A tale of two kings

Our readings this morning give us the tale of two very different kings. On the one hand, we have David. And Sirach tells us, “With his every deed he offered thanks to God Most High, in words of praise. With his whole being he loved his Maker and daily had his praises sung.” Was he perfect? We know that he wasn’t. We heard about his sins — adultery and murder — a week ago. Yet when the prophet Nathan calls him out for his sins, David repents and does penance. And God in his great mercy forgave him and established him as the first of the royal line of Israel.

And then we have King Herod. He too was a sinner, an adulterer who dismissed his wife, and then stole his own brother’s wife Herodias as his own. Yet when John the Baptist calls out Herod and Herodias as adulterers and sinners, Herod has him imprisoned to placate his new wife. As we heard, Herodias wanted John killed, but Herod feared him because he knew he was a righteous and holy man — like Nathan, John was a prophet. And like David, Herod knew it.

But unlike David, Herod was a prisoner of this world, a weak, fearful, vain king so concerned with what others might think of him that he couldn’t break free when he was played by Herodias and her daughter. And rather than be true to what he knew was right, he had John executed to save face with his wife and his court.

Two kings — two very different responses to their sinfulness. And two very different outcomes from their choices. David became the first in the royal line of Israel, the forebear of Jesus the Messiah. Herod was defeated by his first wife’s father soon after John was martyred, and later he and Herodias died in exile.

There’s a lesson here. We all sin — that’s why we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And God forgives and upholds those who repent, no matter how grievous our sins. But for the unrepentant, their sins will haunt them and come to own them. Repentance and forgiveness or eternal sorrow? Seems like an easy choice to make.