Herod, The Great

The Need for a 3rd Way
Every good story begins in innocence and then introduces the tragedy to be overcome. In the Nativity Story, the innocence is seen in an elderly priest and his wife who never had a baby and the young love of a small town couple. The tragedy was embodied in the King of the land, a man named Herod.

Herod was a threatened but powerful king, a dangerous combination. He had murdered family members as well as competitors including his favorite son just days before his own death (giving rise to Caesar Augustus’ famous quote, "I’d rather be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son.")

We’re told he was terrified at the rumor of another king being born. Intimidating the religious scholars, he found out the prophecy of where the child king was to be born and proceeded to manipulate the unsuspecting Magi to confirm it. Then, the response:

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious,
and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were
two years old and under…(Matthew 2:16)

Herod committed so many crimes against humanity that what the Church refers to as “the slaughter of the innocents” did not even warrant a footnote in the annals of Roman history. Perhaps it was because “only” a couple dozen little boys killed in the hunt for the Baby Jesus.

We remember early in our Advent journey that The Third Way is needed because Love has enemies.