The Gospel and the Kingdom - Matthew - John the Baptist Murdered By Herod Antipas

 

TEXT: Matthew 14:9-14 – ⁹ And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. ¹⁰ So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ¹² Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. ¹³ When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

Even when Jesus was here on the Earth, people misunderstood who He was. They attributed Him to be many different things – a great Teacher, a Prophet, some thought Him crazy, others thought He was a charlatan trying to deceive the people. Those same thoughts and accusations remain until today.

We have considered how Herod misunderstood who Jesus really was. We went on to see the mistreatment of John the Baptist. Today, we finish the account of the Martyrdom of John the Baptist.

When we left off yesterday, we saw that Herod is now between a rock and a hard place. He feared John as a Holy Man, and had been protecting him. But, in a highly aroused state before his cronies, he had promised this young girl – Salome – anything she would ask for.

I am sure he had no thought that she would ask for such a deed. He was probably shocked beyond measure.

Verse 10 says, “So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.” Concise. Almost devoid of any feeling. Herod had been trapped by his own words. We also need to be careful of reckless oaths we might make! The promises we make – even lightly or without any real thought can come back to haunt us, to taunt us, trap us.

The head of Joh was brought to Salome as she asked, who then took it to Herodias.

John’s Disciples came and took his body and buried it. They didn’t want to leave it for any further misuse or abuse.

These disciples then sought out Jesus. We can only speculate on their reasons and feelings.

• Grief-stricken
• Seeking comfort
• Possibly to warn Him to “tone it down” in case the same should happen to Him.

So, how do we apply this account to ourselves today?

• We need to beware of decisions that we make – in haste and irrationally. What was Herod thinking? Giving a young girl half of his kingdom? Sounded good when he said it – impressed his cronies – but would come back to destroy him.
• We need to stand strong for the truth – no matter the cost.
• We must saturate our minds with the Word so that we will not be quick to make rash, foolish decisions. They always turn on us.