The Star: Courage At The First ChristmasSample

Day 4 – A Man Without Courage – King Herod

We like to talk about what it looks like when people have courage. But what happens when people decide to not be courageous? 

The Christmas story shows us an example of someone who was not courageous. His name was Herod, and he was king over the Jews when Jesus was born. We often think of a king as a courageous person, don’t we? King David in the Old Testament certainly showed courage. He knew that his courage came from God, and that courage helped him fight a giant named Goliath! But, sometimes kings are not courageous. Instead, they are afraid. King Herod was like that. What do you think he was afraid of? Stop for a minute and share some ideas with your family. 

Did you guess that King Herod might have been afraid of someone taking his power away? If so, then you guessed right! Instead of being a courageous king who ruled well and protected his people, he was an evil king who did hateful things to anyone who he thought might take away his power. 

One day, King Herod found out that a little baby had been born. Wise men from a far away land were calling this baby the King of the Jews. Can you imagine being afraid of a little baby? Well, that is what happened to King Herod. He was afraid that baby would take away his power as king. Herod’s fear made him very, very mean and evil. He was so evil that he wanted to kill that baby. That is what happens when we choose fear instead of trusting that God can give us courage. We become afraid of little things, and we become hateful and mean to the people around us. 

Fortunately, that baby was Jesus, God’s Son. And God had a special purpose for Jesus. Since God is the King over all, He is more powerful than evil kings like Herod. God had a plan to protect Jesus from the evil King Herod. We have already talked about the courage Mary and Joseph showed as they obeyed God’s instructions that the angels told them before Jesus was born. That courage stayed with them when an angel appeared to Joseph in another dream to help them protect Jesus from King Herod. 

We learn stories about people like King Herod so we can know what can happen when we choose not to have courage and trust God. What choice will you make?