HE HOPED TO SEE SOME MIRACLE DONE BY HIM
"NOW WHEN HEROD SAW JESUS, HE WAS EXCEEDINGLY GLAD; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, AND HE HOPED TO SEE SOME MIRACLE DONE BY HIM."
Luke 23:8 (NKJV)
Comment: This passage of the Bible says Herod had hoped to see some miracles done by Him—Jesus. There are many people like Herod, who wanted to see Jesus perform one miracle or another in their lives or that of their loved ones; yet, such would not want Him to be their Lord and Saviour.
Do not just seek the gifts or blessings that could be received or gotten from God through Jesus Christ; but seek and endeavour to know or have a relationship with God—the Giver of the gifts.
We have seen many people, even some people from other religions—Islam, paganism, and whatever—who attended healing crusades or revival meetings organized by different ministers, ministries, and churches and their needs were met.
Such people have seen the goodness of God; the sicknesses some of them went to the crusade ground with were healed. Yet some of such people did not fully surrender their lives to Jesus Christ.
It is not enough to receive a blessing or gift from God, you should strive to establish a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.
God is generous, He gives with liberality (James 1:5). He does that that there would be no excuses for those who do not reconcile with Him, God (Matthew 5:45; 2 Corinthians 5:19).
God did that—meeting the needs of those who do not submit to Him:
a. To honour the name of Christ Jesus (John 16:23; Philippians 2:9-11).
b. To also attest to the fact that He has sent the ministers who go about with the healing ministries, meeting different needs of the people.
c. The pagans and those from other religions would not have excuses for not giving their hearts to God—serving Him (Matthew 5:45).
Having a relationship with God goes beyond having your basic needs and other needs of life met.
a. A relationship with God makes you a member of God's family (Romans 8:16,17; Ephesians 3:14,15; Hebrews 12:24,23); having access to the commonwealth of Israel which is being a part of the Abrahamic covenant (Ephesians 2:12,13; Galatians 3:13,14,26,29).
b. Having a relationship with God gives you access to the mysteries—the secrets or hidden truths—of God and His Kingdom (Psalm 25:14; Matthew 13:11).
c. If you nutured the relationship and it grows; It becomes a fellowship, and you become God's confidant and friend (John 15:14,15).
d. You also become a carrier of God's power and a distributor of miracles—signs and wonders follow you (Mark 16:17,18).
e. At the end of your journey on earth, you would have a place in God's Kingdom and reign with Christ Jesus (John 14:1-3).
Thus, the benefits of coming to God through Jesus Christ is more than having your present needs met. If you did establih a relationship with God here on earth—It would continue till eternity, life after death.
It is all right to seek Jesus Christ in order to have your needs met, however, it would be unwise to seek Him only because of the mundane or any problem you are presently having.
Herod wanted to see Jesus performed or done some miracles, but he was not ready to be committed to Him. Seeking Jesus for fun—pleasure, pleasantness or gratification—like Herod had desired; is an abuse of the opportunity or privilege given to anyone by God.
The opportunity of accepting Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour you had today might not be there tomorrow (2 Corinthians 6:1,2). Thus, make hay whilst the sun shines—make the most of the opportunity when it is available!
A relationship is established with God through Jesus Christ, take a step now (Romans 10:9,10).
Peace.