The Threat of Glory

First Sunday after the Epiphany, Matthew 2:1-12

The magi were merely supporting characters in the drama that resulted in Herod’s death, the so called King of the Jews. The band of scholars comes into the scene knocking on doors and peeking through windows, looking for the newborn King of the Jews. They followed a star, which by anyone’s standards was …shall we say, pretty generic guidance. But their obedience to that sense or feeling or fleeting idea lead them to a more secure and definite certainty: The Word of God. It is the Word of God that will be obeyed as the ultimate authority over God’s people always. The episode turns a tad ironic when Herod, the King of the Jews, becomes the actual announcer of the Word of God to the seekers. You see, to begin with, King Herod was hardly a Jew. This Roman appointee had just enough Jewish ancestry to allow the Jews to think they had a king “of their own.” Furthermore, the message he relates to the magi clearly places him on subordinate grounds in relation to this new king that has been born according to the will of God and as announced by the prophets. Herod’s announcement is equivalent to having a president announce his own coup d’état.

Herod as a preacher of the truth is an odd, odd picture. After the assassination of Ceasar and subsequent civil war Herod enjoyed the goodwill of Antony. When the Parthians invaded Syria and Palestine and set the Hasmonean Antigonus on the throne of Judea (40-37 BC) the Roman senate, advised by Antony and Octavian, gave Herod the title “King of the Jews”. It took him three years of fighting to make his title effective, but when he had done so he governed Judea for thirty three years as a loyal “friend and ally” of Rome (See The New Bible Dictionary: Herod). But both Cleopatra and the Hasmonean family kept him on his toes. He eventually got rid of all his Hasmonean detractors one by one through cunning murder. He is also famous for having executed many of his children on grounds of subversion and treason. He eventually got rid of all his detractors one by one through cunning murder. He is also famous for having executed many of his children on grounds of subversion and treason. The story told by Matthew portrays well the duplicitous personality of Herod’s suspicious mind.

Matthew's narrative unapologetically presents Herod under the light of Torah memories of Egypt's pharaoh in the book of Exodus. His crazy slaughter of the infants (Mt. 2:16) is consistent with the historical evidence of what we know about Herod elsewhere. Even though his life was marked by military vigor, able administration, lavish building projects and keen diplomacy, Herod will be forever remembered as a paranoid, insecure murderer. But the Magi, following a different authority, don’t seem bothered by Herod’s reputation. Did they realize how offensive a mention of the newborn King of the Jews would be to him? In this encounter the tables are turned and the scheming ruler becomes naïve while the seekers become truly wise: “Bethlehem, Judea” is the brief Word. Herod was over 70 years old. And from this side of history we know that this encounter was one last call for repentance and faith. God, in the unfolding drama of salvation, takes time to invite Herod to his table of grace. Herod, evidently, refused. He died only months later (Mt 2:19).

There are times when our best laid plans intersect with the perfect will of God. Contrary to popular misinformation, these occasions are rarely a cloud-and-rainbow experience. They are more customarily disorienting, terrifying moments when the threat of glory humbles our pride and pronounces a verdict that expects our confession and repentance. The will of God requires that my vane plans be displaced, that I admit wrongdoing; that I repent.  Jesus said:  “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters (Mt 12:30).” May we find the grace to yield our lives to Christ when the threat of glory approaches.

Pastor Alejandro Sotres