King Herod

Refugee Lord

Posted on by Betsy

Our magi story continues today in the book of Matthew. In a stunning turn of events, Joseph and Mary are forced to flee to Egypt in order to save their son from being murdered. Insane Herod, in his deep paranoia, ordered the slaughter of every child in Bethlehem under the age of two in an attempt to snuff out the child-king of the Jews. This is truly a “read it and weep” scenario:

Matthew 2 (Common English Bible)

13 When the magi had departed, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon search for the child in order to kill him.” 14 Joseph got up and, during the night, took the child and his mother to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod died. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I have called my son out of Egypt.

I can’t imagine how terrifying it was for Mary and Joseph to have to escape in the middle of the night to a foreign country. I can’t imagine the trauma they suffered as they crossed that border with little supplies … probably not much more than the clothes on their backs. What did they eat? How did they sleep? Where did they get water?

Egypt was a logical place to go, as it was a border country that was outside of Herod’s jurisdiction. It was under Roman rule but contained a large population of Jews. Joseph’s quick response to the angel shows us that he understood how far he would have to go to ensure the freedom and safety of his little boy. Any parent would do the same.

Wouldn’t you?

Murder of the Bethlehem children

16 When Herod knew the magi had fooled him, he grew very angry. He sent soldiers to kill all the children in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding territory who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. 17 This fulfilled the word spoken through Jeremiah the prophet:

18 A voice was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and much grieving.
        Rachel weeping for her children,
            and she did not want to be comforted,
                because they were no more.

Jeremiah 31:15 records the mothers of Israel, embodied in Rachel, weeping over their children during the time when the nation of Judah was carried into captivity. There was then a great mourning in the tribes of Benjamin and Judah for their children who were slain or taken into captivity. History was repeated as mothers wept again in Jesus’ time.

Return from Egypt

19 After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up,” the angel said, “and take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” 21 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus ruled over Judea in place of his father Herod, Joseph was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he went to the area of Galilee. 23 He settled in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.

Scholars are unsure about how long Jesus and his parents stayed in Egypt. It could have been a few months or as long as 7 years. In any case, they made a home there until it was safe to return across the border to their homeland.

This passage begs many questions for us today. Our Lord and his parents were homeless for a good portion of his childhood. How should we respond? Is God calling us to care for the homeless in our communities? And our Lord and his parents were refugees. They were allowed safe passage across a border where they found freedom and safety. How should we respond? Is God calling us to care for refugees and immigrants in his name?

I pray that this part of Jesus’ story leaves a mark on your heart today, and I pray that together, we remember and honor our Refugee Lord in ways that are meaningful and tangible in our own communities.

Escape by Becca Ziegler

Another Route

Posted on by Betsy

I admire those of you who make New Year’s Resolutions. Doing this is a process of introspection, self-awareness, and determination. My daughter and her friends spend New Year’s Eve playing games while they contemplate last year’s resolutions and then commit to new ones. Declaring your resolutions in a friend group is a process of accountability, which is always wise when trying to set goals. Others can help us reach our objectives by holding us accountable for what we decided. Believe it or not, Lent is quickly approaching, and the season invites us to a spiritual accountability. This is the right time to make changes.

Many of our resolutions involve stopping a behavior and choosing a healthier path. We commit to stop over-eating, drinking, smoking, using recreational drugs, swearing, spending, cheating … name a vice, and it is sure to be on someone’s list of things they have resolved to quit in the New Year.

If you need to stop something, consider the end of this very familiar passage from the second Chapter of Matthew:

Matthew 2 (Common English Bible)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.”

3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. 4 He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:

6 You, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
        by no means are you least among the rulers of Judah,
            because from you will come one who governs,
            who will shepherd my people Israel.”

Let’s pause here and take note of a few things. The rulership of King Herod suggests that this event happened about two years after Jesus’ birth. That knocks our nativity sets out of whack, doesn’t it? Posing the Wise Men around the infant king in his manger isn’t quite accurate, as he would have been a run-around-toddler at the time.

This Herod was Herod the Great. Bible scholar D.A. Carson writes this about Herod: “He was wealthy, politically gifted, intensely loyal, an excellent administrator, and clever enough to remain in the good graces of successive Roman emperors. His famine relief was superb and his building projects (including the temple, begun 20 B.C.) were admired even by his foes. But he loved power, inflicted incredibly heavy taxes on the people, and resented the fact that many Jews considered him a usurper. In his last years, suffering an illness that compounded his paranoia, he turned to cruelty and in fits of rage and jealousy killed close associates.”  Herod died in 4 A.D., and we can assume that the Magi came to him just before his death when his paranoia was at its peak.

Also, the word “magi” is from the Greek “majoi,” which translates to astronomer. So our carols about these men being kings is a little off, perhaps a reference to Old Testament writings that prophesied that kings would come to worship the Messiah. Being astronomers is an important part of the story: They were men who studied the stars. God sent them a star. God will always speak to us in our own medium when he wants our attention. Where in your life is God speaking to you?

7 Then Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you’ve found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him.” 9 When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. 11 They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.

Verse 12 is the most important part for us today. They went back to their homes by another route. When we encounter God, we rarely keep going in the same direction, but rather leave our current path and start a whole new trajectory.

Where is God calling you to go home by a new route? You are not meant to stay the same after a ‘come to Jesus’ moment. What new route will you take this year?

Whatever it is, wherever you go, follow his star.

(Lent begins on February 14. I have just published a book of Lent devotionals, ReLENTless Devotion available at Amazon. Take a look!)

Star of Wonder by Michelle Robertson

Webs of Guilt

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever done something terribly wrong and then suffered from the paranoia of getting caught? When we break the rules and commit a sin, we discover that the fear of being found out is often worse than the punishment that follows. It is a relief to finally confess our misdeeds and be done with it…the guilt is expunged and the anxiety over being discovered is finally over.

In our scripture today, King Herod is overcome with his guilt. He killed John the Baptist because of a young girl’s demand. His paranoia is so great, he believes that a miracle-worker named Jesus was actually John, returned from the dead:

Mark 6 (The Message)

14 King Herod heard of all this, for by this time the name of Jesus was on everyone’s lips. He said, “This has to be John the Baptizer come back from the dead—that’s why he’s able to work miracles!”

15 Others said, “No, it’s Elijah.”

Others said, “He’s a prophet, just like one of the old-time prophets.”

16 But Herod wouldn’t budge: “It’s John, sure enough. I cut off his head, and now he’s back, alive.”

Guilt will do that to you. It can drive you crazy to hold onto a secret or to have to cover up a crime or indiscretion. One lie leads to another lie until we are caught in a web of deception. Herod’s guilt was great. He actually liked John. He had given John special treatment as a “holy man,” and respected the fact that John was bold enough to speak the truth:

17-20 Herod was the one who had ordered the arrest of John, put him in chains, and sent him to prison at the nagging of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For John had provoked Herod by naming his relationship with Herodias “adultery.” Herodias, smoldering with hate, wanted to kill him, but didn’t dare because Herod was in awe of John. Convinced that he was a holy man, he gave him special treatment. Whenever he listened to him he was miserable with guilt—and yet he couldn’t stay away. Something in John kept pulling him back.

“Something in John kept pulling [Herod] back.” This is a sad statement. The power of the Holy Spirit working though John had almost broken down the walls that Herod had erected around himself. Herod felt the guilt that came with the truth John had exposed, and he couldn’t stay away. He was almost ready to turn it all around until…

21-22 But a portentous day arrived when Herod threw a birthday party, inviting all the brass and bluebloods in Galilee. Herodias’s daughter entered the banquet hall and danced for the guests. She charmed Herod and the guests.

22-23 The king said to the girl, “Ask me anything. I’ll give you anything you want.” Carried away, he kept on, “I swear, I’ll split my kingdom with you if you say so!”

24 She went back to her mother and said, “What should I ask for?”

“Ask for the head of John the Baptizer.”

25 Excited, she ran back to the king and said, “I want the head of John the Baptizer served up on a platter. And I want it now!”

His lustful eye for the young daughter of Herodias was his undoing. Trapped now by his hastily spoken words, he had no choice but to act on his extravagantly stupid vow to give her whatever she wanted.

26-29 That sobered the king up fast. But unwilling to lose face with his guests, he caved in and let her have her wish. The king sent the executioner off to the prison with orders to bring back John’s head. He went, cut off John’s head, brought it back on a platter, and presented it to the girl, who gave it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard about this, they came and got the body and gave it a decent burial.

How sad. It would have been so much better for Herod to accept John’s truth, repent of his sins, and receive forgiveness. But instead, Herod ends up beheading a man that he truly admired….a man who could have saved Herod from himself.

If there is anything to be learned here, it is that guilt can be destructive. Many of us carry guilt around for years, and it eats away at our self-esteem and our peace. We are caught in its sticky web and we can’t get free.

Do you have guilt that is pulling you down? Get rid of it. Take it to Jesus and let him absolve you. He will throw that sin away, as far as the East is from the West, and you will never be burdened by it again.

Jesus was indeed a miracle-maker. Let him make a miracle in you today.

Deception’s Web