Herod

No Roman judgement Pilate could display
In that the Lamb of God did speak the truth
With wisdom pure against the questioning
And probing of the prefect to procure
An outcome thence to satisfy the Jews
And Emperor Tiberius in Rome.
No compromise, no satisfaction gained
The only answer was to set Him free
Or so it seemed for now the crowd before
The prefect kept shouting dissenting lies
Against the Lamb of God whose ministry
To bring salvation, healing and wholeness
By opening the eyes of those who now
Were blind to Yahweh’s Kingdom in the heavens
And knowledge of the same, for which the Lamb
Of God was sent to preach to bring the same
Kingdom into the hearts and minds of those
Who dared to follow in His footsteps true.
The crowd before the prefect told him thus:
“This man, a so-called rabbi causes strife
And dissention by what he dares to teach
Us, many are his lies, his falsehoods sure,
We are stirred up, confused and shaken by
Such discourses that from his own mind wrought
And spoken through his own deceptive lips
To twist the truths of what we have been taught
By our own scribes and Pharisees who keep
The law of Moses inscribed on our hearts
And prophecy divine, that which foretells
The coming of Messiah powerful
To free us from enslavement and the hand
Of tyranny, that for so long has held
The chosen race in its fierce stranglehold.
Yes, prefect, that Messiah will break the yoke
By which your Roman empire holds us down.
Why can you not decide upon the fate
Of this false prophet who has turned his back
Upon our laws and customs that of old
Have given hope of freedom, life and peace?”
Pilate, hearing the tumult of the crowd
Asked “Is this man a son of Galilee?”
“From whence therefore has he come, from what town
Or village in that province, know you of it?
If not, I charge you, your own counsel keep.”
Word came to Pilate as was spoken thus:
“This man, the one who calls himself a king
Was born in Bethlehem but once lived as
A carpenter by trade in Nazareth
Jesus bar-Joseph and of Miriam
His mother who has lived there for nigh on
Some thirty years, why not now send Him to
That tetrarch Herod, even though the mere
Sound of his name brings nought but hatred to
Your very mind and heart? Send him to that
Puppet of Tiberius, let him see
If there is anything that he can glean
By which a judgement can be reached so that
This matter can be closed and peace restored.”
Thus Pilate, anxious in his search to find
The answer that was denied him, sent the Lamb
Of God to Herod, king and ruler of
The Galilean province, who made haste
To have an audience with the Nazarene.
A long-awaited audience, Herod was
On seeing Him, pleased greatly but it was
For his own ends, not for the Lamb who stood
Before him, yet He could see the impure
Intent which Herod harboured in his mind.
Some playful act to satisfy his false
And shallow longing, supernatural
Manifestations, wonders to the eyes
Yet filled with mockery and wicked jest
And questions numerous. Herod now asked:
“Why have you come to me, what can I do
For you, mere Nazarene, why are you led
To me by soldiers and the chief priests of
The temple? Are you guilty of some crime?”
The Lamb of God, discerning Herod’s guile
Kept His own counsel, for there was no need
To justify himself to human thought
And crooked questions. Herod asked again:
“Tell me, mere Nazarene, are you a king
Like me, with sumptuous throne and kingly wealth
Unbound? If that is so, then why are you
Dressed in such unseemly attire, not fit
For royalty, where is your kingdom from?”
Once more, the Lamb of God his silence kept
For He discerned the question that Pilate
Had asked of Him, as if once more a trap
Was set to hold Him in its vicious snare
And hold him to account of treachery
And treason against the fox who waited for
The answer to condemn Him. Silence reigned.
“Why no answer, why no direct response
To such a simple question, Nazarene?
Are you unsure of what you really are
With mind and heart displaced by doubt and fear?”
Into the heart of Herod, the serpent
Who tempted Eve to take and eat the fruit
Forbidden to her and to all her kin
Including Adam, he who had succumbed
To Satan’s lure through Eve, the act of which
Destroyed the purity of Adam’s race,
The Lamb of God once more discerned the wiles
Of the great serpent who, with spitting tongue
And poison fangs dispensed the bitter dose
To bring creation crumbling to its knees
Lost in eternal sin and nature’s night
Struggling to see the glorious light of day
That once shone brightly, now eclipsed by night
And lost in what seemed all eternity.
No words, no inclination of His head
Was given by the Holy Lamb of God
But only silence, honest, pure and right
As befits royalty and kingly rule
In fruits of wisdom, knowledge good and true.
Herod, uneasy in the silence held
Asked further in his quest for fanciful
Visions and happenings beyond his grasp
To try and break the barrier which held
Him back from reaching what was rightly not
For him, relentlessly pursued further:
“I am a king, why don’t you now kneel down
And homage pay your sovereign supreme,
Poor Nazarene, wherefore has gone your tongue
That you refuse to answer royal requests?
Is it not rude to ignore the one who
Holds sway o’er Galilee from where you come?”
In silence still, with mind discerning well
Temptation given in the wilderness
To bend the knee to all that evil is
And forfeit Sonship, Godhead laid aside
And the right hand of Yahweh where He once
Sat in the heavenly realm of radiant light
And truth bedecked in Heaven’s glorious ray.
No sound, no syllable came from the lips
Of Him for whom this hideous audience
Now drained His mental faculties unto
The point to which patience was tested sore.
Yet still He kept His silence, hoping for
An end to questions vile, despicable.
A long pause held its sway while Herod in
Half intrigue, half annoyance, decided
To question one more time the Lamb of God
With temptation as vile as the serpent
Who tempted humankind with wisdom false
To trap and ensnare Him into his lair
Having perceived fatigue of mental might.
The final question put to Him was thus:
“If king you are, and Son of God, why not
Prove your true kingship and sonship divine,
And for me perform a small miracle,
A sign to show that you indeed are who
And what you say you are, come now, give me
That simple sign for me, for if you do
Then I shall worship you and bend the knee
In homage and in admiration true.”
Foolish request, vile mockery unveiled
To tempt the One to make His power an act,
A performance to please a puppet king,
Stupidity from a king who knows nought
Of kingship true, of Heaven’s purpose in
The meaning and the value of such signs
Which for all souls and time were given to
Enhance and spread the Kingdom of the Lord,
Of Yahweh and His purposes divine.
In silence and contempt the Lamb of God
Refused to accede to vile Herod’s wish
Knowing full well such action would bring down
Nothing but shame on Him who, being God
Albeit for a while Godhead aside
Was laid, until His mission was fulfilled,
And spoil the Divine Purpose set to bring
Salvation to the fallen human race.
There is no end to Satan’s filthy lies
But in the Lamb of God is seen the way
Of life and peace, authority divine
To tread the serpent’s head into the ground.
Herod, his wrath let forth now ridiculed
And mocked Him who for our sakes bore the brunt
Of pain and anguish, willingly shouldered
The crushing pain of terrors yet to come.
Present also in this debased charade
Spat accusations false, their voices raised
In an attempt to browbeat and demean
The Lamb of God into submission low.
The mockery continued, soldiers too
Gave vent to their foul taunts which only served
To share their humour at the Lamb’s expense
And play games childish and to bring Him down
To their base level, now parading Him
In raiment fine though not that of a king,
A foretaste of significant events
For which they had no knowledge, now they led
The Lamb of God away back to Pilate
With narrative of all that day’s events
Spoken to Pilate, so that even he
Could not help but appreciate all that
Herod had tried, yet failed, to bring about.
A friendship formed, where once there had but been
Hatred and enmity between the two.
The Lamb of God brought restoration of
Relationships between two men who once
Felt nought but hatred, one to the other.
By His silence more powerful than words, He
Could say, or ever hope to say, the Lamb
Was victor in the face of verbal lash.
Peace reigned supreme, to Him the victory.