THE MURDER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.
Matthew 14:1-12.
This passage begins with Jesus, and ends with Jesus. It was inevitable that Herod Antipas should have “heard of the fame of Jesus” (Matthew 14:1). It was natural, too, that John’s disciples - like any true believer - should resort to Jesus in their moment of grief and loss (Matthew 14:12).
John the Baptist had made quite an impression upon this member of the despotic Herod dynasty. So much so that, after Herod had had the prophet murdered, he imagined that the accounts he heard of the mighty works of Jesus were in fact being performed by a resurrected John (Matthew 14:2). This is all the stranger in that Herod was of the Sadducee party, who professed that they did NOT believe in resurrection!
This is very much a case of a guilty conscience. “Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife” (Matthew 14:3). Yet Herod knew that ‘John was a just man and a holy’ (cf. Mark 6:20a)! Herod knew that John was innocent of any crime, but persisted in this course of action.
What possible reason could Herod have to want to destroy John? It was all for the ‘love’ of a woman! For John had said to him that “It is not lawful for you to have her” (Matthew 14:4). At this point, either one or both of the couple could have repented, and broken off the ungodly arrangement.
As a result of John’s frankness, Herod now determined to put John to death: but “he feared the multitude” because THEY recognised John as the prophet he truly was (Matthew 14:5). Yet had not Herod already recognised this? Was not this why Herod observed John, and gladly heard him, ‘and did many things’ (cf. Mark 6:20b)? Clearly it is not enough to admire the preacher, to listen gladly, to go through the motions of right living. The besetting sin must be repented of!
So, for the moment, the tyrant’s hand was stayed. Yet secretly, in the background, Herodias and her daughter were hatching a plot. Herod’s upcoming birthday party (Matthew 14:6a) became the backdrop to a wicked murder! We may stay our hand from wickedness for the time being, for all sorts of reasons, but we must be aware that the devil’s schemes still continue.
We are told that “the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod” (Matthew 14:6b). We can only imagine what kind of dance it might have been. Perhaps in the euphoria of the moment, or in a drunken gesture, Herod intemperately blurted out a promise, upon an oath, that he would give the girl whatever she asked (Matthew 14:7). ‘Up to half my kingdom’ he boasted (cf. Mark 6:23).
Now Herod was trapped. We can see clearly who is pulling the strings: “she being before instructed of her mother”, the daughter said, “Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger” (Matthew 14:8). What bitterness the older woman must have held against the preacher! And even then, the daughter could have refused.
Even now, Herod could have acknowledged that his oath was foolish. Yes, the king was sorry: “nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them that sat with him at meat, he commanded it be given her” (Matthew 14:9). No longer fearing the multitude, ‘them outdoors’, he now rather fears his invited guests. Herod had feared John (cf. Mark 6:20a), he had feared the multitude (Matthew 14:5), now he feared his dinner companions (Matthew 14:9). ‘What a tangled web we weave’ begins Sir Walter Scott’s poem, ‘Marmion.’
“(Herod) sent, and beheaded John in prison” (Matthew 14:10). Those who give orders to destroy may never excuse themselves. The murder may be acted out by others, but the responsibility lies with the one who gave the order. Herod was under no delusions as to his guilt. Yet, unlike King David, Herod did not repent!
“And (John's) head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother” (Matthew 14:11). What a horrible sight! What wickedness! In any ‘normal’ society, this should have been a party stopper for sure. Life would never be the same for Herod, who now feared that there was, after all, a resurrection, and that John had come to haunt him!
John’s sufferings were over, so his disciples ‘took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus’ (Matthew 14:12). Our sufferings, too, will one day be over if we have truly put our trust in Jesus, as will the sufferings of all His people (cf. Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17). And we, too, may resort to Him in our hour of need.
