Thursday, Twenty Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

The Herod mentioned in today’s gospel reading was Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great. He was the Roman appointed ruler of the region of Galilee. He had all this world could offer, several fine properties, lots of servants, a life of plenty and luxury, the backing of the greatest Empire of the time. Yet, the gospel reading suggests that he wasn’t completely satisfied with all these abundant resources. There was a part of him that was searching for more and not necessarily more of the same. He had heard about all that Jesus of Nazareth was doing in Galilee, and he was puzzled. He also heard what some people were saying about Jesus, that he was the prophet Elijah returned to earth, or John the Baptist risen from the dead, or one of the ancient prophets come back to life. This mighty, privileged, ruler was asking questions about this carpenter from Nazareth, ‘Who is this I hear such things about?’ He was anxious to see Jesus. There was another wealthy person in Luke’s gospel who wanted to see Jesus, Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector. He wasn’t on the level of Herod Antipas in terms of wealth and influence, of course. Yet, he did something Herod would never have done in an effort to see Jesus; he climbed a sycamore tree. He put himself in the path of Jesus, and, as a result, Jesus came to his home, and Zacchaeus was transformed by his meeting with Jesus. Nothing similar happened to Herod Antipas. He didn’t follow through on his desire to see Jesus; he wasn’t true to his deepest longings, the longings of his spirit. According to Luke’s gospel, Herod Antipas did get to see Jesus, but only because Pontius Pilate sent Jesus to Herod as a prisoner, hearing that Jesus was from Herod’s jurisdiction of Galilee. Herod and his soldiers simply made fun of Jesus and sent him back to Pilate. We all have a deep longing for the Lord and if we remain true to that longing and act out of it, we will discover the Lord’s longing for us. We will allow the Lord to meet us and to satisfy the deepest hunger and thirst within us.