Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
MATTHEW 2:1-3 | 1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
Who was Herod and why was he so disturbed over the birth of a baby? Herod the Great was a complex man. He was racially Arab, religiously Jewish, culturally Greek, and politically Roman. During his reign in Judea he increased taxes to expand the Temple and build a fortress at Masada and he exercised control over Jewish religious life by appointing his brother as High Priest and putting a Roman Eagle at the Temple entrance.
Herod was also an insecure megalomaniac and would probably fit the FBI category of a psychopath. His rages were infamous, and he was paranoid about eliminating rivals. He exterminated all the members of the previous ruling family, the Hasmoneans. He murdered half the Sanhedrin and 300 court officers. He killed his wife, Mariamne and her mother, as well as three of his own sons (Aristobulus, Antipater, Alexander).
Caesar Augustus made a dark sardonic jest: “Better to be Herod’s pig than his son!” On his death bed Herod’s last words were an order to gather and kill as many nobles as possible, so he would not die alone.
How do you picture evil?
How has it touched you?
