The Folly of Herod

For the last number of decades, on this feast of the Holy Innocents we recall the modern massacre which has been inflicted upon us: abortion. The numbers of those who have perished in the hospitals and abortion clinics of the world far exceed the dozen or so boys killed by Herod, and the injustice and horror of their deaths also surpass the Judean king's desperate attempt to keep power. It is almost a year since Ireland saw its first abortions as legalised by the will of the people and it seems that, on average, 900 children are killed every month in Ireland's hospitals and doctors's surgeries. That will leave a dreadful legacy for the country and for those who voted to approve abortion in May 2018. The campaign to overturn the referendum that ushered in this dreadful state of affairs is ongoing and will, in time, we pray, be successful.

The killing of the children of Bethlehem by Herod also leads us to reflect on other issues, and if we look at it in the context of other Scriptural events, we get to the heart of what is going on with the man who ordered it and his significance for us and our times. Herod had heard from the magi of the birth of the Messiah. He consulted with the doctors of the law and they told him that the Saviour would be born, of David's line, in David's city - Bethlehem. To any Jew this news would have been very welcome indeed. The Jewish people had been longing for the coming of the Messiah for centuries, to hear that he had been born would have led to great celebrations. But not so with Herod.

Herod was an interesting man. Dubbed 'the Great', he had achieved great things, though in reality he was subject to the rule of the Roman empire. He renovated the Temple in Jerusalem, and during his reign and afterwards, it was a wonder of the world. However, he was bloodthirsty and his crimes are so appalling that the killing of a dozen little boys passes unnoticed by history in comparison with his other misdeeds. As a political animal, when he heard of the birth of the Messiah, he could only see it in political terms and as a threat to his power. Herod had every reason to feel threatened. The Messiah would be a Davidic figure, descended from the line of David he would restore the House of David and establish a new kingdom for the Jewish people. Herod was not Davidic, indeed, he wasn't even Jewish by ancestry, but an Edomite - his ancestors had converted to Judaism. While that should not have been a problem, like the Tudors of England, it left the Herodian dynasty, or Herod at least, quite insecure on the throne. This, of course, is ironic, given that Judea was a client kingdom of Rome; it was Rome that kept him in power. No wonder he was determined to wipe out any rivals, even if they were only babies.

Herod was, in essence, a man of the world, not a man of faith. He could not understand the coming of the Messiah as a Jew, only as a politician. As he listened to the prophecies in Scripture in the presence of the magi, he could not hear what was being said with the humble heart of a Jew who longed for the coming of the Saviour, he was already working out what he was going to do to take out his rival - to prevent the fulfilment of God's prophecy and will. Human ambition, greed and sin had closed this man's heart and led him not only to kill children in an attempt to kill the Messiah, he also wanted to kill God's will if it conflicted with his own, eradicate it from his kingdom. Through his life, through decisions he made and things he had done, Herod made himself an enemy of God, a man intent on having his way and forcing God to submit to him. To such people nothing is too dreadful or forbidden as long as they can achieve their goals.

This attitude of the Judean king can be found all over Scripture as various figures resist God and his plan for humanity. We see it, of course, in the garden of Eden, but also in the primeval crime as Cain killed his brother in jealousy - rather than turn his heart to God as Abel did, Cain will have his way. We see it in Saul; having destroyed his kingship and seeing another chosen by God, he aims to kill him - Saul wanted to prevent the Davidic line starting as Herod tried to prevent it being renewed. Saul's rage gave way to despair as David was winning and showed him mercy. Of course we see in Herod a figure who points to Satan who rebelled against God and his will, but also Judas, who, too immersed in his own ambitions and thieving, was blinded to the ministry and miracles of Jesus and sought to betray him. These men of the world were the masters of their own destruction as they thought they were the masters of their lives and milieu.

However, the example of Herod is contrasted in Scripture by those whose hearts were open to God's will, and in embracing it, they not only facilitated redemption but found honour. Herod's refusal to be attentive to God's will finds a perfect contrast in Our Lady's attentiveness to the Angel's revelation of the Father's will. Her fiat still resonates as the salvific action of her Son continues to take effect on souls. Herod, who as king in Judea should have been father of his people, as the ancient kings of the Jews were understood, failed in that role; but Mary becomes mother of the people of God in her willingness to do as God asked. Herod tries to murder life itself, Mary becomes the mother of grace, that which gives life to the soul, the New Eve, the mother of the redeemed. The ancient writers lament over Herod - he could have kept his throne and still have embraced the Messiah, but the men and women of the world do not think that way, they are incapable of it: so immersed in themselves, there are no other considerations beyond their wilfulness. Not even the Word of God, sharp and pointed as it can be, can penetrate the wall they have built around their hearts. Indeed, when they do hear it, they often rebel. Mary's example shows us how embracing God's will brings us joy and peace and makes our lives fruitful for ourselves and others; the Word of God becomes our food, a feast.

Of course few people do evil willingly, usually they do not consider their actions evil, perhaps ambiguous, complex, just necessary or good for them. As people turn their backs on the objectivity of God's law and will they become relativistic, the standard is set by what they consider right and good. No doubt Herod considered it right and good to destroy his enemies, even a little baby, because he knew what was good for the nation and for himself. Every evil act can be justified by those who commit them - even the ultimate evil of destroying an innocent child in the womb, for example. The attempts of those who proclaim themselves to be pro-choice to redefine human life, or weigh one life as more important than another, is not only in exercise in denial, but ultimately an attempt to redefine the very nature of evil itself in order to accommodate an action they want to carry out. Herod may have engaged in that with the order to kill the children of Bethlehem, if he had any conscience left at that stage, which, given the evidence, is doubtful. In reality, Herod was not just killing children, he was killing himself, that is why Herod was not just a monster, he was a fool.

Herod's folly was his refusal to listen to God and submit to his will; the manifestation of that folly was the massacre of the Innocents, a dreadful crime. In this, he is a warning to all of us: we should listen to God, to his will, to his word and seek that humility which will help us decrease so he will increase. Mary is the perfect example for us here, as is St Joseph, who heeding what he learned in a dream, led his wife and the Messiah to safety. In the meantime, Rachel weeps for her children, not just for the little ones who have perished, but for those, the children of Israel, the children of God, Herod and his confreres, who refuse to give their hearts to God for a mess of pottage and leave a dreadful legacy in their wake, a dreadful legacy for others and for themselves. However, those who do listen can undo that legacy; the one they follow has told us that he came to make all things new, and so he will.