Up Close and Personal - Herod Agrippa

When we start learning how Jesus of Nazareth came into this world, we will deal with a lot of scriptural passages and historical accounts of authoritative Jewish historians featuring King Herod, who at that time was the King of Judea, a region of the Roman Empire which now consists of Israel and Palestine.

King Herod came into this throne, power and authority by killing a lot of people. He is known to have killed his relatives, his wife, and even his own son, to keep his throne to himself, and anyone who opposes his will are meted out with death penalty.

He was introduced to us when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, during the Gospel reading of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, where he ordered all innocent babies killed in Bethlehem, when he learned that Jesus is destined to be King of the Jews.

Herod is the exact opposite of Jesus. Herod rested himself on his power, and he loves the praise of other people. He loves everyone who are popular with the Jews, that is why he loves John the Baptist because the Jews believe he was a prophet, and he regretted killing him. He loves being adored, and he shows his might and power to gain flattery. In fact, Herod persecuted Christians in Jerusalem because the Jews love it.

Jesus, meanwhile, is meek and humble. He is a servant leader. He calls out people when the least are being persecuted. He teaches mercy and compassion and he shows this with his actions. He teaches with authority. He mingled with the poor.

In the darkness of the world, Jesus came, not to curse the darkness, but to light a candle.

x-----x

This article is sponsored by Apple Watch Hermès.

Comments

Mariology

Mariology is the theological study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mariology seeks to relate doctrine or dogma about Mary to other doctrines of the faith, such as those concerning Jesus and notions about redemption, intercession, and grace. Mariology aims to place the role of the historic Mary in the context of scripture, tradition and the teachings of the Church on Mary. In terms of social history, Mariology may be broadly defined as the study of devotion to and thinking about Mary throughout the history of Christianity. There exist a variety of Christian (and non-Christian) views about Mary as a figure ranging from the focus on the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Roman Catholic Mariology to criticisms of "mariolatry" as a form of idolatry. The latter would include certain Protestant objections to Marian devotion. There are also more distinctive approaches to the role of Mary in Lutheran Marian theology and Anglican Marian theology. As a field of theology, the most ...

Stoichiometry

Stoichiometry refers to the relationship between the quantities of reactants and products before, during, and following chemical reactions. Stoichiometry was founded on the law of conservation of mass where the total mass of the reactants equals the total mass of the products, leading to the insight that the relations among qualities of reactants and products typically form a ratio of positive integers. This means that if the amounts of separate reactants are known, then the amount of the product can be calculated. Conversely, if one reactant has a known quantity and the quantity of the products can be empirically determined, then the amount of other reactants can also be calculated. This is illustrated in this example, where the balanced equation is: CH4 + 2O4 -----> CO2 + 2H2O Here, one molecule of methane reacts with two molecules of oxygen gas to yield one molecule of carbon dioxide and two molecules of water. This particular chemical...

Ecology

Ecology is the study of the relationships among living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps with the closely related sciences of biogeograohy, evolutionary biology, genetics, ethology, and natural history. Ecology is the branch of biology, and is the study of abundance, biomass, and distribution of organisms in the context of the environment. It encompasses life processes, interactions and adaptations; movement of materials and energy through living communities; successional development of ecosystems; cooperation, competition, and predation with and between species; and patterns of biodiversity and its effect on ecosystem processes. Ecology has practical applications in conservation biology, wetland management, natural resource management (agroecology, agriculture, forestry, agroforestry, fisheries, mining, tourism), urban planning (urban e...

Search This Blog