If Momma ain't happy

If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

 

Do you know this old saying? I think it is always good to remember.  Some folks' unhappiness has a way of being spread around.

So it was with Herod - King Herod - in Jerusalem.  Herod came from a line of rulers who were known for their ruthlessness.  Making Herod unhappy (any of the Herods) was dangerous business.

So what were the Wise Men thinking?  This faux pas alone raises a question as to how wise they really were.  They stepped right into Herod's palace and inquired about the birth of the King of the Jews.  No wonder  "When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him"  Matthew 2.3

I expect that King Herod thought there was a new king in the making - one who would grow in power until he competed with Herod, power to power, winner take all.  The fact that this newborn was to be King of the Jews only shifted Herod's concern from the rise of a Roman competitor to a possible leader of a revolution....and, might I paraphrase, When Herod wasn't happy, no one was happy.  Lots of young boys paid the price for Herod's fear, a fear that would grip another Herod 30 years later when confronted with the grown Jesus. 

In the end, both Herods were sure they had won this confrontation with an erstwhile 'King'.  Neither understood the kind of power Jesus held - the power of love which knows no bounds, which is willing to lay down its life for the sake of the other.

Herod might have had control of the palace.  Jesus reigns eternally from a greater throne.  Herod had good reason to be nervous; his time was indeed running out.