NASTY PIECE OF WORK

Phil
2 hours ago
4 min read

This is the Sermon I preached on Sunday 28th December 2025,

the Sunday after Christmas.

Herod will always stand as one of the most deplorable characters of The New Testament. He is a troubling illustration

of self-absorption on steroids!

Herod typifies many people in our world today,

evil dictators, just as you think they’re a thing of the past,

so evil manifests itself through yet another Godless, corrupt,

egocentric tyrant with a self-seeking agenda.

When Herod took the throne, his first act of leadership

was to have 45 members of the Jewish Sanhedrin put to death.

That's 45 of the top religious leaders in Jerusalem.

Later he put to death his brother-in-law,his mother-in-law,

his wife, and three of his own children—all for fear that they might want to undermine his position.He is the perfect example of power gone very, very bad.

Was he all bad? No – no human is all bad or all good.

Forget the motivation - what did Herod achieve that was good?

Herod built (on Roman money) massive fortresses

and splendid cities, including the port of Caesarea Maritima

named in honour of the Roman Emperor,

whom he was keen to keep onside..

At Herodium (named after himself) Herod built a great palace,

and his most significant creation was the Temple,

rebuilt, not to the glory of God, but to glorify Herod.

The character we hear about this Sunday was the egocentric, dark cruel Herod who got worse with age and more and more suspicious of his family’s motivation.

Later in his reign he put to death his brother-in-law,

his mother-in-law, his wife, and three of his own children—

all for fear that they might want to undermine his position.

Caesar Augustus once sarcastically commented of Herod

that it was safer to be Herod's pig than his son!

Today we meet the Herod who was in great pain

and in mental and physical disorder,

He was a bit like our own Henry VIII, but much, much worse!

Josephus the historian detailed Herod’s symptoms:

Fournier’s gangrene (flesh-eating worms in an unfortunate place), kidney failure, oedema (swelling), bad breath (halitosis),

difficulty in breathing, and intestinal/urinary issues.

If you think the account of the murder of the Holy Innocents

is fabrication, it is not! It is wholly consistent with Herod’s reign and his character.

Toward the end of his reign, some five days before his impending death,

he arrested all the leading citizens of Jerusalem and left orders that they be executed at his death. Nobody mourned the passing of Herod the not-so-Great, but he knew the death of these leading citizens

would cause grief at the time of his passing!

The full Christmas story is much more than a quiet nativity scene; it's a raving ruler, a migrating, safety-seeking fugitive family looking to escape this man’s cruel insanity,and a graveyard-full of tombstones with the names of babies and toddlers on them.

This tragic event, in which Herod ordered the slaughter of all male children two years old and under in Bethlehem, offers a stark glimpse into the depths possible of human depravity. Each of those babies killed was someone’s entire world, just as Jesus was Mary’s and Joseph’s.

Just think, for a moment….Your family is fast asleep at night, when a message comes:flee for your lives. Someone wants to murder your child. You pack food and basics, bundle your baby up,and creep out of the house.

As you tiptoe down darkened streets,

you pray your baby doesn’t cry and alert any hostile watchers. Then you make your way on foot,into a territory where you hope for safety.

That’s what Mary and Joseph had to do,

to keep baby Jesus safe from Herod, as today’s gospel records. And that’s what thousands of refugees are doing,

as they flee tyrants and violence.

Christ came into a world where innocent children died. Christ “comes” again and again in a world of intense suffering, a world where innocent children, “Holy Innocents” still die, whether by gunfire, errant drone strikes, starvation, thirst or disease.

Jesus shows us that the death of children is not God’s will.

It wasn’t God’s will 2000 years ago, it isn’t God’s will now.

Just as John the Baptist stood firm in his convictions

despite the risks posed by Herod, and just as Jesus referred to another Herod

as a “Sly Fox ”, so those who follow Christ today are challenged to uphold truth and integrity, speaking out against injustice, caring for and advocating on behalf of those on the margins of society.

Herod-like figures still exist. Jesus invites us to respond to them with a commitment to truth and with compassion towards all who suffer as a result of Herodic behaviour. We must overwhelm their darkness with the Light of Christ,

and contribute to a more just and loving society.