Matthew 14:1-121At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, 2And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. 3For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. 4For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 5And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. 6But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. 7Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. 8And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. 9And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. 10And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. 11And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. 12And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. (Matthew 14:1‑12)
You remember the name of the wicked ruler who wanted to kill Jesus when He was a baby, was Herod. His son, also named Herod ruled over We country of Galilee when the prophet John preached to the people. This Herod was also a wicked man. He became very angry with John because he told him of his sins, so he kept John in prison.
One day Herod celebrated his birthday, and his friends and officers were invited to a feast. A young girl came to entertain Herod, and his guests by dancing: Herod was very pleased with this girl, and wanted to do some great favor for her in return. So he told her that he would give her whatever she would ask him.
This girl’s mother was not a good “woman, but very wicked. She was more angry at John for his right words than Herod was. She told her daughter to make a most dreadful request of Herod: it was that John should be killed. The age of this girl, is not given; she may have been too young to know how wicked the request; it was the mother who sinned so greatly.
When Herod heard the girl’s request, he was sorry that he had made her the promise, for he knew the people under his rule would be against him if he ordered John killed, for they believed John was a true prophet of God. But Herod was more proud of keeping his word than he was of saving the life of John. So he sent men to the prison and John was killed.
Jesus was not so very far away at this time, and men who had been with John came to tell Him of the wicked, cruel deed to John.
We know that Jesus could have used His power to have saved the life of John. But it is plain that He had not come to punish men’s sins, nor to save His people from danger. He would soon suffer cruel treatment from the rulers Himself, while taking the punishment for sins. But Jesus showed His sorrow for the wrong done to John, and went away to a quiet place with sadness.
A short time after that, Herod heard of the great miracles done by Jesus, and he said that the prophet John must be risen from the dead, and did the mighty deeds. This shows that he knew that John was a prophet of God, but he was not really sorry for his sin. He wanted to see Jesus, to have Him do some great miracle. But when another ruler sent Jesus to him, and he could have treated Him justly and freed Him, instead, he and his soldiers mocked Jesus, and were cruel to Him also (Luke 23:6-116When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilean. 7And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time. 8And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. 9Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing. 10And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. 11And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate. (Luke 23:6‑11)).
There have been unjust and cruel rulers since, like Herod, who have taken pleasure in hurting people who believe God and His Son, the Lord Jesus. But the people have been comforted to remember that Jesus also suffered unjustly, and that He now sorrows with them. He is waiting now to forgive, and bless any one who will believe Him.
But when Jesus comes to earth as The Great King, all sin will be punished, and those who have not believed, will mourn.
ML 05/30/1943