8 Now when
Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time
to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see
some miracle done by Him. 9 Then he
questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing. 10 And the
chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. 11 Then Herod,
with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed
Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. 12 That very
day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been
at enmity with each other.
Commentary
Vs. 8 Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ now being sent to Herod by Pilate now appears before him. Now Herod (unlike Pilate) had much interest in the religion of the Jews, indeed it was Herod and his family who helped finance the Temple’s reconstructions, (with money raised from their “subjects” of course), which brought it to its current elaborate state. However, this was not done out of love for God, rather Herod and his family were as Jesus said of him, like sly “foxes”. For Herod knew how to appease the Jews, and His Temple reconstruction work was largely done for this purpose, as well as his own egos gratification, so he could boast of what he had achieved and be exalted in the sight of his “subjects”, and even Rome. For as we know Rome loved to conquer and to build. And so, Herod like his father before him, though descended from Edomites, and an unscrupulous man and tyrant in his own right and rule, in some ways wanted to be received by the Jews as a rightful king and ruler of the Jews. However, Herod’s interest in the Jews religion went beyond building the Temple, for before he had John the Baptist executed, he used to listen to him, (and do things that john said he should do) that is until John rebuked him for taking his brothers wife as his own, which brought about Johns own death when Herodias, Herod’s illegitimate wife seized on an opportunity to have Herod put John to death in order to keep some rashly spoken oaths, which he only spoke to impress some of his elite friends (see Matt 14:1-10; Mark 6:17-29).
Vs. 8 (cont.) That all said, when Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, so as to defer having to make a decision about Jesus, the Scripture says that Herod was “…exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him.” Obviously then Herod had been hearing about all of the mighty and miraculous things Jesus was doing. And yet, Herod’s interest in Jesus wasn’t born out of soul searching, or a longing of wanting to know God, rather it was more like a wealthy and cruel tyrant just wanting to be “entertained”, by seeing some miraculous work done by Jesus.
Vs. 9 “Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing.”
And so, it was when Jesus was before Herod, Herod questioned Jesus with many words, but Jesus answered him nothing. Our Lord and Saviors silence then before him then speaks volumes about Herod. For He knew Herod and what he was all about.
Vs. 10 “And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him.”
Even when the chief priests and scribes vehemently accused Jesus, He remained silent, and thus fulfilled the Word of God (see Isaiah 53:7).
Vs. 11 “Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.”
With Jesus’ deafening silence before him, Herod then seeing that our Lord and Savior will say nothing to him, begins (along with his men of war) to treat Jesus with contempt.
Vs. 12 “That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.”
Pilate and Herod then having both rejected our Lord and Savior, and even though there were once at odds with each other, now become friends. For there is only one thing that will unite the souls of this unbelieving and denominally controlled world in harmony and peace with each other, and that is their opposing and persecuting Christ Jesus the Lord and all who belong to Him (Psalm 2; Psalm 110:5-6; Rev. 2:26-27; 4:1-9:20; 11:1-19; 12:1-14:20; 15:1-19:10; 19:11-16, 17-21; 20:1-14; 21:1-27 etc.; basically the whole Book of Revelations starting at chapter four).
Commentary
Vs. 8 Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ now being sent to Herod by Pilate now appears before him. Now Herod (unlike Pilate) had much interest in the religion of the Jews, indeed it was Herod and his family who helped finance the Temple’s reconstructions, (with money raised from their “subjects” of course), which brought it to its current elaborate state. However, this was not done out of love for God, rather Herod and his family were as Jesus said of him, like sly “foxes”. For Herod knew how to appease the Jews, and His Temple reconstruction work was largely done for this purpose, as well as his own egos gratification, so he could boast of what he had achieved and be exalted in the sight of his “subjects”, and even Rome. For as we know Rome loved to conquer and to build. And so, Herod like his father before him, though descended from Edomites, and an unscrupulous man and tyrant in his own right and rule, in some ways wanted to be received by the Jews as a rightful king and ruler of the Jews. However, Herod’s interest in the Jews religion went beyond building the Temple, for before he had John the Baptist executed, he used to listen to him, (and do things that john said he should do) that is until John rebuked him for taking his brothers wife as his own, which brought about Johns own death when Herodias, Herod’s illegitimate wife seized on an opportunity to have Herod put John to death in order to keep some rashly spoken oaths, which he only spoke to impress some of his elite friends (see Matt 14:1-10; Mark 6:17-29).
Vs. 8 (cont.) That all said, when Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, so as to defer having to make a decision about Jesus, the Scripture says that Herod was “…exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him.” Obviously then Herod had been hearing about all of the mighty and miraculous things Jesus was doing. And yet, Herod’s interest in Jesus wasn’t born out of soul searching, or a longing of wanting to know God, rather it was more like a wealthy and cruel tyrant just wanting to be “entertained”, by seeing some miraculous work done by Jesus.
Vs. 9 “Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing.”
And so, it was when Jesus was before Herod, Herod questioned Jesus with many words, but Jesus answered him nothing. Our Lord and Saviors silence then before him then speaks volumes about Herod. For He knew Herod and what he was all about.
Vs. 10 “And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him.”
Even when the chief priests and scribes vehemently accused Jesus, He remained silent, and thus fulfilled the Word of God (see Isaiah 53:7).
Vs. 11 “Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.”
With Jesus’ deafening silence before him, Herod then seeing that our Lord and Savior will say nothing to him, begins (along with his men of war) to treat Jesus with contempt.
Vs. 12 “That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.”
Pilate and Herod then having both rejected our Lord and Savior, and even though there were once at odds with each other, now become friends. For there is only one thing that will unite the souls of this unbelieving and denominally controlled world in harmony and peace with each other, and that is their opposing and persecuting Christ Jesus the Lord and all who belong to Him (Psalm 2; Psalm 110:5-6; Rev. 2:26-27; 4:1-9:20; 11:1-19; 12:1-14:20; 15:1-19:10; 19:11-16, 17-21; 20:1-14; 21:1-27 etc.; basically the whole Book of Revelations starting at chapter four).
Scripture Quotations
New King James Version (1982): Thomas Nelson.
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