Herod Antipas

Herod the Great was the king at the time of Jesus’s birth. He was an Idumean, an Arab, not to be confused with Edomites, Esau’s descendants. His father, Antipater, became the force behind one of the weaker Maccabean rulers (Hebrews) and forced himself and his sons, one of whom was Herod, into the Judean world. Julius Caesar awarded Antipas Roman citizenship, which helped his sons, including Herod, have rulership over the Hebrews/Israelites.

Herod the Great was an evil ruler who killed his three older sons, several Pharisees and Sadducees, and priests and people who rebelled against him. Upon his death, the fourth son, Archelaus, ruled Judea, while the fifth son, Antipas, ruled Galilee. (They were sons of Herod’s fourth wife, a Samarian.) Hearing that Herod’s son, Archelaus, was ruling Jerusalem, Joseph took his wife and young Jesus to Nazareth, the territory of Antipas, and settled there (Matt 2:22–23a). Similarly, when Jesus heard that Antipas decapitated John, Jesus moved from Judea to Galilee – Antipas’s territory! Jesus never feared Antipas.

We come to another time when the Pharisees, who once sought to kill Jesus, wanted to warn him of Antipas’s plans to kill him. They said to him,

“Go from here; Antipas wants to kill you” (Luke 13:31)

Jesus replied to them,

“Go and tell that fox: see, I drive out demons and bring healing today, tomorrow, and the third day to the people. He can catch me in these three days. But surely no prophet will die outside of Jerusalem.” (13:32–33)

As one of my teachers said, “The King of Judah, Jesus, wasn’t afraid of the Fox of Galilee, Antipas.” When Antipas threatened him, Jesus said, “I will be here three days – if he wants to catch and kill me, he has three days to do that.” But the Lord was sure his death would happen in Jerusalem of Judea, not Galilee. So he concluded by saying, “No prophet will die outside of Jerusalem.”  

Nothing is so assuring as knowing God’s will in one’s life! The Lord Jesus knew that he came to die for the people (Mark 10:45). But he also knew he would die only in God’s timing and in the way God wanted him to die – on a cross, condemned in Jerusalem and hung outside of the Jerusalem walls. As such, he wasn’t worried about a threatening fox!

The same is true of us – nothing will happen without God’s planned decree and calling. Knowing this encourages us to face all life’s challenges. Foxes will surround us, but our destiny is bound in God’s hands. Nothing will happen to us without his wisdom, knowledge, grace, and kindness – even if those outcomes aren’t what we expected!

Tell the foxes – in God’s timing, will, and place!