Luke 23:1-12
Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.
“Notice what you notice.” Jesus before Pilate and Herod… It’s funny to me – and probably to many of you – that when we think of Herod, we think of <insert accompanying music> “So you are the Christ, you’re the great Jesus Christ. Prove to me that You’re divine, change my water into wine…”, lyrics from the musical, Jesus Christ, Superstar. So we might be singing along the lyrics, but I’m guessing that Jesus was not in a sing-song mood. This is the same Herod who had Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, killed. You may remember how Jesus mourned when He heard the news of John’s death. Although Scripture does not tell us of Jesus’ weeping over John as He did for Lazarus, it’s likely that He shed more than a few tears when He went off to be alone upon hearing of John’s death. So if Jesus refuses to answer Herod, I’m guessing that He may have been feeling some contempt for him as He stood there.
My Study Bible reported that Pilate’s main headquarters was in Caesarea, on the Mediterranean shore and that Herod’s headquarters was in Tiberius, on the west bank of the Sea of Galilee – often referred to as the Sea of Tiberius. So it’s a bit strange to find them both in Jerusalem at the same time. However, this week was the Passover celebration for the Jews and hundreds of thousands of Jews would have gathered there. But Pilate and Herod clearly were not there to celebrate the religious feast! It was probably just something like a carnival atmosphere for them, not unlike most of us celebrating Memorial Day with family cookouts and failing to honor the solemnity that the occasion demands.
Slava Bohu!