He was upset. Annoyed. Irritated. Angry. The very thought was ludicrous! He was in charge here. Everyone knew that. The sound of his voice sent people scurrying. The flick of his wrist made things happen. His word, when he chose to use it, was final. His desires were always granted. His physical presence among the people was considered a gift. Yet he hadn’t found a way to get an audience with the newest religious teacher on the scene. Other people had. Not royal people. Not even just the upper classes. Poor people. Sick people. Dirty people. The guy was literally hanging out with the dregs of society, yet he, tetrarch of the entire region, had yet to meet Him. The man named Jesus, who, by all accounts, was preaching and teaching and performing amazing miracles, hadn’t even stopped by the palace for a quick visit. He hadn’t come to introduce Himself. Hadn’t made derogatory remarks about the king. Hadn’t outright condemned specific royal behaviors. Not like John. John had been vocal and outspoken in his accusations concerning Herod’s lifestyle, giving cause to haul him in for questioning and imprisonment. Jesus had done nothing of the sort. There was no excuse to bring Him in, no reason to incarcerate Him. Herod Antipas rather wished there was. (Luke 9:9)
Admittedly, Herod missed John the Baptist. Their forthright conversations had been a bright spot in the nearly nauseating obeisance surrounding him. Sometimes he longed for someone to argue with. Someone to break up the monotony of simpering servants and ingratiating employees. John would never have been one of those. He had no problem speaking his mind and standing by his beliefs. They had some interesting conversations. Thought-provoking. Incisive. Herod had no business stealing another man’s wife. At all. John saw no issue condemning the act. Publicly. Pointedly. That was how he ended up in prison.
Herod never intended to kill John. It wasn’t about that. He held him in high regard. He valued the words he spoke, even if he chose not to adhere. It is likely he would have kept him in prison for the rest of his life. John’s or Herod’s. Whichever ended first. It was a convenient arrangement. For Herod. But for all his great status and trusted leadership qualities, he’d been naive. His wife, Herodias, loathed John. Every fiber of her being wanted him silenced. Herod may have been smart, but his wife was cunning. It was as if she trained her entire life for the moment she would trick her husband into killing John. She used her daughter to do it. A sultry dance before a lecherous king, and she had him. Her wish was his command. And she wanted John the Baptist’s head on a platter.
With much sadness and great regret, Herod followed through on his promise. He had to. He couldn’t renege and keep the respect of the people. The words nearly stuck in his throat as he issued the order. He hated every single syllable. He had no choice. Herodias knew that. Planned it. What she hadn’t known, been able to plan, or had the power to manipulate was that a new prophet would immediately take John’s place among the people. He would preach and teach without ambiguity. He would heal and help those others would avoid. He’d tenderly welcome children and forcefully chastise religious leaders. No one could leave His presence unchanged. Herod Antipas badly wanted to meet Him. (Luke 9:7-9; Mark 6:14-29; Matthew 14:1-11)
Apparently, it was a family trait. Wanting to meet Jesus. Nearly three decades earlier, his father told the same story. Unsettled by the arrival of travellers from a distant country looking for the newborn King of the Jews, Herod the Great called his leading priests and scholars in for a meeting. They had some explaining to do. Had they missed the birth of the Messiah? If so, how? How had they missed the most awaited moment in human history? Wasn’t it their job to know these things? Why had no one come to him with the news? Why had no one already found the child? Why was the child even still alive? Why did he, the king, have to do everything himself?
Quickly calling a private meeting with the travelling scholars, Herod peppered them with questions. He was intensely interested in every detail. Where they got their intel? How they knew where to travel? When they left their homeland. When they first arrived in Jerusalem. He didn’t want them to leave anything out. Every detail mattered. Then he told them what he knew from his own religious leaders. The words the prophets had written centuries before. Go to Bethlehem. Look everywhere. Don’t quit searching until you find the Child. It seemed like Herod was helping them until he added a stipulation phrased to sound like a request. “When you figure it all out, when you find Him, come let me know where He is. I want to worship him too!”
Liar. Herod had no intention of worshipping the Christ child. None whatsoever. He wasn’t even intending to go see the Child himself. He’d just send his henchmen. Do away with the competition. End the problem before it started. God knew that. God saw every stinking, dirty inch of Herod’s darkened heart. Speaking to the travellers in a dream, He sent them home a different way. Avoiding Herod. Outwitting him. Herod was incandescent. In an action that could only be attributed to a madman, Herod ordered that all baby boys under 2 years old be slaughtered. Yanked from their mother’s arms and brutally murdered. One wonders how the story would read if Herod had only gone and met Jesus.
Why didn’t he? Why didn’t Herod go meet Jesus? Either of them. Father or son. Both claimed a desire to do so, but neither made the effort. Neither rose off their royal duffs, ordered their carriages, organized the guard, grabbed a snack from the kitchen, and went to see Jesus. They didn’t even try. Not so far as the Bible mentions. Herod the Great wanted the magi to pinpoint where Jesus was. Herod Antipas chose to “try to see” Jesus. Neither really stepped out in a grand gesture to see Him. Meet Him. Get to know the Savior. And Jesus wasn’t very far away.
Except for the two years spent in Egypt as a child, Jesus was often close at hand. Six miles separated Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Herod the Great could have made it round trip in a day, yet he made no move to visit. When teaching and preaching in Galilee, Jesus was only about 4 miles from Herod Antipas’ palace, yet there is no record of an attempt to go meet Him. One wonders why he never made the effort. It wouldn’t have been difficult. The crowds would have melted away at the approach of his guard and entourage. No one would have stood in his way. No one would have blocked his path. No one would have lifted a restraining hand. They wouldn’t dare. Yet Herod Antipas chose not to make the effort. Neither did Herod the Great. He sent people out to find Jesus and report back, but he didn’t go himself. He didn’t even try. Why not? What about their lives was so much more important than meeting the one person they both so deeply wanted to meet? No matter their ulterior motives, why didn’t they go? What held them back when they were just that close to Jesus?
There must have been a hundred excuses the Herods had for not physically going to see Jesus. It was unnecessarily dangerous to be in public. They had meetings to attend. A neighboring king was visiting. They were stuck in diplomatic discussions. The threat of war might someday loom, and they were organizing the military. Maybe the scribes were overworked, and they had to write their own paperwork. Perhaps there was a formal dinner celebration. Maybe (insert teenage whine here) they were just really tired, and people normally do everything for them, and it was just too much work to make the trip when they wanted to be hunkered down in the peace and quiet of their room. It really doesn’t matter. They were all just that. Excuses. We know, because we make them ourselves. And they sound no less ridiculous.
Living as we are in the beautiful redemptive space created by Jesus’ death and resurrection, it is important for us to realize how close we are to Jesus. His constant availability to us. His eager readiness to answer when we call. His urgent longing to spend quality time with us, know us, be known by us. It is equally important for us to honestly examine ourselves and own the excuses we make for not meeting with Him. We are too busy. Our fledgling business requires our constant attention. Our own fledglings require food and education, and transportation. Our boss demands our time. Our bills demand our paychecks. Our electronics demand our attention with pinging phones, blaring televisions, flashing billboards, and overflowing inboxes. Our society sings in our ears the siren song of self-care, self-absorption, self-importance. Our focus is inward and outward, but rarely upward. In the exhausting race to do more, have more, be more, we miss the fact that we can have everything we need if we just reach out and touch Jesus. He is as close as breathing His name. He is near to the desolate, desperate, discouraged, and downtrodden. He answers all who call on Him. He hears the unspoken cries of your exhausted heart. He sees your tears and feels your fears. He is poised and waiting to come when you call. When all you can do is think His name, Jesus will come. Jesus will answer. That’s just how close you are to Jesus. (Psalm 18:6; 34:18; 139:2; Jeremiah 33:3; I Samuel 2:8; Hebrews 4:15)
Friend, you are ever so much closer to Jesus than the Herods were. They had miles to travel. You can meet Jesus right where you are. You can know Him and spend time with Him. You can sit in His presence, rest in His love. He is not far away. He is near. So don’t waste your moment. Don’t waste a second of the time you could be spending with Jesus. Do the things that build the relationship, foster the connection, encourage true change in your life. Read your Bible. Talk to Jesus. Listen for His voice. Get to know it. Hear Him speak. Rest in the words He has for you. Wise words. Encouraging words. Words of eternal life. And don’t make excuses. At all. You really don’t have a valid one. You don’t have to leave your office or easy chair. You don’t have to make an appointment, arrange a guard, or pack a lunch. You can meet Jesus anytime, anywhere. At home. In traffic. At the gym. In class. Wherever you are, Jesus is. When you call, He will hear. When you ask, He will answer. Nothing can separate you from His love. Today is your day. Speak His name and find yourself in His presence. Immediately. It is that simple. You really are just that close to Jesus. (Isaiah 65:24; Psalm 145:18-19; Luke 11:9-10; I John 5:14-15; Matthew 28:20; Romans 8:38-39; James 4:8)