Herods Emotions

Good morning everyone....its so great see you all here this morning....This is the time when we send our kiddos to their classes, remember kids find me after class today and Ill have a treat if you can tell me about what you learned in Scripture, ok…Awesome little dude…go forth and enjoy Scripture in a way that makes sense to you! Of course we also want to welcome those of you that are joining us online…whether you are live, or later, we are humbled and honored that you have chosen to be a part of our extended spiritual family today, so we want to welcome you. Of course we want to invite you to connect with us online at leafriver.church and we would be happy to connect on a more personal basis if you would ever decide to do that.

Hey, I gotta tell you guys a story…When I was a kid a did some stuff i wasn’t supposed to do…I know thats a HUGE surprise isn’t it…no one expected those words to ever come out of my mouth. Anyway, sometimes, I would fall asleep in the living room when dad was watching TV and after he would go to sleep I would turn the channel to some movie that I was likely far to young to watch ok. This happened one time when I was young, and honestly I don’t remember if I fell asleep in the living room, or if I snuck back into the living room after mom and dad went to sleep, but either way, I was up late, which for me was like 10:30 or something because I was probably 7 or 8 years old, ok…So, I’m in the living room and I turned on the TV and on came a movie, and theres a few times this happened and so Ive been wrestling with which embarrassing story I wanted to tell you about ok....So, I guess I will go with Jaws…Jaws is not a terrifying film…unless you are a little child who doesn’t know how things work. So I watch Jaws, and now I have an irrational fear based on a faulty belief that sharks are everywhere…Folks, I grew up in Dallas…we didn’t have sharks outside of my house, ok…Well, I was afraid sharks were going to come through my bathtub if I took a bath. I wrongly believed that all water was the same and that the wall of the bathtub was somehow connected to the ocean where those evil sharks were, ok…you with me here…I remember when I was in like 5th or 6th grade, I STILL had this irrational fear because I had never learned the truth, and I went swimming at a friends house…Well I was terrified because they hadn’t cleaned the pool and so the water was black…kind of like the water from that movie I watched when i wa like 8 years old…Guys I just knew there was a shark in that pool that was going to eat me and my friend…and if there wasn’t…it was going to break through the wall at any moment. My fear led me to jump in, because I couldn’t look like a “scaredy-cat”, right? So, I would jump in and immediatly swim so hard and jump out so fast and my friend Isaac never understood why I was getting out of the water so fast…I just played it off like I wanted to jump again and then I was waste A-LOT of time…I was like, if you wanna get eaten dud…its your house man…

Isn’t it crazy what fear will cause you to do sometimes? Especially fear that is not based on reality…or fear that is based on false perception or false understanding…Fear that is based on not trusting in the truth…that can really mess you up can’t it? Well, listen…this morning we are continuing our series on the Emotions of Christmas and trying to answer the question Why do I feel the way I feel…You know sometimes I think the answer is because I don’t know what is true, right…like, maybe I misunderstand truth…Other times theres other reasons, but over the course of the next few weeks we’re going to look at these and try to determine why some of the characters in the Nativity story felt the way they felt, and maybe in understanding why they felt they way they felt, we will understand why we feel the way we feel…make sense? I hope so…However, in order to truly get started, I always feel it’s important for us to have a shared vocabulary, so this morning Im goign to just remind us about our vocabulary. When I talk about emotions…this is what I am talking about, ok. Emotions are subjective feelings, that can be either positive or negative, and subject to change.

Now that we are all on the same page there, we can just remind a little bit about how we have a desire to worship the Lord with our emotions. One really important thing that we talked about last week, and I think it bares repeating because it is soooo important, and frankly I talk to alot of people all week long, and so I just want to remind us all about this here... emotions are not meant to control, but to be controlled That means that if you are allowing your emotions to control your actions and beliefs at any moment, I want to encourage you to use those emotions as a temperature gage for your heart…Is your heart focused on the Lord…or is your heart focused on self? Are your emotions drawing you to Christ…focusing you on Christ…or focusing you on self? I was wronged…I’m hurt....I want…I need…I thought…I…I…I…

Now, I said that we were goign to be looking at the story of the Nativity through the eyes and the emotions of various characters that lived the story first hand…and that’s what we are going to do today…WE are going to start off this morning looking at

The Emotions of Herod

Now, if you don’t remember Herod the Great is the guy who was in charge of Bethlehem where Jesus was actually born, ok. Herod the Great was the King of that region. Now, we are going to be in Matthew 2, so Im going to ask you to go ahead and turn there while I tell you a little about who Herod is. I want to tell you about this because its actually pretty important to get to know the guy a little bit to understand why he reacted the way he did potentially.

So, Herod the Great was called “the Great”, not because he name was “the great”, but because he was actually a pretty amazing person it seemed like. He was a shrewd politician. Herod was also great as a soldier, a public speaker, and a builder. Look, much of Herod’s building projects are the backdrops for many of the Biblical stories that we read throughout the New Testament. By the age of 25 Herod was already a Governor of Galilee…that was impressive.

Herod set out improving relations with the Jews, spreading Hellenism, that is te Greek culture, very slowly…That would eb like us int he US saying we are spreading democracy…They were spreading Hellenism. He established a military composed of foreign soldiers, centralized his bureaucracy, and began building projects throughout the region. In 39BC he was crowned King of Judaea and reigned for 33 years. In his reign he pacified the Jews, while occupying their land as an invading force. He led peace and prosperity. he built and rebuilt forts, instituted games and began rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem.

Things didn’t stay so good for Herod though…See, later Herod began to grow in paranoia, he had much domestic strife within the land and misunderstandings with Rome, in other words, his bosses…This created more and more paranoia. Later his 10 wives and children began to cause more and more trouble…that kind of takes us into a mindset of where we are when we come into the story that we are going to read this morning ok…Let’s go ahead and read

Matthew 2:1–8 (ESV)

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”

and

Matthew 2:16 (ESV)

Then 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.

Ok, so this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this story…I know that…However, how many times have you paid attention to good old Herod here? Take a look at what we just learned about good old King Herod the Great. Herod was troubled…Actually, when I looked into this and translated this passage…I think a more accurate description would be that Herod was terrified. Now, a terrified King Herod is a scary King Herod. That is because a scared King Herod is dangerous. You see, I just told you about Herod kind of prior to alot of his paranoia…however, alot happened after all that set in. Herod is a power hungry tyrant. Herod was feared by his rivals because frequently they would just come up kind of no longer living…and not just his rivals, but his own family…His own wife’s brother Aristobulus was a HIgh Priest and was caused to stop breathing inside of the swimming pool in his palace. He put to death 46 members of the Sanhedrin. He killed his mother-in-law, as well as his own wife and two of their sons. Listen…Herod had become so feared that Augustus Ceasar has said it was better to be King Herod’s dog that one of his children…

Why was Herod this way…Earlier in life by all account he was well liked and he was growing in popularity…but things changed in his life didn’t it....Things changed and King Herod began to allow his emotions to control him, instead of controlling his emotions. So that is where we are and then the Wisemen show up to have a conversation with Herod. They tell him about this new King that they have searched for and they have found the signs that he was to be born and so they are looking for a little guidance. I mean, surely the local leadership would know what was going on, and where this child would be, right? Well…remember that Herod has grown increasing paranoid and a primary issue of paranoia for a ruler would be that someone is going to come and kill them and take their kingdom. Herod doesn’t want that, so this really cranks up his fear doesn’t it? Yeah…this is why he is terrified..This is me jumping out of the black water swimming pool because I am certain that a shark is in the water waiting to come up and eat me…Totally irrational, right…But to Herod, this was a clear and present danger.

How many times are you in clear and present danger? How many times are you so fearful about what is going on at home, or at work, or maybe its health or finances, you are just so scared and you don’t know what to do…Maybe you have been in a position where you have been laid off. I can remember, a job where I was laid off and I as terrified…I was called into the office and told, “Hey, we gotta let you go”…at that time, our housing was tied to my job, like directly, I now had 10 days to get a new job, and a new apartment…I was terrified. Isabel was a baby, Collin was a toddler, we didn’t have any family in the community we lived in…We were on our own and didn’t know what to do…I was terrified…What had I done to my family? Listen…we all have stuff going on don’t we? Maybe it’s finances…maybe its family relationships…maybe it’s illness…maybe its getting the house ready for all the family that will soon be coming over, or maybe something completely different…whatever it is, here is what I know to be true...

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

You might want to go ahead and circle that verse, or highlight it, or underline or something…we will likely be coming back to it frequently this month…It’s pretty important to this concept that we are going to be addressing here.

So what I know to be true is that whatever it is that you are facing that you are scared of…you aren’t the only one that has ever been scared of that thing…Well, except Im betting no one else was ever scared of my buddies black pool that had a great white shark in it… ;) The point stands though doesn’t it…That was an irrational fear…There are some things that are irrational fears…there are some things that are rational fears…you know, like lachanophobia, which is the fear of vegetables…totally rational.

For a moment though I want to ask you all to be honest with yourself…Think about that time, and maybe it’s now with Christmas coming up and you are scared of the emotions that you are going to have to face again this year because they are hard every... single... year…and now you’re gonna have to face them again. So, for a moment…I want to encourage you to write something down to God…take a moment while we are right here talking where you focus on God and you just quietly, you and God tell God that you’re afraid to deal with this stuff on your own. So here is my question that I want you to answer....Why am I troubled?

Now, let’s be clear a bit…Let’s turn our minds back to Herod for a moment ok. Why is Herod is terrified? Well, Herod has had this paranoia issue where he has begun believing he has enemies where he doesn’t. However, to be fair, in that time…the change in rulers is not a peaceful event. So it’s reasonable to be terrified if there is a reasonable challenge to the throne. However, the Wisemen have just come and told Herod about a child that was born who would one day be king of the Jews according to prophecies…Is this a clear and present danger that should cause Herod terror? I wouldn’t think so…It seems there is more going on here. You know we talked last week and we talked earlier about allowing our emotions to control us instead of us controlling our emotions. Well…this is a very clear case of Herod’s emotions controlling Herod, isn’t it. I mean, if Herod was in control, he would be able to analyze the threat, watch the family, and simply deal appropriately…Herod was so focused on his fear that he forgot what was true....but that happens pretty frequently to us if we’re honest, doesn’t it?

I mean, be honest with yourself right now…You answered the question about why you are troubled…now I want to ask you to answer this next question…Have I forgotten the promises of God? Or maybe I never have actually known those promises....Let me just tell you right now…if you want to know the promises of God…it’s really easy…you just gotta read his book of promises for yourself. Don’t rely on me to tell you all about it…don’t rely on some other pastor or teacher…you need to read for yourself. Listen, when it comes to your relationship with God…don’t trust anyone other than you and God…OK…I don’t plan on telling you anything false…but I could be wrong sometime…you’ll never know if you don’t read for yourself.

So what happens when you either don’t know the promises of God, or don’t trust in the promises of God and you are pressed with your fear? Well…let’s look at what Herod did for an pretty good example. First of all in verse 8 Herod sent these men off to go and find this new King. However, they didn’t come back like he told them to…That didn’t sit very well with good old Herod. That’s when his fear, turned into anger and Herod was furious. Actually…I want to open this up a little more because, the Greek is a little more nuance. Really language is nuanced isn’t it…So the translators translated that Herod became furious. Well, studied that a bit, and listen, they are way smarter than me, but there is some nuance here, and really what is going on is that this word ofr furious means “to be extremely angry, even to the point of being in a rage”. Rage…as in a rage where you are so hot that you can’t even think straight. Herod’s fear turned into rage. This is the rage that Herod had when he realized that the wisemen, who he thought were men who would obey him, didn’t. He is now furious, not just because there is a new King, that was a fear... but also because these men did not obey him. Actually the ESV says it well, It says that they tricked him, or actually made a fool of him. The way he sees it he is the highest authority in the land, and these travelers came through and just made a fool of him. He cannot let that stand.

What about you? When have you allowed your anger over a situation make you so mad that you were in a rage? What about this…When has my fear turned into anger? Have you ever been so focused on what you wanted and what you felt like you deserved to experience anger to the point of not thinking clearly when you didn’t get what you wanted? I know I have...

Well, this is what happened to Herod. Herod got so angry at Christmas that he could not think clearly. He went out and not only looked for Jesus, but he wanted to make sure he found Jesus, and make a statement that he is in fact in control of this region, not some “new king”. He sent out soldiers to kill all males under the age of 2 years old. He did this because he was so scared that he was angry. He did this because, even though he was actually a Jew, he did not listen to the Jewish beliefs and he was not looking for a Messiah, because he thought he was the messiah…see, he was so focused on himself and allowing his emotions control him that he was not able to turn to the Lord to worship the coming King.

Imagine if he had? Imagine for a moment that King Herod had realized that this Jesus might have actually been the long awaited future King of the Jews and Messiah Son of God. What would it have looked like if Herod had decided to actually allow his emotions to lead him to worship King Jesus and not King Herod?

Listen…we all have emotions…we all have fears, and anger, and troubles, and rage from time to time....The question is what do you do with it? Jesus tells us to be angry and do not sin…We know that anger in and of itself is not sin…it is what you do with that anger that is sin. So, this morning…what are you willing to do with your fears and anger? Are you willing to allow your emotions to lead you to worship Jesus…or self? I’m going to leave you with this one final question for you to reflect on this morning…Am I worshiping God or self with my emotions?Are you feeling further from God…if so then I promise you your emotions are leading you away from God, and it’s time to turn that around…Repent and come back to the Lord. Admit that your emotions have led you to sin…Believe that Jesus came to die to pay for those sins …and commit your life to his Lordship. Listen…if you need a hand, if you would like to talk to someone about how to do that and how to repent and turn your life back to the Lord, then reach out and let’s talk. For now...

Lets pray (pray that God will show us the areas where our fears are in danger of leading us away from him. Ask the Lord to remind us of the truth of his word so that we are not focused on our fears, but on his truth!