Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

The Death of John the Baptist

14 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.

As I mentioned last week Matthew is now picking up where he left off prior to his kingdom parables in chapter 13.

Matthew has put together a wide variety of historical accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry that give us a picture of how Jesus was received (i.e.

how people responded to him).

Some rejected him, some reviled him, others even hated him, some were entertained by his miracles, some followed him, some loved him, others didn’t know what to do with him, some feared him, and some saw him even as a threat.

Jesus’ audience was a mixed bag, and Jesus wasn’t unaware of this.

In fact, we saw in chapter 13 that Jesus gave the kingdom parables to his disciples with the intention to help them understand why some responded to him in one way or another.

And these 12 verses here in chapter 14 aren’t any different, they’re intended to highlight even Herod’s reaction to Jesus.

That Jesus’ fame had even reached the ears of Herod Antipas.

One theologian wrote that Jesus was so universally known that the Jews could not have been excused for rejecting their Messiah on a plea of ignorance (Calvin).

The news of Jesus had spread everywhere throughout Israel, and had even penetrated the walls Herod’s court.

Herod Antipas

Herod Antipas was the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, which meant that we was the governor who presided over those districts.

Galilee, of course, was where Jesus had begun his ministry and where he had spent the first year of his ministry.

Galilee was located on the western side of the Sea of Galilee (or Lake Tiberias), and the district of Perea was located on eastern side of the Jordan River, and along the northeastern shores of the Dead Sea (which is south of the Sea of Galilee).

Therefore, it’s makes sense that Jesus’ fame could have easily reached Herod’s ears, given that he was the tetrarch of the area in which Jesus lived.

In fact, it’ll be Herod Antipas who Pontius Pilate will try to deliver Jesus over to before his crucifixion.

Herod the Great

Therefore, it’s not too surprising that Jesus’ fame could have

Now, if you’re at all familiar with the New Testament you’ve probably noticed that there were many who went by the name of Herod.

And if you spend much time looking into who’s who, you’ll quickly find out that the men who are often called Herod are all a part of the same family tree.

However, you’ll also discover that this family tree is very complex, and it quickly becomes quite difficult to follow who’s who.

Especially when you realized how many wives some of them had and how much intermarriage took place between family members.

Without going into too much detail, I want to give you a sketch of who Herod Antipas was and where he came from.

Antipas is one among many brothers, some of whom were also called Herod, and they got their name from their father Herod the Great, who ruled before them.

He ruled before Jesus’ birth and during Jesus’ early childhood years.

He was the same man who attempted to murder Jesus shortly after his birth.

Herod the Great was employed by the Roman government to keep the peace with the Jews, as Rome imposed their rule.

From Rome’s perspective they believed that he was particularly skilled at doing this.

Herod tried to win over the Jews by marrying a Jewish woman despite being an Edomite himself (a man descended from Jacob’s brother Esau).

Macherus

Herod was also a renowned builder within Israel.

He had multiple large building projects throughout the nation including a major renovation and expansion of the Temple, which he undoubtedly hoped would give him favor with the Jewish people.

He also built several palace fortresses including one within the district of Perea known as the Macherus.

According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, Macherus was also the site where John the Baptist was imprisoned and later beheaded.

Which, obviously, connects us directly to Matthew’s account here in chapter 14.

Flashback

When Herod Antipas (one of Herod the Great’s sons) heard about the fame of Jesus in Galilee his conscience is immediately pricked.

And it calls to mind his prior actions against John the Baptist, so much so that he believes Jesus may, in fact, be John himself, risen from the dead.

So it appears that Jesus’ fame has caused Herod to fear.

Now, Herod had known that John was revered by the people as a prophet (we read that in verse 5), but in Mark’s gospel account we read further that even Herod himself regarded John as a righteous and holy man.

In , verse 20 it says that,

In fact, Mark, in his Gospel account, calls Herod Antipas King Herod.

While Antipas hadn’t been given the title of king by Rome, he undoubtedly fancied anyone who would call him king.

Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man,

 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man,

So Herod seems to fear that John has somehow come back from the dead to take vengeance on him for what he did to John.

And it’s at this point, Matthew takes the opportunity to tell us what happened.

And in one sense it’s not too surprising that Matthew would do this.

He’s already recorded for us back in chapter 3 how John’s ministry began, then later how John participated in Jesus’ baptism.

Then in chapters 9 and 11 we saw an overlap between Jesus and John’s ministries until John is finally imprisoned and put to death as it’s recorded for us here in chapter 14.

John himself was even one of Matthew’s examples of how some people responded to Jesus, and here again John plays a role in how Herod will respond to Jesus.

It’s at this point Matthew uses this opportunity for a historical flashback.

John Imprisoned

And so we read there again starting in verse 3,

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.”

Now, Matthew is known for being brief in his accounts compared to the other Gospel writers, whereas Mark is known for including far more detail, so turn with me to Mark chapter 6 starting in verse 17 and we’ll pick up a few more details,

17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.

18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death.