Episode 1997: During his Trial: Jesus Silence Before Herod - Part 13

This is the 13th of the 22 last statements of Jesus before His death:

(Luke 23:8-9) "Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing."

Pilate sent Jesus to Herod because he wanted to wash his hands of this matter. Herod was the ruler of Galilee who happened to be in Jerusalem at the time; I think Pilate, being in what he thought to be somewhat of a bind, took advantage of the fact that Herod was in the area when he sent Jesus to him. There is evidence of this in Luke 23:7 when he writes, “And when he understood that he was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him away to Herod, who was also himself at Jerusalem, in those days.” It is interesting to think what Pilate would have done if Herod had not been around. I wonder if he would have been forced to take matters into his own hands?

Herod had heard a lot about Jesus and His growing popularity and was definitely curious about Him. He had also heard about some of the miracles performed by Jesus. I think he was both interested and scared.

Now Herod was the one responsible for the recent beheading of John the Baptist. John had had no problem pointing out the debauchery and immorality of Herod’s life. Herod had imprisoned John and later killed him. This was something that must have haunted Herod because Matthew points out in 14:1-2, “At the time, Herod the Tetrarch heard the fame of Jesus. And he said to his servants: This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works shew forth themselves in him.”

So Herod must have really feared John the Baptist if he was thinking that Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead.

Herod really wants to see Jesus primarily for the sake of entertainment, but also to see him perform a miracle for him. Herod interrogates Jesus and mocks him but Jesus will not reply or respond.
In Luke 23:10-11 he says, “And the chief priests and the scribes stood by, earnestly accusing him, and Herod with his army set him at nought, and mocked him, putting on him a white garment, and sent him back to Pilate.”

Being the man he was, Herod probably grew bored with Jesus not responding to him and much like a bully, mocking and taunting Jesus is the only thing that Herod is capable of. It seems as though Herod really doesn’t know what to do and in sending Jesus back to Pilate it is his way of telling Pilate, “You take care of it.” With the chief priests and scribes standing by watching everything, perhaps Herod was putting on a bit of a show so that the priests and scribes could return and bear witness to Pilate as to how Herod treated Jesus. Whatever the reason, Herod took the coward’s way out.

Don’t we see this today? Are we not surrounded by people who do what they know is wrong just to prove that they are right, or strong, or smart, simply because they cannot face the truth? We have to work hard at being true servants of Christ, often battling ourselves to do what is right and just. That’s why we are called to make sacrifices and re-examine the way we live our lives, especially during Lent.

I conclude with the words of Padre Pio, “Let us always keep before our eyes the fact that here on earth we are on a battlefield and that in paradise we shall receive the crown of victory; that this is a testing-ground and the prize will be awarded up above; that we are now in a land of exile while our true homeland is Heaven to which we must continually aspire.”

Thank you for listening.