Curiosity Killed the Cat

September 29

(Luke 23:4-12 NIV) ““Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man." {5} But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here." {6} On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. {7} When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. {8} 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 some miracle. {9} He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. {10} The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. {11} Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. {12} That day Herod and Pilate became friends--before this they had been enemies.””

(Luke 9:7-9 NIV) ““Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed, because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, {8} others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. {9} But Herod said, "I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?" And he tried to see him.””

Herod was curious about Jesus. He had even tried to see Him. He wanted to see a miracle. He wasn’t interested in Jesus as a person -- he wasn’t looking for a Lord, he was looking for entertainment. But when Christ stood before Herod, He stood silent and did no miracles. Herod got to see nothing. He was disappointed and angered, so he ridiculed and mocked Christ. This is what happens when people are merely curious about Jesus, or when people see church as a place to be entertained. People come by the thousands to see miracles, but when Christ doesn’t deliver for them personally, they often mutate from curious to critical. Jesus didn’t come to entertain us with miracles -- He came to save our souls. But until the curiosity becomes conviction, and the conviction becomes conversion, it counts for nothing -- and the old saying will remain true: “Curiosity killed the cat.” -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day