Luke 9:7-9
First his cousin is killed in cold blood and now the murderer is looking for him. Makes a guy want to go low key, especially for one that tends to downplay his own message anyway. But Jesus just keeps going forward with his plan.
Funny how Luke drops this news right in between Jesus sending out the Twelve and feeding the five thousand. Makes you wonder if he cut and pasted at the wrong point in his word processing document. No, it is a reminder that a) Jesus is very focused on his mission, b) there are subplots from political and religious leaders ever attempting to thwart that mission and c) these separate paths are soon to meet center stage in all of human history.
Herod, the pseudo-king of Galilee, had had John killed on a whim and now he is hearing that John is back from the dead. Rumors being rumors, there are others saying that this back-from-the-dead John is actually Elijah or another prophet come back to life. Regardless, the stories all focus on this new prophet on the scene, Jesus, whose own followers are just now fanning out all over Herod’s territory stirring up good.
But anything good or bad that is stirring up is not a good thing for a puppet king, whose main role is to keep the peace at all cost Roman-style. Moreover, this new guy, Jesus, is conjuring up bad, old memories of John the Baptist. Herod had had the last word with John, yet somehow with John even death didn’t quite feel like the final statement.
John had accused Herod of stealing his own brother’s wife, which, while true, was not the kind of preaching Herod favored. And so he’d had John thrown in prison. Then in a moment of romantic, lust-filled interplay between Herod, that brother’s wife and that wife’s daughter, John’s head had wound up being served on a silver platter to the daughter. The last thing Herod wanted was to be reminded of that messy affair. After all, John was a nuisance, but he was also very popular with the common people.
And now someone very much like John, who probably even looked like John, being cousins, is building a people movement in Herod’s own back yard. No doubt, Herod is starting to feel a little paranoid. So, Luke writes, Herod tries so see this Jesus.
And that’s it. Except for a passing reference (Luke 13:31), we don’t hear any more of Herod in Luke’s story until Jesus is arrested and put on trial. But such passing references let us know that Herod’s obsession over this thing continues to grow.
As for Jesus, he isn’t disturbed by Herod’s obsession, but if he has to die, he prefers it not to be outside of Jerusalem, which that passing reference lets us know is where prophets are supposed to die, particularly this one. So, trusting Father on this matter, Jesus keeps right on with Plan A.
It takes a lot of confidence, a lot of trust to stick to what you know you are to do when all the world is abuzz about things that are inclined to distract you from what God has called you to do. For sure, Jesus was well set on doing what he knew in his heart his Father had commissioned him to do, regardless the winds blowing around him.
It is good for us to be reminded that “talk” is just that. Whatever the “news” abroad in any day and age, the messenger of God needs to know his own business and be about that business, something Jesus had understood from at least the age of twelve, something guys like Herod don’t get.
John’s ministry had been, in part, to confront Herod. Jesus’ ministry is quite different. Others may struggle over the difference, but Jesus doesn’t and John did only after he landed in prison, an anxiety in his cousin Jesus had worked to calm (John 7:18-23).
As for Herod, the guy who is king, he is unable to find Jesus. Seems strange when you think about it. After all, what else is a king good for, except to be in control of everything. Surely he ought to be able to find a guy who heals and feeds thousands. But Jesus isn’t hiding and he isn’t fleeing. Either Herod is waffling over this obsession – and probably losing a lot of sleep – or he is not sure the rumors are true about Jesus being John and he doesn’t want to make an even greater fool of himself.
Herod can not reconcile the various pieces of his life laid bare and blown large through John’s death. Jesus, without saying a thing, only augments that turmoil in Herod. But Herod’s struggle is not a direct concern of Jesus’. Jesus has people to bless, followers to train, and a destiny to pursue in far away Jerusalem. If Herod wants to interfere with those plans, that is Herod’s concern and not his. He has to be about his Father’s business.
