Herod On Trial

I read the true story of a detective was investigating a church burglary. He questioned a likely suspect who wouldn’t admit to the crime. Finally, the preacher of the church stepped forward and asked to speak to the suspect alone. Within minutes, the preacher turned to the detective and gave him the name of the pawnshop where the stolen items could be found. The detective was amazed. “How did you do that?” he asked. The preacher smiled and said: “Well, I told him you could send him to jail, but I could send him to hell.” (Reader’s Digest 4/99 p. 118 by Lisa Hensley)

The thief’s confession depended on the power of WHO was passing judgment. It was just the Detective he could only send the man to jail. But if it was God passing judgment, then the thief might end up in hell. In our story today, we’re reading about a trial where Jesus had been sent to Herod Antipas to be “put on trial.” But it was really Herod who was on trial before Christ.

Now, Herod was a powerful man in that region. He was called a Tetrarch – and he was kind of like a governor of a region that was controlled by Rome. And Herod ruled that region during the entire life of Jesus, from 4 B.C. to 39 A.D.

Now what’s odd about this “trial” was that virtually nothing happened. It such a “BLAH” part of the Gospel story that I couldn’t find many sermons about it on the internet; and even artwork about the trial was bland. BUT – as with all parts of Scripture – there’s something powerful here if you just take the time to examine it.

Now, the first thing to consider is this: WHO IS HEROD? Well, frankly, there were a bunch of Herods in history. Herod the Great (for example) was the ruler in Jerusalem who had all the children of Bethlehem – under the age of 2 - murdered in an effort to destroy Jesus. That Herod… was the father of the Herod of our story. And the Herod of our story today well his apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. He was a weak, evil and selfish man… just like his dad. And it was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, that had had John the Baptist beheaded.

But now - why is THAT HEROD so important to our story today? Well, after Herod had John the Baptist executed, Jesus began known for his miracles. As news of Jesus’ ministry began to spread - Herod Antipas became afraid Him. He feared that JESUS WAS John the Baptist risen from the dead and he became fascinated with Christ and desired to see Him. But ultimately Herod began to fear Jesus and his ministry and even threatened to have Jesus killed.

And NOW - in our story today - Herod is giving Pilate political cover by joining in the physical abuse and the mocking of Christ. Pilate and Herod represented the secular authorities who were aligned against Jesus. And, in Acts 4:24-28, the church realized that both Herod and Pilate were fulfillments of a prophecy from Psalm 2:1-2

"Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’ (Psalms 2:1-2)— for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” Acts 4:24-28

In other words, what we just read about here in Luke 23 was all part of God’s plan.

But again, the question is - why Herod? Wasn’t Pilate enough of a villain in the story? Well, Pilate was the ruler who represented the Gentiles, and Herod represented the “peoples of Israel.”

In Luke 23, we’re told that “The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing (Jesus). And Herod with his soldiers treated (Jesus) with contempt and mocked him” (Luke 23:10-11). The Jewish leaders joined with Herod in their contempt of Jesus. And so Herod put his stamp of approval on the crucifixion of Christ.

You know, there are people who raise A QUESTION about this – and they ask: Who was responsible for Jesus being crucified? Was it the Jews, or was it the Romans who were at fault?

On an internet site called Quora.com, a Jewish woman responded to that question: “The Romans were the ones who actually did it. The Jews were living under Roman rule and had no political or legal power to execute anyone. The Romans on the other hand, governed in accordance with Roman law and had the power to condemn and execute anyone they thought was a criminal or a threat to Roman authority.