Selfishness takes many forms. One of the most
destructive of those forms is the passive-aggressive manipulation of others. On
the scale most live their lives, we excuse that as mere office politics –
something we all experience, even if we don’t really like it. It’s true of
course that we are not all political animals, and we can do our level best to
avoid such ‘mind games’. Yet we all live in a fallen political world, and when
rulers and those in authority play ‘office politics’, lives and livelihoods are
at stake.
Herod had met the Magi
searching for the new king of the Jews. He had consulted with the chief priests
and teachers of the Jewish law, and found that Messiah was to be born in
Bethlehem. “Then
Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star
had appeared. He sent them to
Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you
find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” [1]
Here we see Herod’s true
character revealed. He calls them secretly, for he does not trust even his
closest advisors. He collects their knowledge – the exact time the star
appeared – so he can plan accordingly. He gives them what they are seeking (the
location of Messiah’s birth), but with a caveat topped with a lie. A most
offensive lie, for it’s subject is no less than God Himself! This is classic
fallen human behavior – a passive aggressive play with unwitting strangers
under the guise of the purest of motives. Herod opens his mouth and lies pour
forth. No doubt can remain as to who is Herod’s god. But while Herod is
revealed as a disciple of hell in these verses, we can also see God’s character
revealed.
For his part, Herod thought
to outsmart the ‘wise men of the east’ entirely by himself. All the while, God was outsmarting Herod in a
grand way. Herod called a secret meeting, and gave out secret orders. God had
his servants follow a very public star in a very public sky, and publically
enter the palace to make a public request. Herod hatched his diabolical plot,
when all this time the only thing holding him back from worship of God
incarnate is the intent of his own words. The occasion of meeting the Magi
might well have brought Herod into the presence of God. It might well have
allowed him to personally see the extent of God’s great love for all people.
Instead, Herod’s own sin cuts him off from God forever - his fallen nature put
out on display for everyone to know. Herod thought to play the Magi to the
advantage of his own twisted thinking. Instead, God providentially orchestrated
all, to the advantage of His own glory.
· Consider the
vileness of Herod’s deception, despite the innocence of his words. Search your heart that you might never do
likewise, and pray that God allow only that which intends to honor Him to flow
from our lips.
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