Q:
Why did King Herod try to kill Jesus shortly after His birth? After all, what difference could a tiny baby have made to someone as powerful as he was?
A:
Historians tells us that King Herod (or Herod the Great, as he liked to be called) was a cruel, power-hungry ruler who destroyed anyone he feared was trying to topple him from his throne. He even killed several members of his own family because he thought they were plotting against him.
When a group of wise men (or scholars) came to Jerusalem shortly after Jesus was born they asked one question: Where could they find the newly-born king of the Jews? They added, “We have seen His star in the east and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2, NKJV). When word of this reached King Herod, he sent for them and urged them to find the child, so he could worship him, too.
But Herod was lying. His real goal was to destroy the child, fearing (illogically) that in time Jesus would take over his throne. God warned the wise men of Herod’s plot in a dream, and after Herod realized they had evaded him, he ordered the death of every child in Bethlehem below the age of two.
Herod wasn’t the last to try to destroy Christ and His people; even in our own day evil men and women rise up against God’s work. But God’s Word is true: “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18, KJV). And some day Christ will come again to judge all evil, and Satan’s defeat will be complete. On whose side are you?