Seeing Jesus

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

SEEING JESUS

Luke 9:7-9

7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed, because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, 8 others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. 9 But Herod said, "I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?" And he tried to see him.

NIV

So this Herod was the one who put John the Baptist to death by having him beheaded because of lust for his current wife’s daughter, along with such a sinful life which John spoke the truth about. It seems as though Herod had not heard of Jesus before until the time of this narrative. Being one of the sons of Herod the great, he ruled over but a forth of Israel and with his lavish and isolated lifestyle it is unlikely he concerned himself with the goings on of the common people. He may also have been on an extended travel to his winter, or summer palace and just now returned to the home palace, the place where he behead John. It certainly appears upon hearing about all the events about Jesus, and not knowing who Jesus was, his guilty conscience must have convinced him it was John back from the dead to torment him more. Some of his advisors did not have that guilty conscience, but saw this Jesus as perhaps one of the other prophets of old returned. None of them even considered he could be the long awaited Messiah. But we are told that Herod tried to see him. The Greek word here means to seek to see, to inquire about, and to find out about who this is. It does not imply the Herod wanted to have an audience with Jesus, but wanted to know who he was, if he was actually John back from the dead. So what do we learn here? Men might seek to discover who Jesus is, but that does not mean they wish to worship him. Sin can have such a grip on our lives that we are not willing to acknowledge who Jesus is, but what to simply prove who he is not. It seems this is the way of the world today. They want to prove who Jesus is not, rather than seek him for who he is, so to worship him. There is a sense in this Greek word that it can carry the meaning to seek to worship, or seek to destroy. This may have been the intent of Herod and it may be the intent of many today. But we know who Jesus is, and as the Spirit convicted us of our sin, we did not hide from it, nor try to dismiss it, nor endeavored to attempt to destroy or discredit Jesus as someone he is not. This is a lesson we need to be forever in our hearts and minds, as we live in a human condition which is still subject to sin. We need to always be seeking Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We need to always know he is our Savior, our redeemer, our sacrifice, the one and only sacrifice needed for the forgiveness of our sin. Herod did not, and the world today does not see Jesus for who he is, but praise God we do. We are seeing Jesus.