(Audio)
“It is not lawful for you to have her.”
Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people,
for they regarded him as a prophet.
Even Herod himself had mixed feelings regarding John the Baptist. He was definitely provoked and angered by him, but he also knew him to be "a righteous and holy man". The words John spoke caused him to be "greatly perplexed" but even so he "heard him gladly" (see Mark 6:18, 20). Herod was as yet not wholly committed to evil. Their still remained in him some desire for the goodness that the Baptist represented. He was trying to discern which spirit to follow, the evil one, causing discontent, hatred, and fear, or the good one, leading first to its own sort of discomfort, but ultimately toward gladness and joy.
the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests
and delighted Herod so much
that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.
Rather than surrender what he had to seek the hidden treasure or the pearl of great price Herod allowed himself to succumb to the dissipation that is the inevitable result of sin. Just as the prodigal son was eventually compelled to spend all that he had so too did sin cause Herod to promise the dancing girl anything she asked. The problem began because Herod was too willing to be entertained by sin. He had some sense that John the Baptist spoke the truth when he called sin what it was and condemned it. But sin was not content to be merely one of two voices speaking to the conscience of Herod. It would not rest without deadening the other voice. Herod would perhaps have preferred to have it both ways. He did occasionally wish that John was dead, but never so much as to do it on his own. But finally the sin with which he refused to cut ties overwhelmed him. His more previous, somewhat more rational stance, was lost in the heat of passion, and then ushered along to completion by his pride.
The king was distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests who were present,
he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison.
Sin seems impressive when it is dancing before our eyes. It charges us emotionally and makes us lose our normal rational self-possession, causing us to make all sorts of promises with no real potential for legitimate gain on our part. But however it makes us feel in the heat of a moment, if we succumb to it then we too may lose up to half of our kingdom (see Mark 6:23) or even more. What we should realize is that if we let the sin, represented by this girl, to proceed with the dance at all we're already nine-tenth of the way to a fall. We must take a harder line with sin in our own hearts if we are to avoid following the precedent of Herod.
Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus
and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist.
He has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”
Sin had its way with Herod, but didn't leave him any happier. Sin, it is said, never helps. The lack of a living John the Baptist in prison speaking words that acted something like an external voice of conscience to Herod did not prevent Herod's conscience from continuing to be bothered, and even haunted, by the death to which he finally conceded.
Herod was apparently not the only one that thought that Jesus was in some way John the Baptist:
And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” (see Matthew 16:14).
The continuity between John, who proclaimed Jesus to be the lamb of God, and Jesus, who was himself the lamb, must have been in some ways greater than is obvious from the smalls portions of scripture that describe them. The fact that Herod was trying to reckon with the reputation of Jesus, and that his conscience was not yet entirely dead meant that there could still be hope for him. He would need more than the curiosity that made him hear John but not defend him. Rather than pay the price that sin inevitably entailed he would need to be willing to surrender even kingdom and crown to the one who was the true king, Jesus himself. We have no evidence that Herod ever made such a choice. But we can see from the state of Herod's conscience that even after a failure of so great a magnitude, and a sin as grievous as that of killing a prophet of God, that the Father still desired to reveal to him his Son.
After sin, it is not enough to feel regret and sorrow. These are only life giving if they lead to repentance. Sin wants us to feel trapped, as though there is nowhere to turn, and to make repentance appear as if it was only one more path to misery. But it is never too late to change. No matter who we are or what we've done there is hope for everyone in Jesus. Let's stop putting up with the false promises and lies of sin and turn toward the light.
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