The Bad Guy
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I come that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 10:10
Our pastor gave us all a chuckle a couple weeks ago when he posted this on the big screen.
When it comes to movies, I'd be perfectly content if there was never an antagonist present. That is not real life though is it. Every story, every family, every neighborhood, every place of business and every classroom seem to have a bad guy rise up.
Herod, was definitely the for real bad guy at the time of Jesus' birth. Interesting that a figure of him is left out of our nativity scenes! But wait! He didn't bother to come to the scene of Jesus' birth. In addition to all the babies who were slaughtered, this man was a rampant murderer of anyone who seemed to be a threat to his rule. The long list includes his wife, his mother-in-law, and three of his own sons. He even had a plan in place to have all the elite leaders in Jerusalem killed upon news of his death so that people would go into mourning and it look like it was for his death. Bizarre. Fortunately, that decree was not carried out.
In researching Herod, I found there was little I wanted to share, its such a sad story of evil, but I did find myself wondering how he died. Honestly, I wanted it to be horrific. One commentary stated there is sufficiency and human restraint in Matthew's statement in Matthew 2:19 "But when Herod was dead..."
While our King reigns forever and ever, Herod, the bad guy, is dead. End of story. We serve a just God.
Our battles are not against flesh and blood, so let's remember to pray for our enemies and those who persecute us that they may fall in love with Jesus and be forever changed.
This eulogy by the 18 year old daughter of a recently slain Texas police officer is a lesson for us all.
The Song Glory Let There be Peace by Matt Maher
