Vanity
Such great images! We can toil all day under the sun and for what? We have children and they will toil just as hard. Generation to generation.
Remember the song Sun Rise, Sunset, swiftly flow the years. The wind blows, changes directions, and changes direction again. The rivers in vain try to fill the ocean.
Chesterton claimed that history does not repeat itself but it sure rhymes. The final thought – there is nothing new under the sun. What a depressing way to start the day! The last line is some comfort. What it implies is that there is a new generation of people. Will we remember our ancestors? We are turned to dust. You can feel the frustration of Solomon as he writes these words.
What, then do we have? The name of Jesus.
He promises that he is the way, the truth and the life. Through Him we have eternal life. We are not made for this world but for so much more. It is depressing if all we can think of is this world. But with Jesus in our lives everything changes. We will come to the Father.
Herod realizes that there is something different about Jesus. Jesus is compared to the great prophets from before. Herod wants to see Him. But Herod cannot see past this world and when He sees Jesus, He fails to see His divinity. We must be careful not to fall into the same trap with Herod. One day we will all see Jesus.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen