The Cost of Being Faithful

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.

If you watch the show “The Chosen” there is an episode close to the finale of season 2 where Jesus and John the Baptist have a private conversation regarding the actions that take place in scriptures that we just read Jesus tells John to be carefully in what he is about to do. He never tells him to back down, but in concern Jesus warns John to cautiously be carefully. In which John tells Jesus that he is always careful and with a smile on his face he exclaims that God’s will will be done.

What John was about to do was poke a snake that had a terrible bite. This is what the snake consisted of. Herod the Great was the Roman appointed ruler of Israel. This was the “king” who was in power when Jesus was born. When he passed away his kingdom was divided into 4 sections, or quarter. 3 of the 4 sections were given to 3 of Herod the Great’s sons. Herod Archelaus was the tetrarch (“ruler of a quarter”) of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea. Herod Antipas, the one were are talking about in the story, was the tetrarch of Galilee. The north western quarter of the kingdom, as well as the land east of the Jordan river. His brother Philip governed the north eastern province known as Batanea.

*Quick flash back to the origin story of Jesus. Remember the Herod that was killing all the male babies that were age 2 and younger? That was Herod the Great. Joseph and Mary fled and went to Egypt, and when they returned they learned that Herod Archelaus was in control of the land they were returning to, but he was a ruthless and brutal leader and after being warned, Joseph returned to Nazareth of Galilee.*

Now the situation at hand. Herod the Great married a woman and had a son named Aristobulus. Aristobulus was sent to Rome with his brother Alexander in order to be brought up in Roman culture and further the dynasty. When they returned well educated and proper, Herod the Great was threatened by their ability to act fancy and powerful. Oh and they were apparently gorgeous men as well. Herod felt threatened, and he killed boy his sons and their mother. He wiped out the entire line. He however left their children, his grandchildren, alive because he had taken a liking to them.

Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus. She was married to Herod II (also called Herod Philip, but not Philip the ruler), which is Herod the Greats son. She married her half uncle. They lived in Rome in order to escape all of the craziness that was happening in Judea. They had one daughter, Salome, together. It was custom in the culture of the Jews that when a marriage covenant was entered, you remained in the marriage, just as we think today. But Herodias thought otherwise, and she divorced her husband while she was in Rome. She returned to Judea and married her uncle Herod Antipas, the guy we read about in the scriptures and the one that John rebuked heavily.

Herod Antipas, governor of Galilee convinced his niece to leave his brother, and marry him instead. This sounds wild as it is. What we have is an incestuous relationship that ended in divorce, and the reestablishment of another incestuous relationship. Big mistake according to law. Leviticus 18:16 “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.” So you have incest, divorce, and infidelity all wrapped into one relationship. Which did not set well with John for a leader of the people to openly violate their laws.

John rebuked Herod sharply, and John was thrown in jail because of this. But still John was loved amongst the people, and Herod feared that killing John who cause an uproar. But Herodias wanted blood. This seems to foreshadow Christ a little bit. He offends the religious leaders, they throw Him in jail simply because they do not like Him, and somebody in the mix knows that He should not be killed, but they do it anyways. Leaders are often offended when you confront them with their immoral leading. Anybody would be in reality, but that is how we become better. You see we are in control of our own lives to a degree. If you allow God’s word to rule your life, giving Him control, then you will make decisions based off of what His word says. In turn pleasing Him, which means you will live a wholesome life, and we call that “following the Lord.” But many people decide that they are going to follow their own desires, pleasing the flesh, and living contrary to the Bible. This is call “being of the world” or “walking in the flesh.” If you are a child of God, this is not acceptable to your heavenly Father. His desire is for you to walk as closely to Him as possible, and He will do one of three things: 1. His Holy Spirit will compel you to turn away from your sins. The Spirit that is placed within you at conversion will pull you back to the right side. If listening to the Spirit is not enough, and we continue living to please ourselves, then God will move to step 2. Sending someone to confront us of our sins. When our sins are out in the open, or we think they are hidden but they slip out somehow, whoever notices of the sin that loves you will confront you. Listen to me, IF THEY DO NOT LOVE YOU, THEY WILL NOT CONFRONT YOU WITH YOUR SIN. Someone that loves you will want the best for you. The best of all is that we follow the Lord, and if someone is allowing you to stray without trying to draw you back, then how can they say they love you? Nathan was sent to David when he slept with Bathsheba and killed Uriah. Why? Because David was a good king, he was loved, and god wanted him back onto the right path, but he needed to be put in check. 3. God will chastise you. Which means that God will punish you for your way of living. When you live in sin without consequences, why would you stop? It is hard for people to stop doing what they would like to do, even though they are destroying themselves. Being drunk on alcohol can be fun, but it leads to alcohol poison, cirrhosis of the liver, brain damage, and death of ones self or others. Crystal meth is fun and addictive, but do I really have to go into details of why you should not do it? Sex is fun, but it is a two edged sword. Sex latches you to the person you are laying with, forming an ever lasting bond. This is why God created sex for married people. The more you sleep with people and break it off, the less of yourself you will have, the more broken you will be. Not to mention the potential for children, which is ultimately what the act is for.

God will call you back if you are His child because He loves you and He wants you to walk with Him.

The situation we have with John the Baptist is this. Herod was the leader of the Jewish people. He was from the region himself, and he knew the customs. As a leader of God’s people, He expects you to keep your nose as clean as possible, and lead His people to follow Him. The religious leaders lead the people to God’s heart, and the physical rulers were to lead the people as a nation along side of God in their walk. When a leader is going astray, God will send prophets to them to turn them back toward God, as we have seen with David. God cannot let His people wander away from Him. What kind of father would He be if He let His children stray?

What John was called to do was confront Herod of his actions, and Herod did not like it at all, and he had the power to do something about it. John knew that going in, and he still remained faithful to his calling.

If are going to be faithful, you must do it in the face of adversity. John knew what could happen. Herod could have changed his ways, but likely it was going to cost John some jail time, maybe even his life, but he was willing and faithful to follow God obediently. Even though things may look hairy, how will people be confronted with their sins if God does not send His children to set the story straight? If you ignore delivering God’s message, how will the person it is meant for receive it? It is like missing a call that you won a million dollars, and were unable to collect it because you missed the call.