Luke 23:10-12

The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

Luke 23:10-12

In 1758, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, published a song collection titled Hymns of Intercession for All Mankind. The last five of these forty hymns comprise a section of prayers titled, “Thy Kingdom Come.” One of those hymns, written by John’s brother Charles, is a favorite of mine. It is known by its first line: “Lo! He comes with clouds descending.”

In the text, which is perhaps the truest of all advent hymns, Wesley contemplates the final coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first stanza reminds the Christian of the reason for Jesus’ first coming, by declaring he was “for favored sinners slain,” while announcing that he appears again “on earth to reign!”

However, it is the second stanza that grips my heart every time I recall this hymn. So sharply truthful many Christians overlook this hymn altogether, Wesley declares that while the advent of Jesus is winsome for the Christian, it is woeful for those who rejected him. He writes,

Every eye shall now behold Him

Robed in dreadful majesty,

Those who set at nought and sold Him,

Pierced, and nailed Him to the tree,

Deeply wailing

Shall the true Messiah see.

One of those who set at nought Jesus was Herod. Luke writes, And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. While in English the sentence begins with the subject, namely Herod with his soldiers, in Greek it begins with the verb ἐξουθενήσας (exouthenēsas), translated treated him with contempt.

Leading with the verb is Luke’s way of emphasizing the degree to which Herod and his men disregarded and despised Jesus. Herod had been looking forward to seeing Jesus perform a miracle and give him a sign of his charisma and power. But when Jesus refused to play his game, the puppet ruler made him the object of his disdain. The encompassing nature of Herod’s disregard for and dishonor towards Jesus is perhaps more clearly reflected in the King James: And Herod with his men of war set him at nought and mocked him.

Wesley, who by virtue of his time was well-versed in the King James, borrowed the phrase as he wrote about those for whom the final appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ would be dreadful and damning. While Herod was one of them, he was by no means the only one.

Too often we couch the gospel in terms of the verdict we render about Jesus, the decision we make about the truthfulness of his claims and the nature of his sacrifice. Many of us have rendered Jesus not guilty. Many of us have decided Jesus was the innocent one. But verdicts rendered and decisions made mean very little. After all, Herod’s verdict was that Jesus was not guilty of the charges made against him, yet he devalued Jesus completely and counted him as nothing (Luke 23:15).

Far more important than the conclusions we reach about Jesus are the commitments we make to him. That’s what Wesley’s hymn and Luke’s history should prompt us to consider. How are we presently responding to Jesus Christ? What do our words and ways reveal about how the value we place on the One who gave himself for us to redeem us (Titus 2:14)? Do we value Jesus who paid the penalty for our sins and provides a way of escape that we might live in holiness (1 Corinthians 10:13)? Or do we value the world as we relish the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16)?

If our personal decisions for Jesus have not led to practical devotion to Jesus, this is our call to action. May our manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27).