King Jesus and King Herod: The Servant and the Tyrant (A reading of Mark with India in mind)

Mark's Gospel presents Herod as a Messianic claimant, a figure who, like Jesus, was believed by some to be the promised Messiah. However, the actions and values of Herod stand in stark contrast to those of Jesus, the true Messianic King of Israel. This contrast, while a historical one, also resonates in contemporary times. Many authoritarian leaders of India today, in their actions, resemble King Herod more than the compassionate figures of Lord Jesus or John the Baptist. Herod's arrest of John the Baptist was driven by fear of John's charges against him. It is a clear example of his power abuse, corruption, and immorality, which John had boldly condemned (Mark 6:14-29). 

Herod, despite knowing that the Jewish people would never accept his claim as their Royal Priest, managed to trick the corrupt priests and establishment. He formed alliances with the Roman government and used their power to subjugate the Jews who sought liberation from the tyrant Rome. Herod's favoritism towards the affluent and influential while neglecting the poor and weak further highlights his stark contrast with Jesus. Jesus, as the epitome of compassion, reached out to the poor and weak. He condemned the wealthy and hypocritical religious Jews and uplifted the underprivileged (Mark 6:32-8:33). 

Herod's motivation for renewing the Temple was to stake a Messianic claim, as the Jews believed their God-sent Messiah would renew their Temple. However, Herod was not a son of David but a descendant of Haman –an enemy of the Jews. In contrast, Jesus, though he was the righteous heir, a son of David by descent, wanted to cleanse the temple worship of its corruption. Jesus did not bother to reconstruct the Temple like Herod. Instead, he went on a cleansing drive to cleanse the conscience of the temple authorities (Mark 11). As Isaiah had prophesied, Jesus believed that God resides not in temples made by human hands. Instead, he inhabits people's hearts (Isaiah 66). 

The King of the Jews did not come among the Law-observing Pharisees, who had set themselves apart for God and were awaiting their Messianic King. The Holy One of Israel did not come among the corrupt Sadducees and Herodians. They had hoped that God—who had left the Jewish Temple and exiled them because of their sin—would be pleased to return to their Temple renovated by Herod. He came. However, he did not come in and inhabit Herod's Temple in the way the religious Jews expected. God –Israel's savior– came as the Davidic Messiah, Jesus the Good Shepherd, the truly human one (Isaiah 40-66, Mark 11). 

Jesus, the Word incarnate, dwelt among the poor, the weak, the oppressed, the lame, the deaf, the blind, the mute, the sinners, and tax collectors. He lived among the people outcasted by the privileged Sadducees and prideful Pharisees from their Temple and synagogues. Jesus, God's true Temple, God in human form, sinless yet merciful, the carrier of God's presence, forgave their sins and healed their deformities. Thus, Jesus revealed God's heart. He is close to the broken-hearted but far from the arrogant and cunning.

Another shocking reality of the Gospel is that the one who would save was the one rejected, falsely accused, tortured psychologically and physically, and killed by the very ones who waited for his advent for hundreds of years. Nevertheless, mysteriously, his death opened the way for the reconciliation, redemption, and renewal of even those who betrayed him and killed him. Jesus, in a stunning display of power, drew all forces of evil and allowed them to do their worst on his person. He absorbed their ruthless hostility, announced forgiveness and release for those under their power, and destroyed their power by rising on the third day (Mark 14-16). 

Jesus' victory over evil and death is not just a historical event but a source of hope and inspiration for all who read the Gospel. It inspires us to champion the cause of the underprivileged, oppressed, and unjustly treated. It gives us the strength to question the tyrants and the bullies of the established government who abuse their power to harass the weak. Dangerous demagogues and tyrants who stifle, heckle, ridicule, harass, and detain those who question their government have enslaved the free India. Mark's Gospel motivates us to pray and work for an inclusive government sensitive to the plight of the oppressed. 

We don’t need someone like Herod to give us beautiful temples and statues catering only to the affluent. We don't need Herod-like figures who would use governmental institutions to detain and obliterate those who question their work. We don't need a Herod-like Priestly king who has no birthright to build the Temple yet assumes a priestly role. 

Instead, we need a compassionate Jesus-like shepherd who would cleanse the conscience of our nation of the poison of religious hatred and hoarded wealth. We need a Prime Minister who will protect the commoners of this country, not a King who will stand with and for the elite class only. We need a cabinet whose ambition will be the welfare of every Indian citizen: farmer, laborer, professional, and small trader.