Herod’s Rage

Matthew 2:13-23

¹³Now when they [the wise men] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”

¹⁴And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt

¹⁵and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁶Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.

¹⁷Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

¹⁹But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

²⁰saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”

²¹And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.

²³And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

 

At the time Jesus is born, the ruler of the Jewish people was Herod the Great. Below, I’ve cited a paragraph by D.A. Carson that describes this man and why he would be motivated to go on a murderous rampage when threatened by the birth of the Messiah.

“Herod the Great, as he is now called, was born in 73bc and was named king of Judea by the Roman Senate in 40bc. By 37bc he had crushed, with the help of Romans forces, all opposition to his rule. Son of the Idumean Antipater, he was wealthy, politically gifted, intensely loyal, an excellent administrator, and clever enough to remain in the good graces of successive Roman emperors. His famine relief was superb and his building projects (including the temple, begun in 20bc) admired even by his foes. But he loved power, inflicted incredibly heavy taxes on the people, and resented the fact that many Jews considered him a usurper. In his last years, suffering an illness that compounded his paranoia, he turned to cruelty in fits of rage and jealousy killed close associates, his wife Mariamne (of Jewish descent from the Maccabeans), and at least two of his sons.” (D.A. Carson. Matthew. P 86)

The juxtaposition of King Herod the tyrant and the birth of the True King, Jesus the Christ is the most outstanding feature of this part of the story. This humble Child born where the animals live comes with in peace and quiet strength. While Herod rages, the angels proclaim the victory of God born in a Baby. And of course the ultimate victor is the Lord God as He simply warns Joseph to take his family safely out of Herod’s reach. Mary and Joseph never even have to wonder what to do about the fact that the king is murdering babies in Bethlehem. Before they know they have a problem, God has solved it for them. Perhaps He does that for us too – we’re just too busy to notice.