On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.  That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies. (Luke 23:6-12)   The opening verses of Psalm 2 says "Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed…" Pilate and Herod eventually both agree that Jesus is innocent.  That doesn't sound much like banding together against the Lord's Messiah.  And yet Jesus still winds up on a cross, something only the rulers of Rome could order.  This should remind us of something that escapes us far too often.  Sin is rarely so dramatically clear.     We see so many possibly redeeming characteristics in both Herod and Pilate across these episodes.  We almost want to get up and cheer them on to make the right decision this time, because they seem so close and there's so much possibility that hangs in the air! Herod is pleased, curious, and had been waiting a long time to see Jesus.  Is that not the posture of seeking that could result in a genuine encounter?  And yet the encounter sours.  Not because Herod was raging and conspiring against Jesus, but because he was more interested in his own amusement than doing the long, hard work of seeing justice through to the end. Herod wants Jesus to perform some fancy sign.  But, as "a sheep before its shearers is silent, so [Jesus] did not open his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).  So, frustrated that he could not ply Jesus open with his questions—frustrated in other words, that his plaything would not dance—Herod decided to have his fun in a different way.  The chief priests and teachers of the law were there, vehemently accusing Jesus.  And though we later find that Herod finds no basis in their accusations, nevertheless he joins them.  He and his soldiers begin ridiculing and mocking Jesus, dressing him up in a fine robe so that Pilate can join in the fun.  "Here is your king" Herod jests back to Pilate.  And just like that, joking over Jesus, the joke king, Herod and Pilate become friends.    The sin of Herod is a good time.  Slander, mocking, cruel joking and laughter at another's expense.  But on the basis of these boring sins, Psalm 2's conspiracy between the rulers of the age against the Messiah come to pass.  On the basis of boring, workplace, schoolyard sins like these: Herod abandons justice, truth, and the only encounter he would ever have with Jesus. Rarely are the bold, scandalous, or sexy sins the sins that cause we or the church to fall.  Far more often it's something simple like a tasteless joke that wedges us away from a true love of God and neighbour.  Yet even for this, Jesus died.  Though our love fails, Jesus' love prevails.  

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