Matthew 14:1-12 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” 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.” Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet. 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.
In the above scriptures, we see as in the book of Daniel, that a king’s commandment, degree, or oath must be carried out once it is known by others, in this case Herod’s dinner guests. His position of absolute ruler, sometimes considered to be divinely appointed, would be in question if he went back on his word. In the book of Daniel, we see King Nebuchadnezzar and King Darius make pronouncements that led to persecution of the Jewish people. In the case of King Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace for not bowing down and worshipping a golden image set up by the king. Their violation of his commandment caused them to be cast into a caldron of fire. Of course, the story reveals that they survived this ordeal and were greatly rewarded by the king because of their victory. We also read in the Bible that Daniel got caught up in King Darius’ decree. For thirty days, no one in Darius’ kingdom could worship any other God but the king himself. Daniel’s enemies knew he would not obey this order; they spied out Daniel’s activities and found him worshipping Jehovah rather than Darius. The penalty for not worshipping Darius was to be thrown into the lions’ den. Even though Darius regretted making this decree because Daniel was a favorite of his, the pronouncement had to be carried out or people might question his orders and perhaps disobey his leadership, bringing rebellion into his kingdom. We know Daniel survived this ordeal and was given a better position in Darius’ kingdom. In both of these situations, we find the persecuted coming out on top because God was with them in adversity. In those days, the king’s words were considered as important as written law: his commandments, degrees, and oaths had to be carried out exactly as he ordained them. In today’s focus, we see Herod foolishly promising the daughter of Herodias anything she desired because her dancing pleased him and his guests. Since he announced this oath in front of others, it was a solid gold statement, as good as a law. Surely Herod regretted his cavalier promise to Herodias’ daughter because he knew the people considered John a prophet, but his words had to be carried out, for he was the tetrarch of Galilee. John does not escape Herod’s oath: he is beheaded. Jesus’ beloved cousin is beheaded, not delivered from the King’s pronouncement as the Jewish men in Babylon were delivered from their kings’ orders. This reveals clearly that the purpose of God was not to establish a kingdom on Earth, to deliver John and make him more important on this earth. Instead, his demise pointed to a new kingdom won by faith. Jesus said this kingdom was within us. Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21 KJV)
We are not sure if the disciples of John buried only the body of a headless John or not. Regardless, John’s death was not the end of his existence, for Jesus refers to John as an eternal being, yet at that time as being below the least in the kingdom of God. Jesus, the gate to eternal life with God, had not passed from life to death yet. The cross, the power of God to make new creatures, had not been implemented—it was a future event. So John’s position in the kingdom of God had not been established at the time of his death. He was still considered a righteous man of good works, but not in the robe of righteousness that only Jesus can bring to a born-again heavenly work of God. Before his death, he was considered by Jesus as below the least in the kingdom of heaven. For those after the cross are completely new-works, not just men of great righteousness on earth. I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you. Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Mathew 11:11) John was a man of great works, such so that Jesus said there was never a biological man greater than John. He epitomized a man of God. His lifestyle and his ministry of repentance glorified the righteous One. He did not follow the world’s standards. He rejected the ways of the flesh; he was totally sold out to God. When seeing the religious leaders of that time who were supposedly right with God, he rails against them. 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? (Matthew 3:7) He knew the leaders were deceiving the people with their hypocrisy, their pretense of knowing God. The leaders were so deceptive that they were like vipers who would lie next to the path of those seeking God, striking them down with poisonous pretense and unattainable requirements of good works. Rather than supporting the people to see God, they hindered the people in finding a rightness with God. They were vipers, killers, rather than life-givers; promoting self rather than God. John was a messenger of God, revealing that the Kingdom of God was near, that the first-fruit to that kingdom, Jesus Christ, was in their midst. He would enter that kingdom after the first-fruit of God was resurrected from death to life. “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” (John 1:26-27) Yet with all that John represented, Jesus wanted the people to realize the true children of the kingdom would come after his death and resurrection.
The Holy One, God’s answer to the sin of all men and women, came to earth in the form of Jesus the man. John realized who Jesus was when he baptized him in the Jordan. God had told him that when he saw the Spirit of God descend on a man and rest on him, that He was the Holy One of God, the Savior of the world. I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” (John 1:32-34) Jesus came to humankind as The Christ, the Messiah, the divine Moses to lead people out of slavery to the eternal Promised Land. A lamb was needed to release the Jewish people from the hands of Pharaoh; a lamb was needed to lead people out of the Evil One’s hands to eternal life in the Kingdom of God. We who are alive IN CHRIST have found that delivering lamb through our trust in the works of Jesus. The Spirit did rest on him as He walked this earth. Matthew’s account of John baptizing Jesus says, John saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17) We read elsewhere in scripture that Jesus always did the will of the Father because the Spirit was upon him and IN him. His words were dynamite to the people, exploding the ways that they were trying to please God. He told them that their standard of living, their society, was not pleasing to God, that unrighteousness dwelled within them. But there was a way to be right with God that did not demand their efforts, but demanded their obedience in trusting the works of Jesus. Jesus said that He was the way to God, the way to know the truth of existence and find the grace and mercy of God. He alone would lead them to the eternal Promised Land, known as the Kingdom of God. John had prepared the way for this message by telling the people to repent, for their hearts needed to be right with God. They needed to know they were not pleasing God. Even their leaders who tithed everything, even the spices in their cupboards, were not pleasing to God. Effort alone would not make them right with God; they needed a Savior who was right with God, worthy to go before them to God’s throne. After repentance, then what? The what was to accept the kingdom of God that was near: Jesus Christ in the flesh. He was near as surely as Moses was near in the household of Pharaoh. Moses came near to Pharaoh to deliver his Jewish people out of bondage. Jesus the Christ came down to earth to deliver the people in bondage from the hands of sin and death. Jesus came to rescue people made in God’s image, to truly be made whole, inside and out in God’s image. Believers have been made new forever, never again to hold rebellion against God. John introduced Jesus to us. John, righteous man of God, could not cross the threshold to eternal life with God until the cross. Then, and only then, did God open the gates to heaven to his beloved John. John, the friend of God on earth, became the child of God in heaven. Let that faith journey also be ours: a friend of God and then a full-fledged child of God forever in the household of God. The righteous will live by faith. (Romans 1:17) Amen! Bless you today in your journey of faith.
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