THE CRUELTY OF HEROD
When the Wise Men arrived, Herod had reached the peak of his madness. In 6 B.C., he ordered the execution of several Pharisees, Jews known for their fervor and purity, who had prophesied the coming of the Messiah and Herod’s downfall upon His birth. In 4 B.C., students were executed for attempting to destroy the Roman symbol, the golden eagle, which Herod had erected over the gate of the Jewish temple. Led by two religious leaders and teachers, Matthias and Judas, the students rebelled. Herod ordered the burning alive of the forty students and their two teachers. Herod’s fear of being overthrown by members of his own family, who claimed legitimacy, drove him to commit horrific acts within his own circle.
Herod, a symbolic reading of the incarnation of evil
Herod, king of Judea, placed on the throne of Jerusalem by the Romans and considered by many Jews as a usurper, is remembered as a bloodthirsty monarch. The wrath of Herod, which the Magi had to overcome, reminds us not to succumb to obscurantism or the “Herods of the moment.”
“When kings, when nations, when tyrants want to block our way, let us not allow our determination to falter in the face of these obstacles, for that is how we will overcome them. If the Magi had not persevered to the end, they would not have escaped the misfortunes threatened by Herod.”
— St. John Chrysostom (4th c.), recognized as a “Doctor of the Church.”