Entertaining Crowds

Introduction:

Peer pressure can make you do some crazy things. The encounter we are going to look at this morning will disturb and sicken you. It has all of the elements of a blockbuster hit, and while it might entertain the crowds, it should grieve our hearts.

We will dive right in and see what happens.

Matthew 14:1–12 ESV

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 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.” 3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

Pray

Jesus has given us examples in the previous chapter of the response that the message of the Kingdom of God would produce. Some would receive it, but many would reject it. Jesus’ own home town would not receive Him, so it is no wonder that the rulers of the wicked kingdoms of the world would not as well.

We have in what follows a tale of wickedness that can only be matched by the Old Testament king and queen, Ahab and Jezebel. They too rejected God’s messengers.

When God sends a prophet to preach against sin, it is an act of His mercy and grace. It is a warning of judgment to come. However, many people will have a rock-hardened heart and reject the warning God gives. It is no wonder that Hell is the place reserved for the wicked and their unrepentant souls.

Herod is one of these people and he represents those who want nothing to do with Jesus.

1. Herod’s Guilt (vv.1-2)

Matthew 14:1–2 ESV

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 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.”

Who was this Herod that the Bible speaks of?

There were several Herods

They shared the same name and the same wives it seems

Son of Herod the Great and also known as Herod Antipas

He was married to the King of Aretas’s (Nabateans - Petra) daughter

He took a trip to Rome and became lustfully enamored by His brother Phillip’s wife

He illegally divorced his Nabatean wife and seduced Herodias away from His brother Phillip and married her

To make matters worse, she was his niece being the daughter of his other half-brother, Aristobulus

The divorce so angered the Nabatean king that he got his army together and destroyed most of Herod’s army. Herod was saved by the Romans

The Jews hated Herod and Herodias. She was very much as wicked as Jezebel and had no problem using sex as a weapon against her husband and as a manipulation tool to do her bidding

John has been condemning the marriage and told Herod that God did not acknowledge his wicked union with Herodias

This led to a convicted conscience that rather than being softened and producing a godly sorrow that leads to repentance, instead produced an unrighteous anger and vengeful spirit

Herod wanted to kill John many times and lacked the courage because of his fear

People all have a guilt. All of us have within us the capability to be just as wicked as Herod and Herodias.

We have a lustful desire for sin. God told Cain in Genesis 4:6-7

Genesis 4:6–7 ESV

6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Sin is crouching at the door of every heart like a hungry lion waiting for us to come outside so that it can devour us. We need to be aware and come out carrying a Holy Spirit shotgun and rule over these sinful desires within us.

Herod did not. He caved to them. Most people in this world will do the same.

John’s preaching had a different effect on different people, just as Jesus taught in the parable of the soils.

For those who heard and were cut to the heart and repented, even some of the war-hardened Roman soldiers, they were baptized by John as a sign of the washing away of the sin of their heart.

That is exactly what Lane has demonstrated this morning. He has shown his faith in Jesus and His covering the sin that Lane and every one of us have in our heart. Lane has shown that he is a new creation in Christ and he has been covered by the blood of Jesus by his repentance and faith in Christ.

Some will follow Lane’s example, others will follow Herod’s.

2. Herod’s Fear (vv.1-2, 5, 9)

Fear of the Crowds

Matthew 14:1–2 ESV

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 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.”

Herod had wanted John dead from the beginning

He felt a dead John meant his conscience could be free

However, he feared the crowds, so he had John arrested

John had repeatedly spoken against Herod and Herodias, and both were biding their time to get back at him

Fear caused Herod to imprison rather than kill John, though he very much wanted to do what Cain had done to Abel.

The righteous will always remind the wicked of their guilty conscience, but no matter how many righteous are slain, it is the presence of the Supreme Judge that really is causing the conscience to scream

Tale Tale Heart

Fear of John

Herod had heard of Jesus works and though Jesus had performed many of His miracles and signs in the region under Herod’s control, He had stayed away from the city where Herod spent much of his time in his district, the City of Tiberias

Herod was afraid that Jesus was really a resurrected John come back from the dead to get even

Fear of His Wife and the Crowds

Herod threw a party and had many influential guests there

There was drinking and feasting

Herodias had no problem sending her daughter in to help “entertain” the guests and her lustful stepfather to do her bidding

Salome was her name and she was the daughter of Herodias and her first husband Phillip

She was probably around 14 years old and the dance she did was not a ballet, but a provocative dance.

It elicited a sexual lust and a irrational vow to give “up to half the kingdom” by Herod

Herod didn’t really have a kingdom, but his promise was reminiscent of the ancient Babylonians we have recorded in the Book of Daniel

Herod was manipulated by his wife and he knew it. She had acted just like Jezebel did with Ahab. She knew his lust would control him and she was bloodthirsty to silence John and ease her own conscience

Herod was also afraid of the crowds. He wanted to be a good host and fulfill his rash vow before them so he wasn’t embarrassed

3. Herod’s Demise (vv.10-11)

Matthew 14:10–11 ESV

10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

The text doesn’t explicitly say this, but we see it implied

Herod caved in to the peer pressure of pleasing the crowds rather than doing what is right and sealed his fate

He ordered the execution (which was a welcome relief to John’s soul and actually ended up freeing him from his chains as his soul went to be with God)

Salome receives John’s head on a silver platter and carries it over to her mother in the ultimate sign of who was really calling the shots.

This was an act of showing the one who ordered the execution that the deed had been done

Herodias had an ancestor by the name of Alexander Junius who had once held a feast and had eight hundred rebels crucified and their wives and children slain before them while they were hanging of crosses.

There are also other reports of the gruesomeness of the pagans. Herod was truly a pagan king and not a godly one.

It said that when the head of Cicero was brought to Fulvia, the wife of Mark Antony, she spat on it and pulled its tongue out and drove her hairpin through it.

John MacArthur notes that this very likely could have been what Herodias did to John. She was tired of his condemning words and her conscience would not yield so she sought to silence him for good.

Conclusion

I don’t mean to be overly graphic this morning, but I am afraid that we often sanitize the Bible somewhat to our own harm.

The Bible speaks of the evil of the sinful heart and we try to “Santa Claus” it up and act like men and women are basically good and just need to be good for goodness sake.

That is a lie. We are evil and have wickedness stored up in our heart. Even our own good is for our own sakes.

These stories in the Bible can be somewhat sanitized of their evil if we are not careful.

What about you this morning?

A preacher once preached a funeral sermon and after a lot of music and the droning on of the service it was finally his time to speak and he began with a question:

“Where are you going?

I would ask you that same question this morning? What is your fate?

Are you entertaining crowds?

Are you seeking to placate your evil heart?

Do you need to silence the beating of the Tell-tale heart that you have tried to cover up?

Herod had a fear of man and not of God. We see the complete opposite reaction in John’s disciples.

Matthew 14:12 ESV

12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

John’s disciples took the body and boldly identified with John, though it could have cost them their lives.

They then buried it with dignity and knowing that they would further seal the deal of their own fate, they went to Jesus.

To go to Jesus would mean more pain and suffering in this life. If Herod had killed John, what would he try to do to Jesus?

They didn’t care. They knew where true salvation was.

What about you this morning? Do you know where to go to get help for your wicked heart?

This world can’t offer it to you.

Satan can’t help you.

Only Jesus can cut out your heart of stone and give you a new heart of flesh. Will you humble yourself and repent?