Beheaded


Matthew 14:1-12
1At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus,

2and 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.”

3For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,

4because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

5And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet.

6But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod,

7so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

8Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.”

9And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given.

10He sent and had John beheaded in the prison,

11and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

12And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

13aNow when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.



Throughout our study of Matthew we have come across the person of John the Baptist. We learned of his somewhat miraculous birth only six months before that of Jesus. We learned of his less than normal lifestyle, living in the desert dressed in camel hair and eating locusts. We heard his message of repent and be baptized; turn your hearts back to God. He even is the person who baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. So in these 13 chapters, we have heard from him frequently. Now we read of his tragic and gruesome death.



Apparently, John never drew back from his firebrand approach to life. He manages to anger King Herod by charging him with incest. Herod had married his brother’s wife and this was reprehensible in the eyes of God and man. John didn’t back down from his charge and Herod had him arrested. (If you would like to read this story in more detail, see Mark 6:14-29.) It is interesting that Herod’s first response to Jesus is to believe He was a “returned from the dead” John the Baptist. Although Jesus does indeed conquer death, He is never a revived John. Herodias, Herod’s (sister-in-law) wife hated John as well and when the opportunity came to have him eliminated, she took it. All one can say is that Salome (Herodias’ daughter) must have put on one incredible dancing performance in order to solicit such a generous offer from Herod (“I will give you anything you want”). Prompted by her mother, she asks for the head of John on a platter. Her desire is granted albeit with much regret from Herod. In this story, Herod shows himself to be a weak man, ruled by his wife and more concerned with what people think of him that what is wise and good for the people.



There are many directions one could go with this story. As I noticed the sadness of Jesus as the end of the passage I am forced to once again remember that Jesus lived a real human life. He struggled with grief just like the rest of us. Could He have stopped John’s death? Certainly the Son of God could have arranged that. But this was not the will of God and John is allowed to die in this awful way. Life happened to Jesus just like it does to us. He sorrowed just like we do. Jesus didn’t come here to make our lives perfect. He came here to bring us unto Himself – perfection has to wait.

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