33. The King

CHAPTER 33

THE KING

          King Herod had supposedly converted to Judaism.

But the Jewish people still didn’t like him.  He was too loyal to Rome and a supporter of his Hellenic roots to satisfy the Jews in Jerusalem.  He taxed the people heavily, for which Rome was very pleased.  He also pleased Rome by keeping relatively good control over what otherwise was turning out to be a very troublesome province.  He enjoyed the protection of Rome, and at the same time, he desired his own independent kingdom.  Through his marriage to Mariamne of the family of the Maccabees, he had allied himself with powerful leaders among the Jews.  By his friendship with Augustus, he had the favor of the empire.

          Herod’s reign was marked with incidents of cruelty.  He was extremely jealous and felt threatened by anyone he imagined might take control of his kingdom, including his own wife and sons Alexander and Aristobulus, whom he had put to death.  His paranoia was enflamed by the talk of the people about their belief in a promised Messiah, for he greatly feared, yet he believed not the prophets. 

          To appease the Jews who opposed him, Herod used their tax money to build elaborate fortresses, gymnasiums, and pagan temples.  His renovations and expansions of the temple mount and the reconstruction of the temple of Zerubbabel were his crowning victories in gaining power and prestige from his supporters.

The Jewish temple was now known as Herod’s temple.  The refurbishings made everything beautiful and one of the marvels of the world.  Many courtyards and surrounding buildings had been constructed on the temple mount.  For all of these public improvements, the people paid a goodly price through heavy taxation. 

What most of the people did not know, was that Herod’s private palace was also built at extensive cost, to equal if not surpass the elegance of the temple itself.

News of a man causing a disturbance at his expensive temple quickly traveled to Herod in his royal estate.  The next day, he summoned all his chief priests and scribes to gather in his private palatial hall.

“How could you let this happen!?” Herod demanded of them.  None of them wished to respond, hoping that the blame would be directed onto someone else.  “Who was that man at the temple yesterday?  What did he want?  Where is he from?  I want answers!”

          After a long pause, one of the chief priests finally ventured a response. “We,…well, we don’t know.

 “He’s never been seen around here before yesterday as far as we’ve been informed.  We don’t know where he is from or what he wanted.  He never asked for anything.  He simply forced his way through the exchangers to make his way up to the tower.  There he incited the people and you are aware of the riot that resulted.  He was seen leaving the temple with some other strangers, but we don’t know where they went.  We had our hands full for quite a while trying to disperse the crowd and restore order on the temple mount.”

          “Why?  Why didn’t you stop him?  Why didn’t anybody do anything when he started to confront the exchangers?  Was everybody scared?  How come nobody tried to stop him?”  Herod’s questions continued.  “Why didn’t you follow him when he left the temple?  Didn’t anybody want to find out who he was?  Is this kind of thing going to happen again?” 

The same chief priest who had dared to speak initially now tried to come up with some excuses.  “Well, we’ve never seen anything like this before.  And the whole thing happened so unexpectedly.  There are so many people coming to Jerusalem for Passover right now.  So, well…, it’s impossible to control the crowds and watch everybody.  This person is probably a foreigner.  Nobody could have anticipated that anything like this would ever happen.  It’s not likely to happen again.  We have people watching for him now.  If he ever shows up at the temple again, we’ll have him arrested right away before he has a chance to repeat such a stunt.”

“Of course, of course you will,” Herod acknowledged with a backhanded wave of his hand.  “That still doesn’t explain why you let this happen and nobody appeared to raise a finger to stop him at the time.  The damage is already done.  What are you going to charge him with when you do see him again?”

“Actually, my dear king Herod, there is a question surrounding what legal charges we could accuse him with.”

This time one of the scribes was hazarding a reply.  “There is actually nothing written in the law that prohibits praying or speaking where he was located at the temple.  And nothing is specifically written in the law forbidding someone from mounting the tower there either.  When it comes right down to it, what this man did does not really violate any law.”

No sooner had the scribe made this last statement than everybody in the hall began speaking and arguing at once.  The chief priests shouted at the scribes and the scribes yelled right back at the chief priests.  Those who had been so reluctant to say anything just seconds before were all of a sudden full of strong opinions for which they wished to be heard above another, and everyone’s opinion seemed to differ from the person next to him.

Amid this war of words and cries of contention, a servant entered the hall and came to Herod with an announcement.  The servant announced that the men had arrived who had previously made arrangements to meet with king Herod this hour.

          “Has the money they offered to pay for my interview been collected?” asked Herod.

          “It has, my lord,” said the servant.

          “Then send them away,” remarked Herod with a wave of his hand.  “Tell them that something important has come up.  I’m occupied.  I can’t be bothered by strangers at this time.  I am suddenly very busy with other matters.”

          The servant obediently departed to deliver the decree that the previously arranged appointment was cancelled.  However, he returned within a short time and whispered into Herod’s ear so that others in the room could not hear.  “Would it interest your majesty to know that the man from the temple yesterday is with the other men?”

          Herod’s face paled somewhat when he heard his servant’s whispered question.  Herod was visibly anxious.  Herod whispered back to his servant,

 “What do those men want?  Where are they from and what are they asking about?”

 

          “They say they are from distant lands far east of Palestine.  They have been seen around Jerusalem and the temple for the past few days and it is said that they are asking about the location of the birth of the King of the Jews.  The report is that they say that they have seen the star in the east, which is a sign of the King’s birth, and that they are come to worship him.  In fact, all Jerusalem is said to be troubled over them.”

Herod’s face turned even paler and he became even more distressed by his servant’s response to his questions.  He began to tremble and fear exceedingly.

          “Tell them to wait then.”  Herod gave the order to his servant who left to deliver the message.

          “Silence!  Quiet down, please, one at a time.” Herod spoke loudly and motioned for everybody to stop talking at once.  “Answer for me this question.  Where is the place that is written by the prophets, in which Christ should be born?”

          “That’s easy,” said the chief priest who had been the first to speak.  “On that we all can agree.  It is written by the prophets, that he should be born in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus have they said, The word of the Lord came unto us, saying, And thou Bethlehem, which lieth in the land of Juda, in thee shall be born a prince, which art not the least among the princes of Judea: for out of thee shall come the Messiah, who shall save my people Israel.”

“And you all agree on this?” Herod wanted to be sure.

“Why, yes, most definitely” answered the chief priest.  Shared glances and nods by everyone present in the spacious hall confirmed this conclusion.  The leaders of the different Jewish factions apparently had no disagreements when it came to this specific question.

 “So be it then,” declared Herod.  “Now get out!  Leave!  On your way, everybody.  I don’t want you here any longer.  Go away!”

All the chief priests and scribes were glad to escape.  They dreaded the prospect of more accusations and questions from Herod about the embarrassing event of the preceding day and immediately exited from the palatial hall.  Herod was left to himself to consider what to do about the men who had paid a high price for an interview with him.

Why would strangers from a distant land pay to see him?  What do they really want with him?  If the man from the temple is really with them, what should he do to him?

Based on the heated arguments between the chief priests and the scribes, the people were obviously divided in their opinions of the man at the temple.  That meant whatever he did to win support from one side, he risked losing political leverage from the other side.

Herod took a long time to think about his options.  He was particularly troubled by the people’s belief in the fulfillment of a prophecy about the coming of a Messiah.  These strangers came at a time that raised even higher the people’s belief in the birth of their own king.

“My king,” Herod’s servant had returned to await more instructions, “the men to see you are kept waiting.  I fear their patience is being tried with your delay.”

“Well that’s their problem, isn’t it?” snapped Herod.  “They’ll just have to wait.  I have nothing to gain by meeting with them.”

“I beg your pardon, but I believe you might,” declared the servant.  “They are obviously extremely wealthy and must be very important in their own countries.  You can’t afford to make enemies of foreign nations when you already have so much difficulty brewing internally within your own.”

“Quiet!  If I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it.”  Herod did not appreciate the wisdom and courage demonstrated by his servant.  “Nevertheless, have the men continue to wait and tell them I will be with them shortly.”

The twelve men were left waiting while Herod paced back and forth for over an hour before finally calling them in.  When they did enter the room, Herod remained seated on his elevated throne while the men tried to find their own places to sit.  Hantuman noted that even Zenos, who had greeted Nephi so respectfully and formally the day before made no attempt to pay any respect to Herod.

Zenos took the seat closest to the throne.  When all the men were seated, he did not waste time in idle chat or the exchange of pleasantries but got straight to the heart of the matter.

“The king is obviously a busy man with many ongoing matters in his mighty reign which only his finite abilities and wisdom may adequately compare.”  If Zenos’s words were heard by Herod as an opening compliment, he was alone in that assessment.  “That is why I will spare you all the background and say that our only purpose in coming from the east to Jerusalem is to ask of you this question:  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.”

“That’s it!?  That’s all you want?”  Herod pretended to show surprise at receiving this question, even though he knew it was coming and was the question that personally tormented him the most.  He wondered in his own mind about the prophecies of a King born among the Jews who would reign over his own kingdom.  Could such an event be true, especially since wealthy men from afar had come to specifically inquire about such a King?

“You don’t know this yourselves?” mocked Herod.  “As wise and as prosperous as you gentlemen appear to be?”  Herod tried to inflate his own importance by ridiculing the apparent ignorance of Zenos and the others.

  “The prophets have written that Christ would be born in Bethlehem of Judea.”  Herod spoke as if everybody should know what he himself had just recently learned.  “And I am curious.  You say you saw his star in the east.  Where are you from and when did you first see this star?”

“Where we are from doesn’t really matter,” said Zenos.  “The star is seen by those who have the light of immortality dwelling in them.  To some of us, the star was seen immediately after the night without any darkness.”

“I see,” Herod said without really seeing at all.  “Well, we have certainly never had a night without any darkness around here.  So tell me directly.  What time did the star appear?  How old might this man, or child, or babe be now whom you seek?”

          This time Zenos answered the question with precision, “The sign first appeared exactly one year ago at this Passover season.”

          “Well then,” replied Herod, “Go to Bethlehem and look for a one year old child.  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.”

          When Zenos and the others had heard the king, they stood up to depart.  Before they could leave, Herod asked another question.  “By the way, which of you were at the temple yesterday?”

          “We were all at the temple yesterday,” Zenos spoke with a voice of warning.  “If you wish for us to bring you word upon finding the Child to worship Him, you must have the light and hope of immortality dwelling in you to rule and reign in His true kingdom.  Otherwise you will not be able to see Him after your kingdom has ended.”

          Herod had no idea what Zenos was talking about.  And he feared because of the warning.  Therefore, he stood and did not say anything, but watched in stunned silence as Zenos, Nephi, and the others left his private palace.

It wasn’t until after they were gone that he realized that he still didn’t know their names, where they came from, or much about them at all.