Luke 23:8-11
When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him; then he put an elegant robe on him, and sent him back to Pilate.
Herod cracks me up. I know I shouldn’t say it quite that way. Herod is something of a rather brutal character. He’s not Herod “the Great” – which is an unbelievably misplaced moniker given that this Herod ordered the slaughter of the innocents and killed many of his own family as well. That was his father. This Herod is Herod Antipas, the one who divorced his wife in order to marry his brother’s wife and arrested and executed John the Baptist when John criticized his behavior.
So Herod is not exactly a funny character. But still, I can’t help but laugh I bit when I read of his role in the story. He seems to me like one of those unbelievably wealthy celebrities who, detached from anything remotely resembling a normal life and surrounded only by the trappings of his own opulence and power, develops a profound sense of ennui – the utter inability to find anything of interest in life. What can you possible want when you can have anything you want? And so I imagine Herod is bored, bored crazy with no end in sight to his dissatisfying life. Maybe that’s why he arrested John, not simply to appease his new wife – with whom, knowing Herod, he had probably already grown tired – but for the sheer diversion of conversation with a man who didn’t fear him.
It seems like the same thing happens here. Herod is delighted at the prospect of meeting Jesus. He’s heard about him. He’s even heard he does miracles. Maybe he’ll do a miracle for Herod. Maybe he’ll do the miracle of drawing Herod from the listless and apathetic life that has trapped him into something more meaningful, something worth living for. At the very least, Herod will have a diversion, and, if he’s lucky, perhaps something more.
But Jesus isn’t there to play games; he’s not there to entertain the bored ruler. He’s on a mission and, not to be distracted, he remains silent through the questions. His opponents continue to harass and accuse him, yet he says nothing. Eventually Herod, determined to have some sport from him, mock and deride him, but all to no avail, as he defies their taunts in silence. So Herod sends him back to Pilate in defeat.
You know, on thinking about it more I want to change what I said earlier about Herod. He doesn’t crack me up any more. Instead, I rather pity him. He is, from one point of view anyway, a tragic figure. You see, Herod has a profound need – for meaning, for purpose, for something – anything – genuine in his life. And I think if he’d managed to name his need honestly and asked Jesus, Jesus would have given him a life worth leading. But sometimes you have to ask. And Herod just couldn’t.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to ask – to ask you, to ask others, to ask ourselves – for what we need that we may receive it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: from The Brick Testament.
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