Homily

In today's gospel, we see the scheming King Herod the Great, who is not exactly what we think of as king. Like his father before him, he was put in this position by the Romans, and he could easily be removed as king by the Romans as well. He did have a fair amount of power over Judea, but he had to be careful not to upset his master in Rome. There was also the problem of his own family; his sister Salome, three of his sons, and some others were all in competition for his throne which produced a wave of assassinations and executions, especially near the end of his life. One of the last public acts Herod carried out was the execution of his own son. He had already killed two other sons. There was no Merry Christmas in the Herod palace. Herod managed to keep the peace in Israel while he was governing, and he built a number of impressive and magnificent buildings. But he was also known for his cruelty. He had the temple in Jerusalem completely and beautifully renovated, but he was Jewish in name only. He also built three temples to Caesar Augustus as a god.

It's no surprise that he wants the Magi to tell him where this newborn king of the Jews could be found. Herod would deal with this little threat the same way he took care of any threat to his power. He had a lot of experience in putting people to death, and when he cannot find the exact child he's looking for, because the Magi do not return to tell him, it is nothing for Herod to order the murders of dozens of baby boys in the region of Bethlehem. He might as well have been a pagan, because we can't find any hint that a faith in God played any part in his personal life, nor in his public life. Instead, he relied on his own power to stay in control even if it meant killing off his own family members who obviously didn't love him any more than he loved them. And I think, what kind of life was that? There was power in his hands to do good, but those hands were frequently stained with the blood of the innocent. The only lasting good he left behind was some fine architecture, but even his magnificent temple in Jerusalem would not last for 100 years, and his own Roman masters would be the ones to tear it down. Herod had every opportunity to hear and obey the Law and the Prophets, but he had his plans, his own goals, his own ideas about what makes for a good life. He had an amazing opportunity to see Someone whose birth was foretold by all the prophets, a child Who would be the Savior of Israel, the Savior of all peoples, the very Son of God, the Lord of heaven and earth. And what is Herod's response to this opportunity? Kill Him. It is the same plan that many others put into action some 30 years later. They see what Jesus does, they hear what He says, they know what kind of person He is, and their response to Him is the same as Herod's: "Kill Him. We don't want Him, we don't want his message, we hate Him, we want Him dead, gone, and out of our lives."

And so, the great king massacres the little children of Bethlehem.

Certainly none of us here are like this. None of us are haters of Christ. But does that make us great lovers of Christ? It's rather sobering for me to think that even though I many not have the blood-thirsty desires of Herod and many of the leading religious figures in Jesus' time, I am not totally different from them. I sometimes wish I had complete power over my own life, and I try to practice and exercise what power I have many, many times every day instead of placing myself humbly in the service of the King Who will only ever ask me to do what will be good for me. And I'm often afraid to give Him that kind of loving obedience, because many times I'm afraid to trust Him. I spoke about fear last night and now also today because while we all have our fears but maybe we don’t always think about how we react to them.

Despite all I know about my personal weaknesses, my limited abilities, my lack of understanding, my utter frailty as a human being, I still find it so difficult to genuinely surrender myself into the hands of my Lord and my God. So in that way I am not totally different than Herod the Great, or the Pharisees and scribes who refused to hand over any power over their own lives to Jesus; because even though I love the Lord, I'm afraid to love Him too much, to obey Him too much, to trust Him too much, because who knows what might happen if I completely surrender myself to Him. Right? He might ask me to give away my 401K plan and move to Dexter and live in a cave like all of them do.

I've asked myself the question, "If I knew my future and what would happen to me for the rest of my life, would I still be afraid?" I think the answer is a definite "yes." The only difference is that now, instead of being afraid of the unknown, I'd be afraid of what I knew. Herod was afraid, and that fear seemed to run throughout his life. He died unloved by his people and even by his family. The only cure for our fears, our restlessness, our weariness is Jesus Christ, and He is the lasting and eternal answer to every evil and hardship in life, and He is also the source of every grace, every love, every blessing. May we strive to love Him more, so that we may not fear placing ourselves more completely under His loving control. He came to earth for us, let us go to Him in prayer today.