19 The Boldness of John the Baptist (Luke 3:18–20)
So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people. But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison. (3:18–20)
Throughout redemptive history fearless preachers have paid the price for boldly confronting sin. It should come as no surprise then that the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest preacher who ever lived (John 7:46; cf. Matt. 7:28–29), was executed by His enemies. According to traditions (of varying reliability) handed down from the early church, the same fate befell all of the apostles except for John, who was exiled to Patmos. Peter was crucified (upside down, at his request, because he felt unworthy to be crucified as his Lord had been [Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, III, 1]). His brother Andrew reportedly was also crucified; tied instead of nailed to the cross to prolong his suffering. James the brother of John is the only apostle whose death is recorded in Scripture; he was executed by Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1–2). Philip was said to have been stoned to death in Asia Minor, but not before multitudes came to faith in Christ through his preaching. The traditions vary concerning how Philip’s close companion Nathanael (Bartholomew) died. Some say he was bound and thrown into the sea, others that he was crucified. Matthew may have been burned at the stake. Thomas likely reached India, where some traditions say he was killed with a spear. According to the apocryphal Martyrdom of James, James the son of Alphaeus was stoned to death by the Jews for preaching Christ. Simon the Zealot, according to some traditions, preached the gospel in Egypt, North Africa, and Persia, where he was martyred by being sawn in two. Other traditions place his ministry in Britain, where he was eventually crucified by the Romans. Thaddeus (also known as Judas the son of James [Luke 6:16]) reportedly took the gospel message to what is now modern Turkey, where he was clubbed to death. Paul was likely beheaded at Rome during Nero’s persecution of the church. The New Testament also records the martyrdoms of the fearless evangelist Stephen (Acts 7:58–60) and Antipas, a faithful pastor of the church at Smyrna (Rev. 2:13).
In the postapostolic era faithful preachers continued to face martyrdom. Ignatius was martyred at Rome early in the second century. Diligently carrying out his ministry to the end, he wrote a series of letters to various churches while he was being taken to Rome for execution, exhorting them to stand firm in the faith. Polycarp, facing martydom at Smyrna in the middle of the second century, refused to renounce Christ. “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury” he replied. “How then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” When the proconsul threatened to burn him alive Polycarp fearlessly replied, “You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why tarry you? Bring forth what you will.”
John Chrysostom, fourth-century bishop of Constantinople, was perhaps the greatest preacher of the early church (the nickname Chrysostom means “golden-mouthed”). He was exiled when his bold, uncompromising preaching offended many of the rich and powerful in Constantinople (especially the vain Empress Eudoxia). No longer able to preach, Chrysostom turned to writing. So powerful and effective was his continuing ministry that he was banished to a more remote location. Treated harshly by the soldiers escorting him, Chrysostom became ill and died along the way. Historian Justo Gonzalez describes the scene: “When he perceived that death was near, he asked to be taken to a small church by the roadside. There he took communion, bid farewell to those around him, and preached his briefest but most eloquent sermon: ‘In all things, glory to God. Amen’” (The Story of Christianity [Peabody, Mass.: Prince, 1999), 1:199–200).
Two notable medieval forerunners to the Reformation were John Wycliffe and Jan Huss. Wycliffe (1329–1384), sometimes called the “Morning Star of the Reformation,” was an English reformer who affirmed the Bible to be the only authority in matters of doctrine and practice. He sought to translate it into English, so more people could read it. Wycliffe taught that Christ, not the pope, was the head of the church, denied the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and (like Luther later would) opposed the granting of indulgences (remissions of some or all of the punishments of purgatory, often sold in the Middle Ages to raise money for the Catholic Church). Wycliffe and his followers, the Lollards, helped pave the way for the Reformation in England. For his bold opposition to the false teaching of his day, Wycliffe was condemned and forced to leave his position at Oxford.
Wycliffe’s younger contemporary, the Czech reformer Jan Huss (1373–1415) paid a steeper price for opposing some of the false teaching of the Roman church. Huss, like Wycliffe, taught that the Bible, not the pope, was the supreme authority. He also rejected indulgences. When the pope issued a decree that forbade preaching in chapels such as the one Huss preached in, Huss ignored it and continued to preach. For doing so, he was excommunicated. Huss was summoned to appear before the Council of Constance (1415) and was promised safe conduct to and from the council by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. But Huss was condemned and burned at the stake, the emperor’s guarantee of safe conduct notwithstanding.
Among the hundreds of Protestants martyred in England during the reign of Mary Tudor (“Bloody Mary”) was the great preacher Hugh Latimer. As he was about to be burned at the stake along with fellow reformer Nicolas Ridley, Latimer said to him, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as I trust shall never be put out.”
In modern times many faithful preachers of God’s Word have faced persecution or martyrdom in such places as China, the Middle East, parts of Africa and India, and elsewhere. Nevertheless, as Paul wrote during his own imprisonment for the cause of Christ, “the word of God is not imprisoned” (2 Tim. 2:9).
The first of many through the ages who would be martyred for faithfully testifying to Christ was His forerunner, John the Baptist. By human standards, John’s career does not appear to have been very successful. His brief ministry of about a year was spent in the Judean wilderness, and ended with a long stretch in prison followed by his being beheaded.
But such an evaluation of John’s career is misguided. The truth is, he was eminently used by God to accomplish the task for which he was born (Luke 1:13–17, 76)—so much so that Jesus said of him, “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!” (Matt. 11:11). John accomplished precisely what God purposed him to.
Having given examples of his preaching and interacting with the crowds in verses 7–17, Luke closed out the story of John the Baptist with this brief summary of his ministry. It should be noted that Luke’s insertion of this section here was not chronological, but thematic. John was not actually imprisoned until later in Jesus’ ministry, but Luke pulls his imprisonment back to this point to conclude his account of John’s ministry and set Jesus on center stage. For the rest of Luke’s gospel John appears only in reference to Him.
Three words, “preaching,” “personalizing,” and “persecution,” help un fold John’s impact.
PREACHING
So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people. (3:18)
As noted in the previous chapter of this volume, John ministered for many months in the Judean wilderness near the Jordan River. Large crowds flocked to hear him, and speculation was rampant that he might be Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. John was not the Messiah, but he preached the gospel to the people, calling them to repent and baptizing those who did so in preparation for the Messiah’s coming. His exhortations exposed the wickedness of their hearts, condemned their reliance on ritual and their Abrahamic heritage for salvation, and warned them that they would face God’s wrath and judgment if they did not truly and evidently repent. His message was not confined to the Jewish people, however, as his condemnation of Herod, a non-Jew, indicates (see the exposition of v. 19).
John’s ministry overlapped that of Jesus, continuing for as long as six months after he baptized Him. But as Jesus came to the forefront, His ministry eclipsed John’s. In John 3:22–36, the apostle John recorded John the Baptist’s final testimony to Jesus, as his ministry wound down to its conclusion. Verses 22–23 note that both Jesus (through His disciples; cf. 4:2) and John were baptizing, indicating the overlap in their ministries referred to above. Both Matthew (4:12) and Mark (1:14) move directly from Christ’s temptation to John’s imprisonment. John’s gospel supplements the account of the Synoptic Gospels by revealing what took place between those two events.
Disturbed by their master’s declining popularity, John’s disciples “said to him, ‘Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him’” (v. 26). Though his disciples may have lost sight of the purpose of John’s ministry, which was to point Israel to the Messiah, John had not. “A man can receive nothing,” he reminded them, “unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him’” (vv. 27–28). John saw Jesus’ increasing popularity not as a threat to his ministry, but as its fulfillment. To make his point perfectly clear, John told his disciples, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (v. 30). Then in verses 31–36 John gave six reasons why Jesus was superior to him.
First, Jesus had a heavenly origin. He is the one “who comes from above [and] is above all” (v. 31; cf. 6:33, 38, 50–51, 58; 8:42; 13:3; 16:28; 17:8; 1 Cor. 15:47; Eph. 4:10), which affirms His deity.
Second, Jesus is omniscient. His teaching is superior to anyone else’s because He is the source of divine revelation. “What He has seen and heard” in the heavenly realm, “of that He testifies” (v. 32).
Third, what Jesus said was always in complete harmony with God the Father, so that “he who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true” (v. 33). Conversely, to reject Jesus is to call God a liar (1 John 5:10).
Fourth, Jesus experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in an unlimited way; God gave Jesus “the Spirit without measure” (v. 34). That is in contrast to all others who spoke for God, even the prophets and the inspired writers of Scripture. Their ability to receive the Spirit’s power was limited by their sinful, fallen human natures. But since in Christ “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 2:9), there were no limits on the Spirit’s power working in Him.
Fifth, Jesus has received all authority from the Father, who “has given all things into His hand” (v. 35). The Father’s granting Him supreme authority over everything in heaven and earth (Matt. 11:27; 28:18; 1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:22; Phil. 2:9–11; Heb. 1:2; 1 Peter 3:22) is a clear testimony to the Son’s deity.
Finally, Jesus alone is the Savior (Acts 4:12), and “he who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (v. 36). Since in Isaiah 43:11 God declared, “I, even I, am the Lord, and there is no savior besides Me,” to say that Jesus is Savior is to say that He is God.
Having given this final testimony to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, John faded from the scene. The work of the great prophet was over.
PERSONALIZING
But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, (3:19)
John’s bold preaching was not only directed to large audiences, but also to specific individuals. Even Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea (see the discussion of 3:1 in chapter 17 of this volume) where John was ministering, did not escape being reprimanded by him. Antipas was a son of Herod the Great, and his long reign (4 B.C. to A.D. 39) encompassed the entire ministry of Jesus Christ. With the exception of the birth narratives (Matt. 2:1–19; Luke 1:5), Antipas is the Herod who appears in the gospel accounts. He was not a Jew; his father, Herod the Great, was an Idumean (Edomite) and his mother, Malthace, was a Samaritan. That he was descended from the despised Edomites and Samaritans did not endear Antipas to his Jewish subjects. Neither did his actions as ruler, in particular building Tiberias, his capital city, on the site of a Jewish cemetery. Because they considered the site to be defiled, Antipas had a hard time persuading any Jews to settle there.
Though some may have hesitated to rebuke a ruler of Herod’s status, John was not deterred. The verb translated reprimanded is a present passive participle, indicating continuous action. John continually challenged the moral character of this ruler because of all the wicked things which Herod had done.
Of all of Herod’s sins, one glaring one stood out publicly: his illicit marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife. Their sordid story was nothing less than a first-century soap opera. Marital problems were nothing new to the Herods; Antipas’s father, Herod the Great, for example, had had ten wives. Antipas had married the daughter of Aretas, the king of Nabatea, a region located just south of Perea. While on a journey to Rome, Antipas visited his half brother Philip (not the Philip the tetrarch mentioned in 3:1). While staying with him, Antipas became infatuated with Philip’s wife Herodias (who was also Antipas’s niece, the daughter of another of his half brothers). The ambitious Herodias was eager to be the wife of a tetrarch (her husband, Philip, was a private citizen) and agreed to marry Antipas on the condition that he divorce Aretas’s daughter. Aretas was outraged over this insult, and his smoldering resentment later led to war between him and Antipas. Antipas was defeated by Are-tas and saved from disaster only by Roman intervention.
Herodias would ultimately prove to be Herod’s downfall. After Emperor Caligula granted Herodias’s brother Agrippa I (Acts 12:1) the title of king, she demanded that Herod go to Rome and obtain the same title. (The gospel references to him as king [Matt. 14:9; Mark 6:14, 22] reflect informal popular usage of the term.) But before Herod and Herodias reached Rome, a messenger from Agrippa accused Herod of wrongdoing. As a result, Caligula deposed Herod who, accompanied by Herodias, was banished permanently to a city in what is now France.
Antipas and Herodias are reminiscent of another ill-fated couple, Ahab and Jezebel. “Like Ahab,” writes D. A. Carson, “Antipas was wicked but weak; and Herodias, like Jezebel, wicked and ruthless” (Matthew, in Frank E. Gaebelein, ed., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984], 8:338). Antipas’s weakness coupled with Herodias’s ruthlessness ensured that eventually their sins could only bring disastrous consequences.
PRISON
Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison. (3:20)
Antipas’s marriage to Herodias was wrong on several counts. First, they divorced their spouses to marry each other. Second, their relationship was also incestuous, since she was his niece. Finally, Antipas’s marriage to her was a flagrant violation of the Mosaic law, which explicitly prohibited a man from marrying his brother’s wife (Lev. 20:21). The only exception was to produce offspring if his brother died (levirate marriage). But Philip already had offspring (Salome; see the discussion below). Moreover, he was still alive.
Although he was calling Herod to repent out of concern for his soul, John’s uncompromising rebuke of the couple’s illicit marriage was explosive politically. As noted above, Aretas was already infuriated that Antipas had divorced his daughter to marry Herodias. Now the widely popular John the Baptist was denouncing his sin. Moving to silence the bold preacher, Herod added to his already lengthy list of iniquities the most public one of them all: he locked John up in prison.
Luke ends the story of John there, but Matthew and Mark record the grim final episode of his life. Wanting to execute John, but afraid of the people’s reaction (Matt. 14:5), Herod kept him in prison. But mere imprisonment was not enough for the vindictive Herodias, who “had a grudge against [John] and wanted to put him to death” (Mark 6:19). Eventually, she found a way to manipulate her husband and get what she wanted. At a gala celebration of Antipas’s birthday Herodias’s daughter from her marriage to Philip (Josephus gives her name as Salome) performed a lewd and immoral dance before Herod and his guests. Seduced by her performance, wanting to play the magnanimous ruler before his guests, and probably more than a little drunk, Herod “promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked” (Matt. 14:7). Prompted by her vengeful mother, the girl replied, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist” (v. 8). Grieved over the outcome of his foolish promise but too proud to break it, Herod reluctantly ordered John’s decapitation (Matt. 14:10).
In the end, killing John did not accomplish anything for Herod and Herodias. As noted above, they eventually lost everything and went into exile. And Herod was haunted by guilt over what he had done. Thus when reports of Jesus’ ministry reached him, Herod exclaimed, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him” (Matt. 14:2). And Herod would add to his guilt by playing a role in the trial of Jesus (Luke 23:7–12).
John’s humble acceptance of his subordinate role is an example for all preachers (and all believers) of humility. John confrontively and fearlessly spoke the truth, thus faithfully carrying out his ministry. He boldly called for repentance no matter what it cost him. In an age of ear-tickling preaching (2 Tim. 4:3) and self-promoting preachers (Phil. 1:17), the church desperately needs more bold, yet humble preachers like the Baptist.