A Study of Matthew: The Lengths We Go To...

Matthew 14:1–12 ESV

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

You know, sometimes, even in the Bible, you come across something that is just yuck. As much as we want to be polite and proper as Christians, we can’t escape the fact that this awful story is in the Bible.

Our passage today focuses on Herod the tetrarch, also known as Herod Antipas. This is not the same Herod who tried to have Jesus killed as a baby. That king was known as Herod the Great. This is his son. When the first king Herod died, his kingdom was divided into four territories, or tetrarchies, each ruled by one of his sons. The son who got the tetrarchy where Jesus did the most of his ministry was Herod Antipas.

Herod Antipas’ run-ins with John the Baptist had started before Jesus’ ministry even began. John publically condemned Herod because he had stolen the wife of his brother, Philip. Herod then divorced his former wife to marry his lover. This new queen was named Herodias, and if it seems coincidental that she should be so similarly named to her new husband, it’s because it wasn’t by accident. Herodias was the granddaughter of Herod the Great. Both her former and current husbands were actually her uncles. I told you this was yuck.

But, setting aside the whole inter-family marriage thing, Herod was already in trouble. The Herods held out as being Jews. This was a stretch, because they maybe had a little bit of Jewish blood, but they were mostly genetically and culturally non-Jews. But, as the supposed Jewish rulers, they were expected to know and follow the laws of Moses. The fact that both Herod and Herodias had divorced their former spouses in order to legally marry each other was a clear violation.

The first four verses of Deuteronomy 24 explain that a man may divorce his wife if she has acted indecently (as in, having been unfaithful). Jesus further emphasized that sexual immorality is the one legitimate reason for divorce.

Matthew 5:31–32 ESV

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Interestingly enough, the religious leaders—the guardians of God’s laws—said nothing to Herod about his actions. Herod, after all, had the support of the Roman empire, so it was in their best interest to overlook Herod’s actions.

But John the Baptist was calling people to repentance. The Spirit of God was upon him. The scripture said he came in the spirit of Elijah, proclaiming the truth and pointing the way to the Messiah. Boy, did that comparison fit!

Elijah faced off against King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, pointing out their sinfulness, just like John was doing now. And just like Jezebel pushed Ahab to get rid of Elijah, Herodias pushed Herod to get rid of John.

But Herod was afraid of directly confronting John, because John was well loved by the people as a prophet. So Herod had John arrested.

Of course, that didn’t solve anything. John had disciples, and they kept spreading John’s teachings and recriminations against Herod and Herodias. Herodias kept pushing to have John killed, but Herod was too afraid of John to do that.

Cut to Herod’s birthday. He has gathered all the important people of the area to celebrate. In the midst of this, Herodias encourages her daughter, Salome, to dance for Herod. Salome goes out and does this special dance for her step-father/uncle/great-uncle, and Herod is so pleased that, in front of the entire room of guests, he promises to give Salome anything she wants. ANYTHING. Once again, yuck.

But this is what Herodias planned for. Knowing her own husband’s weakness for pretty, young girls, Herodias used her own daughter to flirt with Herod when he was probably drunk —because this was his birthday party, after all—to get Herod to make a stupid promise. He has just promised to grant her request, whatever it is. A more clever girl might have used the request to replace her mother as the queen. But Salome is stuck under mama’s thumb. She asks for John the Baptist’s head to be brought to her on a platter.

And now, Herod is trapped by his own words. How can he deny her request, when he promised it in front of everybody? Even though he knows that John is totally right in his judgments against the throne, Herod doesn’t have the character to do what’s right.

Herod has worked so hard to establish himself as a great king. He has worked hard to show that he has power and authority. Instead, he has actually made himself into a joke. He is a king in name only. He’s a puppet of Rome, worried about the opinion of his subjects, manipulated by his own desires.

That’s what happens when we are determined to do things our way instead of God’s way. It starts with one little compromise. Once we have determined that we are justified in entertaining this action or attitude, then we have to build a defense for this choice. We look for the people who will take our side on the issue, even if what we are doing blatantly goes against the word of God.

We start redefining words to go along with our narrative that puts us in the right. Then we try to discredit anyone who would speak against us and our lifestyle.

When we choose to embrace sin and normalize it in our lives, the only way to defend it is to attack those who stand for holiness. The religious leaders attacked Jesus because he pointed out their hypocrisy. Herod arrested John because he pointed out Herod’s sin. Herodias arranged John’s murder because he outed her as an adulteress.

And the more we try to justify our choices and prove that we are the ones in control, the more we get tangled up and losing control. Like the addict who can “quit anytime he chooses.” Like Herod, who tried to prove he was powerful enough to grant anything Salome wished, only to be forced to murder an innocent man.

There are people all around us who are convinced we are the fools living “restricted, repressed” lives, because we follow some ancient book of fairytales and outdated rules. They think they are living in freedom, when in fact they are slaves to sin and to the devil.

They cover their shame with accusations that us Bible-thumpers are the ones making them feel bad unnecessarily. They deaden the pain with drugs and alcohol. They work so hard to paint us as the enemy.

And sometimes, we take the bait, allowing ourselves to get angry at them—even to hate them.

But they are not the enemy. They are pawns.

John did not call for Herod to be overthrown as king, even though Herod was not the rightful king to begin with. He called for Herod to repent. Jesus did not demand that the religious leaders step down from their positions, even though they were completely off in their understanding of who God is and what he wants from us. Jesus called for the religious leaders to repent.

We can’t make the world love us. In fact, Jesus flat out told us that the world would hate us for loving and following him. But we can show the love of Jesus to the world.

We have an obligation to speak against sin. We have an obligation to point out the reality of hell. But we don’t have to do it in a hateful way.

Herod was so traumatized by his experience with John that, when he heard about Jesus and his miracles, he assumed that John had come back from the dead with supernatural power, ready to judge him.

Eventually, sin will destroy the sinner. That’s why we have to keep guard in our own lives. That’s why we have to keep praying for our loved ones. That’s why we have to keep praying for Jamestown.

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23–28 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.