the two rulers, that was not the point Christ was makeing. “Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Jesus’ point was that all Galileans, all Judeans, all Roman rulers and in fact every member of the human race are sinners. It is Christ Jesus who tells us all to repent before God or expect to die some day. It is the Lord Jesus – the same person who was standing before Herod… Christ’s evangelists add to that repentance, telling us to trust the blood of the Lord Jesus’s sacrifice for us. Without repentance in the presence of the holy God, and without faith in Christ the Saviour, we shall not only perish from this earth, but die the second death for eternity – Hell and the Lake of Fire.
From the information the Bible gives to us about Herod, we must conclude that he is in hell today. He is in hell, not because he murdered John the Baptist, and not because he was an adulterer. Yes, these are two, out of a great many horrible sins, the man committed. But Herod is in hell because he turned his back on Christ Jesus, refusing to repent of his sins and refusing to bow in faith before the true King of kings.
In other words, Herod was no different than hundreds of people around world who are hearing the gospel this morning. He is in hell, but you don’t have to join him. I beseech you to humbly put your faith in the Saviour this morning.