King Herod reigned for forty years, He lived in fear that he would lose favor with his Roman Overlords or that some usurper would come along to threaten his throne. These constant fears drove him to do terrible things. “In a furious rage” he ordered his soldiers to kill all the male children in the region of Bethlehem who were two years old or under at the time of Jesus’ birth. He murdered his wife. He killed his own son. (There was a saying in the ancient world that it would be better to be one of Herod’s dogs than to be his son.) The other side of the tragedy is that when Christ came into his life, Herod had the opportunity to receive the One who could have helped him out of his fears. But Herod was so fearful he turned “Savior” into “enemy.” He treated Jesus “with contempt, and mocked Him,” and sent Him back to His executioners.
Fear, in itself, is…
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