Herod and Jesus: They were both kings. They both died excruciatingly painful deaths. They both built kingdoms. They both had powerful, formidable enemies. Both significantly affected history. They both lived at the same time in history, and they both lived in the same part of the world.
And they both left an empty tomb.
King Herod was a wicked man. King Jesus was the epitome of goodness and purity.
King Herod was a maniacal, delusional, paranoid tyrant who killed his own family members and any other perceived threats to his power. King Jesus was a clear-headed servant who loved His family to the end and laid down His power for their sakes.
King Herod was of course the perpetrator of the great slaughter of the innocents after Christ was born and the source of untold injustice and brutality. King Jesus was the great protector of the innocents and the source of perfect justness and untold kindness.
King Herod built multiple palaces and recreation areas for his own pleasure. King Jesus left the courts of heaven and had no place to lay His head.
King Herod built monuments to himself and was a shrewd politician and conqueror. King Jesus sacrificed Himself for the good of others and was a humble teacher and servant.
“They both lived at the same time in history, and they both lived in the same part of the world.”
King Herod was a personal friend of Emperor Augustus and knew Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. King Jesus was despised and rejected, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. 
King Herod built a self-pleasing monument in the shape of a woman’s anatomy. King Jesus built a self-giving Kingdom in the shape of the cross.
King Herod died of multiple causes including kidney disease, gangrene, scabies, and symptoms many believe to be descriptions of severe STD’s. King Jesus died at the hand of enemies though He was a pure, sinless, innocent lamb.
King Herod actually arranged for prominent people to be murdered upon the news of his death so that at least someone would be mourning in Jerusalem when he passed on—even if they weren’t crying for him. King Jesus arranged for all people to have an opportunity for life at His death so that there would be rejoicing instead.
King Herod’s life was all about himself. King Jesus’ life was all about others.
And they both left an empty tomb!
“And they both left an empty tomb!”
In 2007, Herod’s tomb was discovered on the side of the Herodium mountain by Hebrew University Professor Ehud Netzer, who had been trying to locate it since 1972.
Herod’s tomb had been robbed and desecrated by his enemies, and the archeologists found that his ornate sarcophagus (stone coffin) was empty. When I visited the tomb and found it empty, my first thought was, That’s not the empty tomb I came to see. No big deal if it was desecrated by grave robbers and stripped of its gold and jewels. No big deal if it was emptied 60 years after the death. No big deal because we can explain why it was empty.
By the way, in 2010 Dr. Netzer was on site at the tomb when he stumbled and fell over a railing, causing his death. When I heard that story I thought, One empty tomb brought death—and the other, life.
