Who Were the Herodians?

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Known for their sensuality and corrupt living, the Herodians were supporters of the policies and government of the Herodian (Herod) family. They were a political rather than religious party.

The Herodians distinguished themselves from the two great religious - political parties of the day (the Pharisees and Sadducees) by the fact that they were sincerely friendly to Herod the Great and to his dynasty.

The ruling dynasty that the Herodians supported was begun by Julius Caesar in 47 B.C. when he appointed Antipater I the Idumaen to be procurator of Judea. His son Herod (the Great) began to rule Judea in 37 B.C. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, became tetrarch of Galilee and Perea in 4 B.C. after the death of his father. It was this Herod who jailed and beheaded John the Baptist and who sent Jesus to Pilate after his arrest.

The Earliest Conspiracy

Jesus, early in his ministry (around mid-April to early summer in 28 A.D.), attended a synagogue on the Sabbath where he healed a man's withered hand. The Pharisees who saw the miracle believed Jesus broke the Sabbath because they considered the healing "work." Jesus' trespass of their man-made rules (not God's law) motivated their hard hearts to seek the help of the Herodians to murder him.


The Feast of Herod
The Feast of Herod
Lucas the Elder Cranach, 1533

And He (Jesus) said to them, "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbaths, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill?" But they were silent.

And after looking around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as sound as the other. Then the Pharisees left and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against Him as to how they might destroy Him (Mark 3:4 - 6, HBFV).

The fallout of the healing reported in Mark 3 is the earliest Biblical record of at least two sects or groups teaming up to plot against Jesus and seek his demise. It is also the first time the Herodians are mentioned in the New Testament.

Entrapment

It is Sunday, April 2 in 30 A.D., just a few days before Jesus' crucifixion. It is the last day Jewish religious leaders will attempt to directly confront the Lord in the hope they might catch him saying something worthy of death. The Pharisees decide to send their disciples to Jesus, with a group of Herodians, in the hope they can entrap him in his own words!

Then the Pharisees went and took counsel as to how they might entrap Him in His speech. And they sent their disciples along with the Herodians to Him, saying, "Master, we know that You are true, and that You teach the way of God in truth, and that You are not concerned about pleasing anyone; for You do not respect the persons of men.

"Therefore, tell us, what do You think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?" (Matthew 22:15 - 17, HBFV, see also Mark 12:13 - 17).

Jesus' answer to the Herodians and the Pharisaic disciples completely catches them off guard!

And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God." And they were amazed at Him (Mark 12:17, HBFV).

Dedicated Opposition

Why were the Herodians, who were not a religious group, so vehemently against Jesus? One Biblical commentary attempts to answer this question by stating the following.

"All the friends of the family of Herod were opposed to Christ, and ever ready to join any plot against his life. They remembered, doubtless, the attempts of Herod the Great against him when he was the babe of Bethlehem, and they were stung with the memory of the escape of Jesus from his bloody hands" (Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible, comments on Matthew 12:14).

The Pharisees wanted Jesus to prove he was the Messiah by giving them a sign or performing a great miracle (Matthew 12:38 - 40, 16:1 - 4). Herod, who saw Jesus after his arrest, also desperately wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle "on command."

And after determining that He was from Herod’s jurisdiction, he (Pontius Pilate) sent Him to Herod, since he also was in Jerusalem in those days.

And when Herod saw Jesus, he rejoiced greatly; for he had long been desiring to see Him because he had heard many things about Him, and he was hoping to see a miracle done by Him (Luke 23:7 - 8, HBFV).

The Bible states that Jesus warned his disciples about the Herodians.

"Watch out! Be on guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod" (Mark 8:15, HBFV).

The leaven Jesus warned of was that the Pharisees wanted a heavenly sign and that Herod had long desired to see Jesus perform a miracle on command (Luke 23:8). The leaven was also symbolic of the teachings of the Pharisees and Herodians (Matthew 16:12) and their opposition to the gospel.

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