Are We Like Herod, Or Like the Wise Men?

Photo by Kevin Phillips on Public Domain Pictures

🎶"The wise man built his house upon the rock, the wise man built his house upon the rock!"🎶

Oh wait, wrong wise man.

Though now that I think of it, "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man" does apply pretty well to the story of the wise men who traveled so far to see the newborn babe. In fact, that simple song explains exactly what happened those many years ago.

We get the full story in Matthew 2:

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

This is where Herod (AKA, not wise man).comes in.

3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he
demanded of them where Christ should be born.

Already, the differences between the wise men and Herod can be seen. The wise men have traveled far to see King Herod, and they have done their research beforehand. They know who they are looking for, as well as why they are looking for him.

Herod, on the other hand, has no idea. He hasn't done his daily scripture study and instead has to rely on what others tell him. Even then, he doesn't bother to ask about why this "King of the Jews" is so important. As soon as he heard "king," his mind jumped to conclusions about who these wise men were looking for.

Later in the story, the differences between the Herod and the wise men are more significant:

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what
time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child;
and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

These three verses can actually teach us a lot about how we should approach the gospel, and what it takes to come closer to Christ. The first example, that of what not to do, is given by King Herod. When Herod found out about the new King born in Bethlehem, he certainly acted very interested, inquiring "diligently" about him. But what did Herod actually do? Not a thing. Instead, he commanded others to act for him. He, in effect, was relying on others' faith to carry him forward. In other words, he had only "built his house upon the sand."

The wise men, however, show us an exemplary pattern for how to live our own lives. For when they heard the king, they acted for themselves. They went back out into the wilderness with faith that the star would lead them. They built their house upon the Rock of their Redeemer, doing everything in their power to find him and worship him.

Obviously, calling Herod the foolish man is all good and fun, but when I look at his story more closely, I have to admit that I often do the same thing he did. How many times have I gone to church without having prepared beforehand, just expecting to get all of my spiritual enlightenment from someone else's hard work?

Or, how often do I come home from church and say, "Wow, that was really great. I hope next week is just as good!" but then go back to doing nothing to strengthen my own testimony in Christ?

Yeah, I'd say I'm pretty foolish too sometimes. But I still can become like the wise men from that day. I can choose to build my house upon the Rock by doing everything I can to come closer to him.