Who Is This Man?

Where We Are

Thursday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time. The evangelist Luke gives us a brief but haunting passage: Herod Antipas hears about Jesus and is deeply perplexed. He has killed John the Baptist; could this be John risen from the dead? The question "Who is this?" hangs over the entire chapter like a shadow, and Herod's guilty curiosity stands in sharp contrast to the faith of those who follow Jesus willingly. Ecclesiastes opens the week's wisdom literature with its famous, unsettling declaration: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," inviting us to ask what, if anything, endures.

The Word

"Herod the tetrarch heard about all the things that were being done by Jesus, and he doubted, because some were saying, 'John has risen from the dead,' and others, 'Elijah has appeared,' and still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has risen again.' And Herod said, 'I beheaded John. So who is this, about whom I hear such things?' And he sought to see him" (Luke 9:7-9). Herod's question is the right question asked for the wrong reason. He does not seek Jesus out of faith but out of fear and fascination, the curiosity of a guilty conscience that cannot rest.

Today's Full Readings

First Reading — Ecclesiastes 1:2-11

Responsorial Psalm — Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17

Gospel — Luke 9:7-9

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Reflect

Herod's question, "Who is this?" is the central question of the Gospels. Everyone asks it: the crowds, the disciples, the Pharisees, the demons. The answer determines everything.

But Herod's asking is different from the disciples'. The disciples ask from genuine seeking. Herod asks from guilty anxiety. He has murdered John, and now reports of Jesus's miracles are reaching his court. His conscience is not at rest. The question is not curiosity; it is dread.

"He sought to see him" is ominous in Luke's narrative. Herod will eventually see Jesus, at the trial, where he mocks him and sends him back to Pilate. When Herod finally gets his audience with Jesus, Jesus says nothing. Not one word. The man who killed the prophet receives only silence.

Ecclesiastes' "vanity of vanities" provides the existential backdrop. All of Herod's power, his palace, his banquets, his political maneuvering is vanity. He beheaded a prophet and gained nothing. He seeks Jesus and will receive silence. The pursuit of power without truth leads to emptiness.

The question "Who is this?" is still being asked today. Not just academically, but existentially. Every person must decide: Is Jesus a curiosity, a threat, or the Christ?

Living It

Ask yourself Herod's question honestly: "Who is this man?" Not what you have been told, not what you learned in catechism, but what you believe in the depths of your heart. Your answer to this question shapes your entire life, your priorities, your relationships, your hope.

Reflect on Ecclesiastes' warning about vanity. What are you pursuing that may ultimately be empty? Is your ambition building something lasting, something that will outlive you, or something that will pass like morning mist when the sun rises?

If your conscience is troubled, do not run from it. Herod's guilt about John made him seek Jesus, but seeking from guilt without genuine repentance leads only to silence. God speaks to the penitent, not to the merely curious.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we ask the same question Herod asked: Who are you? But unlike Herod, we ask from hearts that seek you, not from guilt that fears you. Reveal yourself to us today. And when we are tempted to pursue vanity, redirect us toward what lasts. You are the answer to every question worth asking. Amen.

Today's reflection draws from Luke 9:7-9 and Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 (CPDV), per the Ordo Lectionum Missae.