Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
Why is it that John can say things like "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife" and yet Herod still wants to listen to him. It is because of his integrity. His motives are not selfish. Herod can sense this. John the Baptist isn't seeking his own interests. If he were his strategy for getting out of prison would be quite different. Paul is credible to his congregation for the same reason.
Our exhortation was not from delusion or impure motives,
nor did it work through deception.
People can see through delusions, impure motives, deception, and especially greed. They can tell when someone is just looking to be praised, trying only to say the right things that he thinks the crowd wants to hear.
How do we avoid this pitfall? We are not without flaws. To some extent we all suffer from the depravity that makes our message less credible and more potentially self-serving. How we proclaim the truth of God. This is something we can learn from John the Baptist.
He must increase, but I must decrease (see John 3:30)
When this is the motivation of our proclamation people can see it. It may perplex them. It may even infuriate them to some degree. But they will ultimately desire to hear it.
But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel,
that is how we speak,
not as trying to please men,
but rather God, who judges our hearts.
This sort of proclamation is the most likely to work. But when we use this approach we are the most likely to be strongly opposed because we are by definition unwilling to conceal any of the truth with those to whom the proclamation goes. Yet it is precisely in the logical conclusion of this opposition, martyrdom, that faith makes its strongest case. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, as Tertullian says. John the Baptist is the first one privileged to lay down his life for the Lamb of God he proclaims. Ever since then saints in every age have joined this irrefutable testimony. We may not be called to martyrdom. But let us at least speak fearlessly, desiring only that Jesus may increase. We need not fear for he is with us.
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
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