Luke 23:8-12

Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had heard many things about him. He hoped to see some miracle done by him. He questioned him with many words, but he gave no answers. The chief priests and the scribes stood, vehemently accusing him. Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate. Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before that they were enemies with each other.

We read today that Herod really wanted to see Jesus, but all he really wanted to see was something supernatural. He obviously had no interest in Jesus Himself. Jesus refused to say or do anything for Herod at all and it appears that Herod was angered by it. So, instead of being glad to see Jesus, he started mocking Him instead.

I believe that this shows Herod’s great pride because He was not willing to take “no” for an answer. I believe that Herod was unaware of how proud he was. He probably thought that Jesus was the proud one. I have seen people like this many times in my life. They can’t stand it when you don’t do or say exactly what they expect and when you don’t, you are the only problem.

Psychology: It appears that Herod was a person who was used to living as a part of a co-dependency. He would have been the one that expected others to meet his needs through their own sacrifice. Jesus obviously didn’t support the disorder and it immediately put Herod on the defensive. I am sure that Jesus wasn’t thrilled with Herod as he had also had His cousin, John the Baptist, put to death. It was a miracle that Jesus didn’t succumb to power, so in a way, Herod overlooked this miracle because of his pride.

Politics: A common enemy sometimes brings people together who would have been enemies had they not hated the same thing. We see this kind of behavior at work in the middle east today when various enemies work together to get rid of others. Perhaps both Herod and Pilate didn’t like the Jewish leadership and Herod’s gesture of putting fancy “king-like” clothes on Jesus dishonored them by suggesting that the man they hated was their king. This may have shown that they both had a common enemy in the Jewish leadership which made them instant friends. Unfortunately for them, it also showed that they didn’t believe that Jesus was who He said He was.