Sermon Tone Analysis

In the Days of Herod

Matthew 1:

If I could summarize the days of Herod very briefly as a foundation for 4 truths that I will declare over the next few weeks leading up to Christmas...

I would work to draw the parallel to explain that in many ways, it is today, much the same as it was in the days of Herod.

Herod was the client King of Judea.

He was appointed by Rome to govern the small area of Judea.

He pandered for the loyalties of the Jews, but his affection was to the Roman Government.

While his assignment was to govern and care for the wellbeing of the Jews, reliable sources recorded that Herod neglected the affairs of the the Jews and spent his time studying philosphy, rhetoric and history of Greece and Rome.

Yet still, under the reign of Herod, there were many great and wonderful improvements afforded in the lives of the Jewish people: First and foremost, he expanded the dimensions of the temple beautified its walls and gates.

He constructed the cities of Cesarea and the mountain fortress of Masada… the ingenuity and innovation of Herod rivaled even the most modern technology.

Not only did Herod provide the people with astounding architecture…but he also provided a sense of safety and security.

Under the reign of Herod, Judea was prosperous…and even though he cruelly and unfairly taxed the people, he provided them protection.

History also records that during a period of time that famine overtook the land, Herod used his political connections to provide for the Jewish people.

The Jewish people were grateful for all that Herod did for them.

Herod did just enough to enable the people to cope, but never empowered them to overcome.

He mesmerized the people with beautifully ornate buildings while distracting them from the fact that they were still governed by Roman rule.

the Jewish people

Yet, for all of the wonderful structures and edifices designed and constructed at his hand..Herod was also a man of great evil.

He became a madman, paranoid of anyone and anything that might threaten his position and his authority.

He had his wife and three of his four sons executed as well as issuing the decree that every Jewish male child under the age of 2 be put to death.

Everybody loved what Herod the Great could do, but everyone hated what he cost.

The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that when Herod knew he was dying, he arrested the elite citizens of Jerusalem and ordered that they be executed at the moment of his death—just so someone in Jerusalem would be weeping when he died.

The people both loved and hated Herod the Great.

We love what Herod does; we hate what he costs.

In every life there is a Herod that has gained some power over you.

You are seduced into calling it "great" because it does things for you.

It helps you feel secure.

It helps you cope.

It's been around for a long time.

Herod is the name of whatever it is that offers you something you crave at a cost you cannot afford.

You love what it does; you hate what it costs.

But as taxing as it is, you just keep paying.

For some of us, Herod is our workaholic addiction to success.

There's certainly nothing wrong with success—unless you are obsessed with getting it at any cost.

That's what we call "addiction."

Maybe it started out more innocently than that.

Maybe it started out with the resolve to work hard, to make your loved ones proud of you, to make a contribution to the company or to the community or to the church.

But along the way, you lost track of the long hours, of your son's basketball games that you missed, of the missed dinners with friends, of the number of evenings interrupted by the beeper, or the number of working vacations.

Meanwhile, the promotions and the accolades piled up—no one can build a career quite like Herod—and for a while that felt good to you.

But one day, somebody who needs you and has been missing you is going to look at you through tears and ask: "Don't you see what this is costing?

Don't you see what this costs?"

For others of you, Herod is the name of an old hurt to which you have become addicted.

You didn't deserve the hurt.

Maybe it happened a long time ago.

You've tried to forget about it, but the hurt just keeps hurting.

You can distract yourself from it for a while, but it's always waiting for you, especially when you're tired.

In order to gain a little freedom from the pain, you've tried to forgive the person who hurt you, but you haven't succeeded, because the hurt's been around so long that you don't even know who you are anymore without it.

Every time you try to get rid of it, it isn't long before you invite it back into your heart.

We hate to hurt.

Nobody likes it.

But oddly, we can become so familiar with it, so secure with it, that we've just learned to make it a part of life.

When that happens—when you've grown comfortable with your hurt—Herod is running and ruiningyour life.

The hurt will make it impossible for you to trust people.

It will make you cynical about all authority figures.

It will sabotage more of your relationships than you want to admit.

When you find yourself alone, you will curse the hurt all over again.

Then you'll say to yourself: Don't you see what this is costing?

Herod can be the alcohol that abuses you.

It can be the spouse that abuses you.

It can be the job that abuses you day after day.

But you can't let it go.

But Herod is so paranoid that he'll do anything he can to keep you from seeing the cost to your very soul—until it is too late.

One day a long time ago, some wise men entered Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the one who has been born the king of the Jews?"

It is striking that the text tells us that not only was Herod frightened by their question, but all of Jerusalem was frightened.

The city did not rise up with joy at the announcement that a liberator-king had just been born.

People have always preferred the misery they know to the mystery they do not.

It doesn't make sense, but it is our human nature.

Just because you know you are addicted to how things are doesn't mean you want to be delivered.

My point both today and over the next 3 weeks is not to focus merely on Herod, but to tell you that in the Days of herod…even in the day that we are tolerating the very things that are killing us…there are good things that are happening

Luke 1:

lets us know that in the days of Herod, the angel of the Lord shows up and speaks to Zacharias.

it had been 400 years since God had spoken...

And if ever there was a time that it looked like God wouldn’t speak, it would be in the days of Herod…if there is ever a time that it looks like God can’t speak its when we’ve tolerated the very thing that is killing us…but God is still speaking!

I want to give you hope today…The bible says that Zecharias and Elizabeth were both righteous and kept the commandments of the Lord.

The both

They were both out of the lineage of Aaron the priest.

If you want to look at people that should have had everything going for them…it would have been Zecharias and Elizabeth…they had the pedigree…they had the

but they were barren.

maybe here go back to the lineage listed in ...

Pedigree is not a prerequisite

4 women listed in the lineage of Jesus…one was a woman that pretended to be a harlot (Tamar)…another that was a harlot (Rahab).

One that was an outcast (Ruth) and one that was an adultress (Bethsheba).

Perfection is not a requirement...

In the days of Herod…God is speaking!