"On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, 'Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.' The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus." -Matthew 14:3-12
John the Baptist Prepares the Way For the Lord
John the Baptist was the son of Zechariah a priest, and Elizabeth (Luke 1:5-25), a relative of Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:36). John was born several months before Jesus to, "go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins..." (Luke 1:76-77). His coming was foretold by the prophet Isaiah as the one who is to prepare the way for the Lord (Isaiah 40:3-5; Luke 3:4-6).
Jesus said that John the Baptist is also "the Elijah who was to come" (Matthew 11:14; Matthew 17:12) as written about by the prophet Malachi: "See I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers..." (Malachi 4:5).
John the Baptist preached a simple message in the desert, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 3:2). This was the exact same message Jesus preached when he began his ministry (Matthew 4:17) and is the same message God spoke to his people through the patriarchs, the prophets and the apostles. Throughout the Bible, God's message for our need to repent of sin is clear. The message of repentance was the reason for the persecution of John the Baptist, the prophets, Jesus and the apostles. Even today, Christians are persecuted for sharing a message of repentance to people who do not know Jesus.
It's surprising that with this simple, yet convicting message of repentance, people from all over the region "went out to him" (Matthew 3:5). Listen to what he has to say on one occasion to some men who followed religious customs and traditions but did not repent of sin in their lives and actually lived a life apart from God:
"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
'I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire'” (Matthew 3:7-12).
Today, some people would say that this kind of message is hateful and would drive non-believers away from God. John the Baptist would be labeled an intolerant bigot and hater for calling people to repent of sin in their lives. But look at what happened after the people heard his message of repentance: they confessed their sins and were baptized by him in the Jordan River (Matthew 3:1-6). "Repent" is the message that God used and still uses to draw sinners to himself and to build his church. Recognizing the sin in my own life and my need for repentance is what drew me to God's holy love and righteousness.
Relationship and Persecution
"Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for John had been saying to him: 'It is not lawful for you to have her.'” Matthew 14:3-4
"So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him." Mark 6:19-20
Interestingly, it appears that John the Baptist, a messenger of God and Herod the tetrarch, the territorial leader of Galilee and Perea, had some degree of relationship with one other. Though we don't know the depth of their relationship, it sounds as if John the Baptist had several opportunities to try get Herod to repent of the sin of having his brother's wife and that Herod had listened to John the Baptist preach on more than one occasion. He even liked listening to him, even though he didn't understand the message.
Another reason it appears that they had a relationship with one another is that according to Mark, Herod did not want John the Baptist to die, but rather did what he could to protect him (Mark 6:19). Herodias tricked Herod into having John the Baptist killed when Herod promised her daughter anything she wanted during his birthday banquet where his high officials, military commanders and leading men of Galilee were present (Mark 6:21-25). When she asked her mother, Herodias, what she should ask for, she answered, "The head of John the Baptist" (Mark 6:24).
And look at what it says a couple verses later: "The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her" (Mark 6:26). According to the NIV Study Bible, the Greek phrase for"greatly distressed" is also used to describe Jesus' agony in Gethsemane (Mark 14:34: "overwhelmed with sorrow"). It sounds as if Herod did not want to kill John the Baptist, perhaps because they had some sort of relationship.
Even though Herod felt this way, he had promised Herodias' daughter anything she wanted and perhaps did not want to appear weak and foolish to his dinner guests. So he caved to the pressure and made the decision to have John the Baptist beheaded based on what others might think of him, rather than speaking up and doing what he knew was right. We can relate this to the influence that individuals, groups, communities and nations have on governmental leaders to either torture and execute Christians or to protect and release them in nations that are hostile towards them. Writing letters to imprisoned Christians is a highly effective method used to advocate for the protection and release of persecuted Christians. The more letters and publicity that an imprisoned Christian receives from other nations and its leaders, the more the government officials see that they are cared about and not forgotten, making it less likely for torture to continue and execution to occur.
Another probability for Herod's distress is that he was trying to protect his own reputation and thoughts about his political aspirations persuaded him to fulfill her request to take John the Baptist's life. Pilate had similar reasons for sentencing Jesus to be crucified, "Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified" (Mark 15:15). Pilate could find no reason to crucify Jesus and wanted to release him, but caved to the crowds when under pressure, just as Herod did. We can all become weak and cave to the pressure when the majority rules, making it difficult to stand for Jesus in a world where we are often the only one.
The relationship between John the Baptist and Herod reveals that though the message of the Gospel is different from the world and can be offensive to some, it is also mysterious and can be intriguing to people who do not know God. Herod was greatly puzzled when he heard John the Baptist, but he liked listening to him. This is encouraging to know that when we overcome our fear of rejection when sharing Jesus with the world, that we too may experience the joy of seeing people become intrigued by God and his ways, and ultimately turn to him. The intrigue and mystery may be what draws people to Jesus.
I wonder to what extent John the Baptist influenced Herod through his relationship with him. According to Mark, it looks as if their relationship could have saved his life if not for Herodias' hatred of him.
Even though Herod felt this way, he had promised Herodias' daughter anything she wanted and perhaps did not want to appear weak and foolish to his dinner guests. So he caved to the pressure and made the decision to have John the Baptist beheaded based on what others might think of him, rather than speaking up and doing what he knew was right. We can relate this to the influence that individuals, groups, communities and nations have on governmental leaders to either torture and execute Christians or to protect and release them in nations that are hostile towards them. Writing letters to imprisoned Christians is a highly effective method used to advocate for the protection and release of persecuted Christians. The more letters and publicity that an imprisoned Christian receives from other nations and its leaders, the more the government officials see that they are cared about and not forgotten, making it less likely for torture to continue and execution to occur.
Another probability for Herod's distress is that he was trying to protect his own reputation and thoughts about his political aspirations persuaded him to fulfill her request to take John the Baptist's life. Pilate had similar reasons for sentencing Jesus to be crucified, "Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified" (Mark 15:15). Pilate could find no reason to crucify Jesus and wanted to release him, but caved to the crowds when under pressure, just as Herod did. We can all become weak and cave to the pressure when the majority rules, making it difficult to stand for Jesus in a world where we are often the only one.
The relationship between John the Baptist and Herod reveals that though the message of the Gospel is different from the world and can be offensive to some, it is also mysterious and can be intriguing to people who do not know God. Herod was greatly puzzled when he heard John the Baptist, but he liked listening to him. This is encouraging to know that when we overcome our fear of rejection when sharing Jesus with the world, that we too may experience the joy of seeing people become intrigued by God and his ways, and ultimately turn to him. The intrigue and mystery may be what draws people to Jesus.
I wonder to what extent John the Baptist influenced Herod through his relationship with him. According to Mark, it looks as if their relationship could have saved his life if not for Herodias' hatred of him.
Another Point of View
Matthew's account in the Bible describes Herod's feelings towards John the Baptist differently. According to Matthew, "Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet" (14:5). Here, Herod himself wanted to kill John the Baptist, but was afraid of what those who considered him a prophet might do. But similar to Mark's gospel, Matthew 14:9 says, "The king was distressed but because of his oaths and dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted...". Perhaps the fact that he was "distressed" or "overwhelmed with sorrow" indicates that he actually did not want to kill John the Baptist, but wanted to protect him as Mark says. We don't know for sure from what the Bible tells us. However, we do know from the Gospels that Herodians, who were members of a Jewish sect associated with the Pharisees and assumed to be supporters of Herod the Great's dynasty, were opposed to Jesus and his teachings, and therefore would have likely been opposed to John the Baptist's ministry also:
"Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus"
-Mark 3:6
-Mark 3:6
and
"Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words"
-Mark 12:13.
-Mark 12:13.
Either way, whether Herod wanted to kill him or not, John the Baptist was arrested and killed for boldly proclaiming the Truth of God's word, which is often contrary to the world's ways and is therefore offensive to some people. This is the reason why Herodias wanted John the Baptist killed. She didn't like him telling Herod that his relationship with her was sinful. Nobody who is indulging in the pleasures of sin wants to hear that what they are doing is sinful. That message is offensive and has the tendency to rub people the wrong way. But that was John the Baptist's message as he prepared the way for the Lord.
The Execution
"So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb" (Mark 6:27-29).
John the Baptist was obedient to the purpose he was born for and lived his life serving the Lord, despite fierce opposition and persecution. He paid the ultimate price for doing so. Just as many parts of the world are hostile towards Jesus and the United States continues to remove God from its foundation, John the Baptist lived in a culture that was opposed to the message he preached. His life and the culture that he lived in demonstrates that though religious freedom in our nation is important, the lack of it does not hinder the advancement of the Gospel when we are obedient to God. Even today, God's kingdom is advancing in extraordinary ways throughout nations that do not have religious freedom and who are extremely hostile towards God.
An Example
John the Baptist's life demonstrates that "everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12) and that "'a servant is not greater than his master'. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also" (John 15:20). If we are obedient to Jesus and genuinely desire for our friends and family members to know Jesus and the love that he has for them, our lives will not be marked by friendship with and approval from the world, or by the comfort and convenience of casual Christianity. It will be marked by suffering and persecution. In fact, James 4:4 says, "friendship with the world is hatred toward God", and Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10). This doesn't mean that we seek out suffering and persecution, but that we learn to expect it as we share the gospel with the lost. This also means that we reshape our thinking by considering suffering and persecution for the cause of Christ a blessing and a privilege. Pastor and Bible teacher David Platt puts it this way, "We have to accept the fact that some people will be offended and upset by our witness." John the Baptist and many others in the Bible are examples of this important truth for us to look to as we work to advance the Gospel and continue to follow Jesus.
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