Herod and 47

The lectionary for the fourth Sunday after Advent (December 21, 2025) included reading the story of King Herod ordering the death of two thousand male Jewish babies aged two and under in retaliation for the Wise Men not telling him where Jesus, “the newborn King of the Jews,” was living (Matthew 2:1–22).

I have heard the story hundreds of times. Since seminary, I have known that this story is not true, but it contains truths:

• The Jewish people hated Herod.
• Herod was cruel.
• Herod was power-mad.
• Herod was a master builder.
• Herod was a sick man, mentally and physically. (The story of his death is unbelievably gruesome. You can find many accounts of this on YouTube.)

As I was reading the story in Matthew, I immediately thought of the 47th president of our used-to-be-great country and how he and Herod the Great share many characteristics.

• Herod the Great named himself Great. Likewise, 47 sees himself as great. Some people even think he was sent by God. He claims he knows everything and that his way is the only one. If you get in his way, he will get you out of it.
• Herod was a very cruel person. He had no problem executing two of his sons, a couple of wives, a brother-in-law, and who knows how many others. Likewise, 47 has already called for the execution of six of our national heroes and congresspeople. I suspect trans people will also be on his death list, and maybe gays. We all know that 47 is huge on revenge, so his undisclosed list could be very long.
• Herod taxed the life out of people, literally. He had no problem taking everything and leaving people with nothing. Similarly, 47’s tariffs have become the new hidden tax on the American people. No one seems to be able to tell 47 that his newest taxes, which deny needy people food, subsistence, medical aid, and living wages, will eventually be his downfall.
• In 27 BCE, Herod had an assassination attempt on his life. So far, there have been two attempts on 47’s life.
• Herod the Great had at least ten wives, some of whom were even related to him, and countless mistresses. To date, 47 has had three wives and who knows how many mistresses. The Epstein report suggests that 47 has had encounters with underage women. We know of one woman he raped in a store’s dressing room, and he refuses to pay the millions of dollars the court has ordered.
• Herod, to ensure his place in history, built monuments to himself. As of yet, 47 hasn’t built any monuments (unless we count the East Wing ballroom), but he’s working very hard to commandeer other people’s monuments (the Kennedy Center and Mount Rushmore, for starters).
• As great as Herod thought he was, almost all Jewish folks hated him. About 69 percent of voters dislike 47; some are trying to impeach him for the third time.

Enough! I could add more pages, but I’ve made my point. This Advent, 2025, we not only heard the gruesome story of what Herod the Great supposedly did to Jewish babies, but we also have had to listen to gruesome stories of what 47 has done to our great nation.

Fortunately, the story of Herod’s killing babies is fiction. Unfortunately, the story of 47 is factual, and scary, but I didn’t let it destroy my Christmas spirit.

PeaceLoveJoyHopeKindness

Bil

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P.S. People often ask me provocative questions about current events, both religious and secular. I have found that some of these questions are being asked universally. I’ll be periodically alternating regular articles with one of those questions and my answer. I invite you to send me your question to bilaulenbach@yahoo.com.

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