This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 5.30pm.
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father,
and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Herod with his soldiers treated [Jesus] with contempt
and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to
Pilate.
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus,
bless all of us with your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to all
of us that we may hear well. Amen.
In our mid-week series this
year, we are going to be looking at those things which happened to Jesus just
before he was crucified. Tonight we’re going to be looking at the event where
Jesus was sent to Herod. Next week, we’re going to be looking at the event
where Pilate offers Jesus’ freedom to the crowd, alongside a notorious criminal
called Barabbas. Over the last three weeks, we will be reading about Jesus
being scourged, and sentenced, and then led on his way to the cross.
So let’s look at our text for
tonight.
So far in the history of Jesus’
suffering and death, Jesus has been arrested and he has been interrogated by
the High Priests, Annas and Caiaphas, and now he has been brought before
Pontius Pilate, who was the Roman governor. Judea, at that time, had been
conquered by the Romans, and one of the ways in which Romans exercised control
over people was to take away the people’s right to sentence a person to death.
So if the Jewish people wanted to sentence Jesus, they had to bring him to
Pilate—and this is what had happened.
Pilate by this stage found
himself in a very awkward position, because he had questioned Jesus, and
couldn’t find a reason for sentencing him to death. On the one hand, the Jewish
priests and the crowd were adamant that Jesus was a criminal, but Pilate
couldn’t work it out. On one hand, he was under tremendous pressure from the
Jewish leaders and the crowd, but also the case wasn’t clear to him either.
This is where we’re up to in
the historical order of things. So tonight we’re going to look at our text in
four different parts:
I.
Why did Jesus end up being sent to Herod?
II.
Who is this Herod, and why was he in Jerusalem?
III.
How did Herod treat Jesus?
IV.
What came about as a result of this event?
So may the Holy Spirit
enlighten us this evening as we listen to his word. Amen.
I. Why did Jesus end up being sent to Herod?
Just before our reading
begins in Luke 23:5, we read at the beginning of our chapter where Pilate had
been talking to Jesus, and then went out to the crowds, and said: I
find no guilt in this man. Now for the Jewish priests and the crowds,
this was a real blow to their cause. They were dead set on making sure that
Jesus was sentenced to death. They had carefully planned it—they had paid Judas
to betray him, they had arrested him, they had questioned him, and they weren’t
about to be made fools of now—there was no turning back. Could you imagine what
they must have thought when Pilate comes out and declares Jesus to be innocent?
They must have been furious!
So they brought something
more for Pilate to consider. We read: But they were urgent, saying, “He
stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this
place.”
What do they mean by this?
What wrong are they accusing Jesus of now? They said: He stirs up the
people. Obviously, we see that these people here themselves are
stirred up! But this is not really what they meant! They are accusing Jesus of
creating unrest, of causing a revolution. We see in the Gospels many times
where Jesus simply teaches people the word of God, calls them to repentance,
and where he goes around and heals people and comforts them. How did the
priests say that Jesus was stirring people up? Simply by teaching!
Now funnily enough, on the face of it, you wouldn’t necessarily expect this
kind of thing to stir people up, but in fact it does. You might
remember how Jesus went to Nazareth, and the people tried to push him off a
cliff. And then you probably remember how John the Baptist, when he went around
preaching, was locked up and finally beheaded. People were stirred up!
But then if you read the Book of Acts, we read about the apostles going out
everywhere, and people were sometimes very much stirred up,
even to the point of rioting! When Paul and Silas were in
Thessalonica, they were accused of turning the world upside
down. And even Paul says about himself: Five times I received at
the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with
rods. Once I was stoned…
Now what do we make of all
this? Because every culture and every people and every society and every family
and even every individual is completely corrupted by sin, the call to
repentance and the gift of the forgiveness of sins really do turn the world
upside down, because these things are from God himself. So many people who are
converted to Christianity later in life often find themselves thinking that
their whole lives have been turned upside down.
Now one thing that the Jewish
priests mentioned is not just the fact that Jesus was stirring people up, but
that he was teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this
place. All of a sudden, Pilate’s ears prick up and he says to himself:
Galilee, you say?
We read: When Pilate
heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. Why did he ask
this question, do you think? Because there was a Roman law that said that if
you were on trial you had to be tried by the person in charge of your own
province. So if Jesus was from Galilee, then Pilate would be off the hook. He
would simply send him off to the tetrarch of Galilee.
So we read: And when
he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod,
who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.
And Pilate must have thought:
Boy, that’s a load off my mind! It saves him making a decision. He passes the
buck down the line. He tries to shrug off his responsibilities and actually
making a statement under a pretext. “It’s not my department!”, he says. So
often when it comes to us thinking about hard questions for our life and for
our faith, we often pass the buck and take the easy way out, to avoid having to
take a stand. It’s easy to put on a show—but it’s not easy when we find that we
have to take a stand. But even in the face of all this human weakness, Jesus
knows exactly what he is doing, and he stands firm for us. He is passed around,
fobbed off, but he is standing still. The world may carry on and swirl and
twirl around Jesus, but Jesus—our Saviour—stands still and he holds his ground.
And thank God that he does, because he is the solid rock on which our faith is
built.
This now brings us to our
second question:
II. Who is Herod, and why was he in Jerusalem?
When we read about the birth
Jesus we come across a King Herod, who was also known as Herod the Great. He
was the one who tried to trick the wise men from the east into telling him
where the baby Jesus was, and pretended to them that he wanted to come and
worship him too. Also, in his rage, he killed all the baby boys in Bethlehem,
to make sure that Jesus was wiped out.
The Herod in our reading
today is actually King Herod’s son, also known as Herod Antipas. Herod’s family
is also descended from the Edomites, who are the descendants of Esau. You might
remember all the way back to the book of Genesis, where Jacob tricks his twin
brother Esau. Esau first of all sells his birthright for a bowl of soup, and
then Jacob pretends to be Esau before his blind father Isaac, and takes away
his blessing. Isaac then says to Esau: Behold, away from the fatness of
the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By
your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow
restless you shall break his yoke from your neck. Right from this
time, there is a conflict between the tribe of Jacob, the tribe of Israel, and
also the tribe of Esau. We read in Genesis 27: Now Esau hated Jacob
because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. In some
sense, this hatred continues to rise and flare up all throughout history, and
this is what happens in our reading today, when Jesus is brought before Herod.
Jesus is from the tribe of Jacob, and Herod is from the tribe of Esau.
We also know something about
this Herod in our reading from the time when he had had John the Baptist
beheaded, because he had made a silly promise to his daughter in the presence
of his guests at his birthday party.
Now the reason why Herod was
in Jerusalem was because it was common for people from all over the place to
come to Jerusalem for the Passover. It is probably the case that this is also
the reason why Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at this time.
This now brings us to our
next topic:
III. How does Herod treat Jesus?
This is what we read about
what happened to Jesus, when he was in Herod’s house: When Herod saw
Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had
heard about him. Herod is a strange, twisted man. He’s a man who likes
a show, he likes a display, but when his conscience gets in the way then he
swats it like a fly. For example, it says that Herod feared John, knowing
that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And yet,
when he promises up to half of [his] kingdom to Herodias’s
daughter, we read the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his
oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. Hmm! -- You
wouldn’t want to break your word to a spoilt teenager when she oversteps the
line, but beheading a prophet, that’s OK! This is Herod.
Also, we read that when Herod
heard about what Jesus was doing, he said, John, whom I beheaded, has
been raised. Herod had thought that Jesus was John the Baptist come
back from the dead. What a bad conscience he must have had! He knew he had
killed a holy man, and so he thinks that Jesus must be John come back from the
dead to wreak some revenge on him.
And yet, when Jesus is
brought before him, we read: He was very glad. Actually, Herod
had liked John too. We read: When [Herod] heard [John], he was greatly
perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. On one hand, he knew John was
right, but he wasn’t prepared to break up his unlawful marriage to his
brother’s wife, Herodias. He was afraid of the consequences.
It says that Herod had long
desired to see Jesus, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see
some sign done by him. Jesus had performed many signs: He had healed
the blind, made the deaf hear, made the mute speak, made the lame to walk and
had raised the dead. But those things weren’t simply things to show off, but
Jesus had compassion on those people themselves and wanted to comfort them and
heal them and send them away rejoicing. What about Herod? Well, he wanted to
turn everything into a magic trick show. Did he want Jesus to turn some water
into wine for him? Did he bring in a leper which he had prepared earlier, and
get Jesus to whip up some soft smooth baby skin for him?
So you see how twisted this
is? Jesus isn’t a circus clown. He isn’t in the entertainment industry. This is
also how the devil tempts Jesus in the wilderness. He says to him: If
you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread. What’s
the point of that? The same goes with Herod. It’s almost as if he says: Now
that you’re here, Jesus, if you’re the Son of God, can you do a back-flip off
my garbage-bin?
It all sounds so ridiculous
when put like this, but many of us are not far from treating Jesus like this
ourselves. For example, how many people go for years and years without prayer,
or pray in a sanctimonious kind of way, but then one day something happens and
they go to Jesus and say, “Are you really there? If you are there, can you do a
back-flip for me?” And boy, do we get angry when Jesus doesn’t perform the
miracle that we wanted. Jesus knows what we need even before we ask him.
Or what about church? Why do
we come? Do we treat Jesus like a performing seal at Sea-World, doing clever
tricks? Do we come to church expecting entertainment, and a Sunday morning
thrill? Do we come expecting an emotional high, a spiritual rush, a
mountain-top faith experience? All of this closes our ears to the word of God, and
to the wonderful truths that Jesus wants to speak to us, and that he wants us
to learn. He is not here to perform for us; he is here to save us, and to
forgive us, and finally, after this life, to rescue us from this sinful life
and take us to live with himself forever.
Do you see now what happens
with Herod? So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.
The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him.
Jesus is innocent. He has
nothing to answer. And he will not throw his pearls to the swine. He will not
give what is holy to the dogs. His shame is our shame—he takes it upon himself
and he dies for it.
We see then the Herod goes a
step further. When he doesn’t get the sign that he wants, he turns nasty. He
calls in his soldiers—he bolsters his weakness with some strong men, against a
man who has already been beaten and blindfolded. We read: Herod with
his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in
splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.
Here’s the amazing thing…
what Herod does to Jesus is done out of mockery and contempt: he clothes his in
one of his royal robes. And yet what he doesn’t recognise is that the man who
stands before him really is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
This Jesus really is the king of glory. The intent is wrong, the
action is true. He really is a king, and though they don’t recognise it, the
angels do. Herod and the soldiers mock, the angels bow in adoration. Herod is
playing dress-ups, but Jesus is for real.
Jesus wears our sin, our
guilt and our shame. He takes it on himself. Jesus stands before God in his
suffering and death wearing the garment of our sin. And all this he does so
that when we stand before God, we stand before him wearing the garment of his
righteousness, given to us in Holy Baptism. He covers us completely over. We
read in Psalm 32: Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered. Isaiah 61:10 says: He has covered me
with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest
with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her
jewels. What a wonderful thing this is that Jesus does for us!
This brings us to our last
question:
IV. What came about as a result of this event?
We read in verse 12 of this
chapter: And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very
day, for before this they had been an enmity with each other.
In Psalm 2, we read some very
well-known words: Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed.
Here we see the governor,
Pilate, and the tetrarch, Herod, and the chief priests all working together
against Jesus. Even Pilate and Herod become friends as a result! In Acts 4, we
read about when the first Christians prayed together about this very
fact: 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 people of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your
plan had predestined to take place.
But also, we learn from this
that the purpose of Christianity is not simply to make friends. Other people
know how to make friends too. Other people can reconcile with one other and it
doesn’t make them Christians. There are many people who unite together against
Christ. It’s amazing how opposition to Jesus can draw all kinds of unlikely
people together.
But in the church, we are drawn
together around Jesus and his word. And this is the thing that draws us
together—the friendships that we develop in the church come from this. We also
need to be careful that we don’t make friendships—even in the
church!—in opposition to God’s word and against Jesus.
So as we consider all these
things tonight in our reading, let’s look to Jesus, who is the Lamb of God who
remained silent, like a lamb before its shearers. Let’s thank him for his
wonderful patience as he bore the weight of the world’s sin and our sin. Let’s
thank him for having freely taken on the garment of our shame, and for giving
us the robe of his righteousness, the gift of baptism and faith. And no matter
how many friendships the world may make with each other, let us ask Jesus to draw
us ever closer into friendship with him, as he teaches us, just as he did so
long ago throughout all Judea, from Galilee and even to
this place here today.
Lamb of God, you take away
the sin of the world—have mercy on us! Amen.
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