Day 19

King Herod the Great appears in Matthew’s Gospel as the King of Judea, residing in his palace in Jerusalem. The magi go first to Herod and although he directs the magi to Bethlehem, he is already plotting how to rid himself of a new threat to his throne.

Scripture and history agree on Herod’s brutal nature. He was not averse to ‘removing’ members of his family who got in the way.  Matthew in his Gospel chooses to portray him as a tyrant, creating a deliberate contrast between the worldly image of kingdom which is about dominion power and paranoia and the Kingdom of Peace, that the newborn child has come to inaugurate. Let us reflect on the nature of power and on the powerful, for the lesson of Scripture is that dominion seduces, but does not satisfy.