38 Fear That Forfeits Christ (14:1-13)
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead; and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they regarded him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Thereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. And having been prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. And 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 away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.
Now when Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there in a boat, and to a lonely place by Himself; and when the multitudes heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. (14:1-13)
C. I. Scofield appropriately referred to the events of Matthew 14-23 as “The Ministry of the Rejected King.” Christ the King had been rejected by His own people; but, with His disciples, He continued to preach the kingdom. During the early part of this period the disciples witnessed remarkable incidents that illustrated the four basic responses to the gospel portrayed in the parable of the sower.
In this account of John the Baptist’s murder we see the second of the eight incidents Matthew records. The first portrayed Jesus’ rejection by the resentful people of His hometown of Nazareth, who were deeply offended that a man they had known as merely a carpenter’s son would presume to confront them and even to proclaim Himself the Messiah (Matt. 13:53-58).
The second incident, recorded in this text, links Herod the tetrarch’s rejection of Jesus with the execution of John the Baptist. Like the first incident, this one illustrates the gospel’s falling on hard and stony soil that God’s saving truth cannot penetrate. The first story deals with a town that rejected Christ; this one deals with a man who rejects Him. The first deals with the common people; this one deals with an earthly king who opposes the divine King. The first deals with the treatment of the Messiah Himself; this one deals with the treatment of the Messiah’s forerunner. The first deals with rejection based on jealous resentment; this one deals with rejection based on fear. Behind both rejections was the common selfish pride of the unbelieving human heart.
This true account is more incredible than the most bizarre soap opera. It is a story of infidelity, divorce, remarriage, incest, political intrigue, jealously, spite, revenge, lewdness, lust, cold-heartedness, cruelty, brutality, violence, ungodly remorse, and godly mourning. But above all, it is the story of godless fear and the power of such fear to confuse, deceive, corrupt, destroy, and damn. Nowhere in Scripture is the truth “The fear of man brings a snare” (Prov. 29:25) more vividly illustrated than here. It is one of the most tragic yet triumphant texts in the Word of God.
The focal point of this brief episode is Herod’s reaction to Jesus. Then, in a flashback to previous events, the reason for Herod’s reaction is given and is followed by Jesus’ response to the atrocity behind that reason.
HEROD’S REACTION
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead; and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” (14:1-2)
Kairos (time) refers to a special season or period of time and in this context indicates the general season when Jesus was facing increasing hostility and rejection. He had been ministering for about a year, teaching, preaching, and performing many signs and wonders—healing every kind of disease, raising the dead, and casting out demons. The exact chronology is difficult to determine, but that time likely covered the year and a half to two years directly after Jesus’ baptism.
Although Herod the tetrarch was not a Jew and had little interest in them or their religion, he eventually heard the news about Jesus. The term tetrarch technically referred to a “ruler of a fourth part,” but it came to be used as a general title for any subordinate ruler of a Roman province or region. He was not a true king in the sense that his father, Herod the Great, was; but he coveted the title and was often called by it (cf. v. 9). He would later ask the emperor Caligula to proclaim him king, but was refused. He was a relatively minor potentate in Palestine who had little power or influence outside his own jurisdiction.
Herod the tetrarch was a son of Herod the Great by his fourth wife, Malthake, a Samaritan, and was a half brother of Herod Philip, the son of his father’s third wife, Mariamne the Boethusian. Herod the Great was an Idumean; and because he not only was a Gentile but was a descendant of Esau and had married a Samaritan, he had been especially despised by the Jews. His cold-blooded atrocities—such as his having all the members of the Sanhedrin put to death for daring to challenge his authority, his having at least one of his wives and two of his sons executed, and his slaying all the male babies of Bethlehem in an unsuccessful attempt to try to destroy the Messiah—made him more hated still.
In secular history Herod the tetrarch was known as Herod Antipas, and after the death of his father, Herod the Great, the Romans divided the kingdom (which comprised most of Palestine) among three of his many sons. The two besides Antipas were his brother Archelaus (see Matt. 2:22) and his half brother Philip (see 14:3). Archelaus was given the southern provinces of Judea and Samaria, Philip was given the northern provinces of Trachonitis and Iturea, and Herod Antipas was given the area in between, which included Galilee and Perea.
At the time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, Herod the Great had long been dead, and this Herod was in his thirty-second year of rule. He spent most of the year at his palace in Tiberias, on the southwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. But he also spent considerable time at the massive fortress palace his father had built at Machaerus, seven miles east of the northern tip of the Dead Sea.
It is interesting that, although Jesus ministered in Galilee more than in any other region, there is no evidence that He visited or even passed through Tiberias. It was within walking distance of Capernaum, Nazareth, Cana, and many other places Jesus went, but, as far as we know, He never set foot in that city. The Lord may have avoided Tiberias in order not to prematurely arouse Herod’s attention. And it may have been for that reason, along with the pagan king’s general disdain for the Jews and his preoccupation with luxurious living, that Herod seemed to be so long in hearing the news about Jesus.
When he finally heard about Jesus, Herod was greatly distressed. As he explained to his servants, he thought Jesus was John the Baptist, who had risen from the dead. Because of haunting guilt for having murdered John, Herod was afraid he had come back from the dead to seek revenge.
We learn from Luke that this notion did not originate with Herod but that he had “heard of all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others, that one of the prophets of old had risen again” (Luke 9:7-8; cf. Matt. 16:14). Herod confessed, “I myself had John beheaded”; and out of morbid curiosity “he kept trying to see Him” (Luke 9:9). In his guilt-ridden mind he had decided that this Jesus was none other than John the Baptist. . . risen from the dead.
The angel of the Lord told John’s father, Zacharias, that his son would “go as a forerunner before [Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). Elijah had been endowed with great miraculous powers, and it may be that John the Baptist performed miracles of which we are not told. In any case, Herod obviously believed John had such gifts and was convinced that the miraculous powers that were at work in Jesus proved He was John returned from the dead.
HEROD’S REASON
For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they regarded him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Thereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. And having been prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. And 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. (14:3-11)
These verses are a flashback to events that began a year or more earlier, just before Jesus started His ministry—to the time when Herod had John arrested,.. . bound him, and put him in prison (see Matt. 4:12).
Before John’s birth, the angel declared that he would “be great in the sight of the Lord, and ... be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15). Jesus testified that “among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11). The forerunner of the Messiah was a remarkable man, single-mindedly dedicated to fulfilling his divine mission of paving the way for his Lord and Master. In genuine humility he was happy to have his own fame and influence decrease as that of Jesus increased (John 3:30).
The almost single theme of John’s preaching was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). As hundreds came and confessed their sins in preparation for the Messiah, John would baptize them as a symbol of their desire for a cleansed heart. He confronted sin and called for holiness; yet despite his somber message and ascetic life-style, he was amazingly popular and respected by the people. “Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea, and all the district around the Jordan” (Matt. 3:5).
By extreme contrast, Herod Antipas was evil, debauched, shameless, henpecked, lustful, and given to every kind of sinful excess. He had more of a conscience than his bestial father, but he did not have the courage to follow it. It could be said that to the extent John was admired and honored, Herod was despised and feared.
Instead of putting John to death, as he wanted to do (v. 5), Herod had John arrested, . . . bound and put in prison, probably in the dungeon at his palace at Machaerus. The palace was located on a mountain higher even than the city of Jerusalem and offered a beautiful and dramatic view. But the dungeon was dug deep into the earth beneath, and archaeologists have discovered the many places where prisoners were chained to the walls. There was no natural light and only dank, foul air to breathe. Here John the Baptist was incarcerated for about a year until his execution.
Herod had imprisoned John . . . on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” The tetrarch had taken Herodias as his own wife after seducing her away from his half brother Philip while on a visit to Rome. In order to marry her, he had to divorce his present wife, the daughter of king Aretas, with whom the marriage of his daughter had sealed a political and military alliance. Aretas ruled Nabatean Arabia, whose capital was the famed fortress city of Petra, located about fifty miles southeast of the Dead Sea. Aretas was so angered by the treatment of his daughter that he destroyed most of Herod’s army and would have slain the tetrarch as well, had not the Roman army intervened.
Herodias is one of the most wicked and perverse women mentioned in Scripture, perhaps second only to Jezebel. Although she was at first beguiled by Herod, it was not long until he was being manipulated by her. Because both Herod and Herodias were already married, their marriage to each other was doubly not lawful. The Holy Spirit refused to recognize her as Herod’s wife and directed Matthew to refer to her as the wife of his brother Philip, although she had been divorced from Philip for a number of years. The new marriage not only was unlawful but incestuous, because Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, another half brother of Herod, making her Herod’s niece.
It is not known exactly where and how John the Baptist first confronted Herod about his unlawful marriage. It is possible the tetrarch had summoned John to his palace, hoping to have some astounding miracle performed on his behalf, just as He later expected of Jesus (Luke 23:8). But regardless of who initiated the meeting, John presented the king with a scathing rebuke rather than a miraculous sign. From the wording, John had been saying to him (cf. Mark 6:18), it seems that John had rebuked the king and his wife on more than one occasion.
Both Herod and Herodias were incensed at the prophet’s presumption, and she, more than he, wanted to put him to death. Had it not been that Herod feared the multitude, because they regarded him as a prophet, John would have been executed immediately.
John was neither a compromiser nor a diplomat. His only fear was of the Lord, and he no more hesitated confronting Herod and Herodias with their wickedness than he had hesitated confronting the unrepentant Pharisees and Sadducees whom he called a brood of vipers (Matt. 3:7).
Such godly boldness, which does not consider the consequences, is the hallmark of prophetic greatness. The faithful man of God confronts sin wherever it is and by whomever it is committed, regardless of the power they might have over him—including power over his life. That holy boldness was the mark of Stephen, of Paul, of Peter, and of innumerable other saints of God who, throughout the nineteen centuries of the church, have forfeited their lives rather than their message. The great New Testament scholar A. T. Robertson wrote, “It cost him his head; but it is better to have a head like John the Baptist and lose it than to have an ordinary head and keep it.”
Josephus said of John: “Now when many others came in crowds about him, for they were greatly moved by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, thought it best by putting him to death to prevent any mischief he might cause.”
Just as John was fearful of nothing and no one except God, Herod feared almost everything and everyone but God. He not only feared the multitude, but also feared John the Baptist, his wife, and his peers (v. 9). He feared another attack by Aretas, and, as Josephus reported, he feared a rebellion by his own people—inspired by, and perhaps even led by, John the Baptist. And Herod feared the emperor might replace him with someone more in favor with Rome. That fear was well grounded, because some years after this, his jealous and scheming nephew, Agrippa (the brother of Herodias), convinced the emperor Caligula that Herod was planning a rebellion. Perhaps because Caligula did not fully trust Agrippa’s word, Herod and Herodias suffered exile to Gaul (modern France) rather than execution, which was the normal penalty for treason.
Herod’s feelings about John were ambivalent; he was both fearful and fascinated. Mark reports that “Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him” (Mark 6:20). The king enjoyed listening to the man he wanted to put to death! These audiences with Herod no doubt were John’s only respite from the torments of prison; but to John they were not an escape but opportunities to witness for his Lord and to try to bring his persecutor to repentance and salvation.
From the passage in Mark 6, as well as from the fact that Herod was grieved at Herodias’s request for the head of John (Matt. 14:9), it seems that the king had developed a certain fondness for John, or at least a more respectful fear. But his feelings for John were no match for his fear of his wife and his friends.
Herodias had few equals in immorality, evil cunning, or vindictiveness. From the time of John’s first rebuke she had been scheming to rid herself of this meddlesome prophet who rankled her own feelings and also fueled the loathing her Jewish subjects already had for her. She was biding her time, waiting for the right opportunity - which presented itself when Herod’s birthday came and the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.
From Josephus we learn that the name of this daughter was Salome, whose father was Philip, her mother’s first husband and Herod’s half brother. Herodias was so hate-filled, vengeful, and immoral that she had no compunction about involving her daughter both in a lewd dance before her stepfather and his guests and in the ploy to have John murdered.
In the ancient world, birthday celebrations were entirely Gentile and pagan, and the Jews, with good reason, considered them shameful. Roman nobles frequently held stag birthday parties in which gluttony, excessive drinking, erotic dancing, and sexual indulgence were common. The phrase Herodes dies (Latin for “Herod’s birthday”) became an epithet for such orgiastic festivals.
Pleased was a euphemism for “sexually aroused,” and the drunken king was so enamored of his stepdaughter that he rashly promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked, even up to half his kingdom (Mark 6:23). This was the chance Herodias had been waiting for, and, prompted by her mother, Salome asked Herod, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” It is obvious that the provocative dance was planned by Herodias for the purpose of evoking just such a promise from her drunken, leering, lecherous husband. And lest Herod change his mind after sobering up, Herodias told her daughter to ask for John’s head here on a platter “right away” (Mark 6:25).
In his gluttonous, lustful stupor the king had been easily taken in by his scheming wife and her seductive daughter. He had lost all dignity, all sensibility, and what little desire for the right that he may have had. Wanting to appear the magnanimous benefactor before his guests, he had boxed himself in and was now completely vulnerable to his conniving wife.
And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. It was not that the word of the king was respected and that to break his oaths would tarnish his reputation, because he was noted for his dishonor and duplicity. But in the ancient Near East a promise made with an oath was considered sacred and inviolable (cf. Matt. 5:33), especially when made by a ruler. And although Herod had no concern for principle, he had great concern for appearance. By breaking his word so soon after giving it, he would have been embarrassed in front of his dinner guests, who doubtlessly included many political and military dignitaries.
Herod was grieved, but his grief had nothing to do with remorse for sin or with genuine repentance. Like Pilate—who knew Jesus was innocent and would have freed Him except for continued pressure by the Jewish leaders (Luke 23:4,14-16, 20, 22-25; cf. John 19:12)—Herod cowardly capitulated to what he knew was unjust and vindictive. Even drunk, he knew he had been tricked; but his pride would not let him do what was right. Instead of admitting the foolish excess of his promise, the king allowed himself to be used to commit an enormous crime—all to save a reputation he did not have. With the help of his wicked wife and unprincipled stepdaughter, his cup of iniquity was filled.
Quickly and coldly John was decapitated in his cell and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl; and she brought it to her mother. Gruesome and ghoulish as that act was, such things were not uncommon in those days. Potentates had life and death power over their subjects and prisoners, and that power was frequently exercised and seldom questioned. Herodias had an ancestor named Alexander Junius, who held a feast at which he had eight hundred rebels crucified before the assembled guests. While the men were hanging on their crosses, their wives and children were slain in front of their eyes.
One writer comments, “When the dish was brought in with the bleeding head on it, no doubt [Salome] took it daintily in her hands lest a drop of it should stain her, and she tripped away to her mother as if bearing her some choice dish of food from the king’s table. It was not uncommon to bring the head of one who had been slain to the person who ordered it, as a sure proof that the command had been obeyed.” It is reported that when the head of Cicero was brought to Fulvia, the wife of Antony, that she spat on it, pulled its tongue out and drove her hairpin through it. The early church Father Jerome believed that is what Herodias did with the head of John. That particular barbarism cannot be verified, but it would not have been the least out of character for Herodias to have done such a ghastly thing.
Herod’s morbid fascination with John and with the miraculous and supernatural had nothing to do with genuine seeking after the truth and certainly nothing to do with seeking salvation. It was the religious curiosity of unbelief that is impregnable to God’s truth, love, or grace.
After Herod had John beheaded, he inquired about Jesus and “kept trying to see Him” (Luke 9:9). But Jesus made no effort to see Herod and would not allow Herod to see Him until it was His Father’s time. Jesus once sent a message to the king when it was reported that Herod wanted to kill Him, saying, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal’” (Luke 13:32). Jesus went about His mission and left the king to his unresolved fear, to his unrelenting sin, and to his doom of damnation. After His appearance before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, Jesus was sent to Herod and they saw each other for the first time. “Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. . . . And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate” (Luke 23:8-9, 11).
In the greatest of irony, “Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been at enmity with each other” (23:12). Two ruthless men and former enemies now built a friendship around the common bond of crucifying the Son of God!
Herod rejected Christ, and Christ rejected Herod. For fear of a woman, for fear of his reputation, for fear of his peers, for fear of his throne—and for lack of fear for God—he damned his soul forever.
JESUS’ RESPONSE
And his disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.
Now when Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there in a boat, and to a lonely place by Himself; and when the multitudes heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. (14:12-13)
In a beautiful ending to an ugly scene, John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried it. It is hard to imagine the pain they must have experienced in carrying the decapitated body of the one they dearly loved and had faithfully followed. He was a great and godly man, who had been their friend and teacher, the one under whose fiery preaching they had confessed and forsaken their own sins and under whose inspiration and direction they had perhaps led others to repentance.
Possibly following John’s previous instruction, the disciples then went and reported to Jesus what had happened. John was deeply loved by Jesus, and when Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there in a boat, to a lonely place by Himself. As Mark explains in more detail, Jesus was by Himself with His disciples, whom he asked to go with Him “‘to a lonely place and rest a while’ (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat)” (Mark 6:31).
Some commentators suggest that Jesus left the area for fear of meeting the same fate as John; but if John was not afraid of Herod, surely Jesus was not. And why would Jesus have wanted to escape a threat that was only potential, when He knew that, not many months later, He would walk willingly to certain death? If Jesus left to escape possible arrest by Herod, it was only because that was not in the Father’s plan or timetable for the Son.
John the Baptist was the first martyr to die for Christ, and it seems certain that Jesus took this opportunity to further prepare His disciples for what lay ahead for them. Christ Himself would be the next to die; and all the other twelve (including Matthias, Judas’s replacement) apparently suffered martyrdom, except for John, who died in exile.
Although Christians in most parts of the world today have relative freedom to practice and propagate their faith, many believers are suffering a fate like John’s. When they convert to Christianity, their families disown them, declare them to be dead, and sometimes even murder them. Countless thousands forfeit their jobs, their freedom to worship, and even the right to teach their faith to their own children. Many are imprisoned, tortured, exiled, and publicly maligned. But like John the Baptist, they will not deny their Lord to save their rights, their freedom, or their lives.