Daily Devotional

Have you ever been told you were blind as a bat, busy as a bee, or hungry as a horse? Such expressions have been around for thou- sands of years. One commonly used simile is to call someone “sly as a fox.” Foxes have appeared in folklore literature around the world for centuries.  Often, they are depicted as a symbol of someone who is cunning or who uses trickery to get his way. The fox is a perfect symbol of craftiness since they are well-known to evade hunters. One of the most famous of Aesop’s fables from the sixth century BC is The Fox and the Grapes. When a fox tried to eat grapes from a vine he could not reach, he wouldn’t admit defeat but simply called the grapes undesirable. Have you ever heard the expression “sour grapes”?

Jesus used the image of the fox to describe Herod Antipas, not because the king was covetous but because he was crafty. Antipas, a son of Herod the Great, was condemned by John the Baptist for eloping with his half- brother’s wife, Herodias, while still being married. He had some respect for John—though he was tricked into executing him—and may have been haunted by the rumour that Jesus was John the Baptist who had come back to life.

When the Pharisees warned Christ that Herod had a mind to kill Him, Jesus responded by stating that His time had not yet come. The next time Jesus and Herod crossed paths was at Christ’s trial when the ruler said he could not find anything in the charges to condemn Jesus to death. So, he cunningly sent the innocent Man back to Pilate. Rather than setting Jesus free, he avoided taking responsibility and passed the buck.

What decision will you make about the Son of God?

Precious Lord, I accept Jesus as my Saviour. He was condemned for my sins and I accept His free offer of eternal life.

For Further Study: Matthew 14:1–12; Luke 23:6–12; Titus 1:16