THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. ADVENT WEEK 1

As we begin the Christmas season, we seem to get overwhelm with all the worldly the things that are done at Christmas, and we put the true meaning on the back burner. As Christians, our faith requires that we focus on the birth of our Lord and Savior, during this time. Instead of Christmas trees and decorating, holiday shopping and cooking, and singing songs that are happy and fun it is easy to not have our focus on the baby in the manger.

Even if we focus on the birth of Jesus, there are people and events that encircle His holy birth that have a powerful spiritual message of their own. We will be looking at these people in a way that you may never had known or thought.

Let’s begin!!

KING HEROD. THE MAN WHO TRIED TO KILL CHRISTMAS

SCRIPTURE: Read Matthew 2:1, Matthew 7-8, Matthew 16-18

He is known as, Herod “The Great”. He was a bad man, cruel, and evil. Let me give you a little background.

He was born in the desert of Sinai, a descendant of Abraham, through Esau.  He and his people were known as Edomite Jews, because they were forced to convert to Judaism by the Maccabees who let a revolt that freed Judea from Syrian rule.

The world was in turmoil. In Rome, Brutus and Cassius had murdered Julius Caesar. Then in the struggle for power, Cassius was defeated by Mark Antony, who was killed by Octavian- who later became known as Caesar Augustus, the first ruler of the newly named Roman Empire.

Herod’s father, Antipater allied himself with the Roman leadership and was named ruler of Judea. Herod was a young soldier, charismatic, adept with a javelin and bow. He was sent to Rome to build friends among key Roman leaders. Later he was sent to become the governor of Galilee. He proved his alliance with Roman by brutally crushing a local Jewish rebellion. Herod became and expert and “playing both ends against the middle”.

After Herod’s father was poisoned, Rome named him the ruler of Judea. Herod had several wives to solidify political ties, but his favorite was Mariamne. He loved her insanely and was passionately jealous.  However he had her brother killed, after appointing him as high priest, which Mariamne asked him to do. Herold had him drowned within a year after the appointment. Mariamne then accused Herod of hilling both her brother and grandfather. Herod’s sister, Salome, told him that Mariamne was having an affair with one of his uncles, so he had her executed.

Herod was brutal. He wanted absolute control. He would pacify most of the Jewish people under his rule by allowing them to worship their God in the Temple, instead of worshipping Caesar. However in return, he pacified Rome by demanding a huge temple tax, then sending that vast wealth to Rome. He kept the international trade routes open.

Herod was also a great builder. He built a second Temple with a solid gold altar, imported marble walls and a beautiful “heavenly” blue ceiling.  The Temple was so magnificent that millions of Jews scattered all over the Mediterranean, returned to worship and admire. This is the temple that Jesus visited. It was destroyed along with Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70. He also built a gold Roman eagle for Rome, and placed it at the temple entrance. Some of the Jews because angry and tor the eagle down because it was a sacrilege. Herod had these men captured, placed in chains, dragged thirteen miles from Jerusalem to Jericho, and burned alive. ( Is this where Clint Eastwood comes in?)

Herod was so full of himself, he even built a mountain. Yep, over two thousand feet high, near Jerusalem. Then he put a palace on top of it.  He also built the great Western Wall as part of the temple complex, the ruins of which today is known as the Wailing Wall. It was the size or 150 football fields and took 10 years to build.  Herod also built a huge seaport called it Caesarea. Many amphitheaters for Greek and Roman games and theaters.

Suspicion, fear, brutality and jealousy ruled Herod’s life.  At the age of seventy, and after ruling for nearly 40 years, he met the Wiseman.

We all that story. We will read more about that story another week.  At the time Jesus was born, Herod the Great was a mad plagued with illness and incessant family issues involving his ten wives and fifteen children.  According to Josephus, Herod’s illness grew steadily worse, complicated by high fever, intolerable itching and inflammation of the abdomen. However his temperament and ruthlessness intensified. Obsessed and paranoid, he had another son executed, Antipater, son of his wife Doris.

When he realized his own death was near, Herod ordered the arrest of all the leading citizens of all the villages. They then were to be slaughtered at the moment of the king’s death- thus tears would be shed and the nation would be plunged into mourning, even if not for him.  However his sister Salome countermanded the order and all were later released.

Historians say that Herod was a godless man, reckless, willing to slay young or old, relative, friend, or enemy and show no mercy.. Over the centuries Herod has become a symbol of evil.  We may rather want to forget that he is part of the Christmas story. But we need to keep Herod in Christmas to remind us how desperately we need a Savior in this evil world.

Ponder for a moment your knowledge of evil. Let you memory focus on history. 911 for example.  Thinks about evil in the world and consider the following questions.

REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1)    Where do you think evil comes from? How does it invade the human heart? What stimulates evil, increasing its power?

2)    Where, in your own life, have you experienced evil hurting you, damaging your health, your family, and your resources?

3)    In your inner life, where do Jesus the Savior and Herod the evil one do battle? Where are the secret seeds of sin in your heart that sometimes bursts forth like weeks in spring?

4)    How do you allow Jesus the Savior to help you defeat sin in your life? How do you make amends or obtain forgiveness? How does Jesus change a person’s heart from evil to good?

NEXT WEEK “LET'S KEEP THE WISE MEN IN CHRISTMAS”