By the world’s standards, Herod the Great was impressive. Tourists traveled long distances to see the Second Temple he built in Jerusalem – one of the wonders of the ancient world. Herod’s family also built temples dedicated to Roman gods, like the one to Pan in Caesarea Philippi near Mount Hermon and the Disneyland-style Caesarea on the Mediterranean. Yet, this mad king did whatever it took to hold onto power, including issuing a mass killing of male children just in case the king of the Jews – a threat to his reign – had been born among them.


Herod the Great’s son, another of many Herods, built a splendid palace and city called Tiberius on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Sound carries across water there. Perhaps Jesus heard the noises of the parties from that palace. Jesus and this Herod finally met in Jerusalem where he mocked the King of kings and then dismissed Him as if He were nobody, sending Him, ultimately, to His crucifixion. Imagine! Herod was a part of God’s salvation plan for
the world.