The Death of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:1-7)

In these verses we have the gruesome account of the martyrdom of John the Baptist by Herod in response to the request of his wife. Matthew provides us with the details, and we need to ask for some reasons as to why he did so. 

We could remind ourselves that here we have a reminder that in the kingdom of God privilege and pain go hand in hand. John had the greatest role possible for an Old Testament believer – he was the forerunner who introduced Jesus to the people of Israel. Yet he spent his last months in a prison and eventually was put to death. 

Or we can deduce from the experience of John that there is only one life and one death that can do us any good. John’s life and death did not bring any long term spiritual benefits to anyone. In contrast, the life and death of Jesus brings eternal blessings to everyone who trusts in him.

Matthew here uses the growing popularity of Jesus to inform his readers what had happened to John. Previously he had mentioned that John had been arrested and now he records the manner of his death at the hands of Herod. Clearly we have here the clash of two kingdoms and it would be safe to assume that Matthew wants his readers to observe the contrast between representatives of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. 

At first, we might think that is an absurd suggestion, but we need to remember that Herod did not anticipate that the tragedy of John would have occurred. The king did not realise that he was in a bigger battle than any of his earthly engagements, and he did almost lose his throne through one but was rescued by the emperor. In a larger sense, he was involved in the ongoing war between good and evil, and he chose the losing side.

Who was Herod?

There are several Herods in the New Testament. This Herod was a son of the Herod who tried to kill Jesus just after his birth and is usually called Herod Antipas. The family were guilty of very unusual inter-marriages and John had condemned this Herod for his involvement in them. Herodias was a granddaughter of the first Herod, which meant she was the niece of both her husbands. Herod Antipas’ brother Philip was the father of the girl here, identified as Salome elsewhere. As far as the girl was concerned, Herod Antipas was therefore both her uncle and her step-father.

The first detail that we can mention is that Herod was a religious man because he believed that John the Baptist had come back to life. His outlook included the possibility of resurrection. Yet he did not accept the literal truth about Jesus but preferred his own version of what was taking place. His opinion was that John was doing lots of miracles, which was unusual to hold because John did not perform any miracles (John 10:41). Yet Herod obviously liked to speculate on religious issues. 

The second detail is that Herod refused to acknowledge the authority of the Bible in his life. This comes out in the way he resented the rebukes he received from John because of the marriage with Herodias. The problem may not have been his divorce, because there were legitimate grounds for it. Rather it was the connection he had with Herodias that made the marriage illegal as far as the Old Testament requirements were concerned. Herod wanted to be regarded as a Jew, but it was to be on his terms, not on the conditions detailed in the Bible.

The third detail that we see about Herod is that he wished to retain his position in society. We see this in his decision not to execute John when he arrested him because he recognised the possibility of trouble from those who regarded John as a prophet. Civil disturbances would cause him problems with his Roman masters and it looked as if he had managed to contain the problem – he had silenced John and kept the people quiet.

A fourth detail is that Herod was governed by fear of man. He was a ruler with authority and he could have changed his mind about the offer he made to his step-daughter. It was a sin for him to make his rash vow, it was a sin for him not to withdraw it, and it was a sin for him to proceed with the consequences of his rash vow. What governed his thoughts was not what God thought of him but what other humans would think of him.

The fifth detail about Herod is that he left this world without excuse in the sense that he had not been informed of his responsibility by John. We know from historians that later in his life Herod was banished to Gaul by Caesar and lost his place of importance. That banishment, however, is small in comparison to the banishment he now experiences from the presence of God. 

What can we say about the sin of Herod? 

Here are four features of it. First, his sin here reminds us to think about the degree of sin that is possible. At one time in his life, Herod would not have imagined that he would commit the sin that he did. Yet when circumstances became difficult, he committed such a sin. 

A second feature of his sin is that eventually it became public. After all, it has been spoken about ever since it was recorded in the Gospels. Although he committed the sin in the presence of a few, it did not remain there. And all sin will be made public by God on the day of Judgement.

Third, we are reminded here that all sin is punishable. In a sense, Herod could do what he wished because he was a ruler and decided what should happen. As far as any immediate consequences were concerned, he did not experience any punishment. Yet he has discovered that divine justice cannot be avoided, and before it kings are equal with others.

We can deduce a fourth feature from the story of Herod, which is that eventually unconverted people become known only for their sin. In his case, he may not have had many good things to boast about. But even if he had, what marks him now is that he is an unforgiven sinner. And that is an awful description to have for ever.

What about John?

John was the forerunner of Jesus in the sense that he went before him and announced his message to whoever was near him. The response made to the forerunner was the same as if Jesus was there. Herod refused to obey the message of John. A few months later, Herod had Jesus in his presence while on his way to Calvary, and Jesus had nothing to say to him. Jesus regards the response to his witnesses as if it was made to himself. We could say that Jesus honoured John when defending him before the crowd and when saying nothing to Herod.

John was marked by fearlessness. We can see that he was not afraid to rebuke a powerful person who had the authority to imprison him and to execute him if that was deemed the action to follow. This means that John was not afraid of the consequences of speaking out for God.

John was marked by faithfulness. We see this in the little detail mentioned by Matthew in verse where he uses the imperfect tense when describing the way that John rebuked Herod. He did not merely rebuke him once, but he kept on pointing out Herod’s sin to him, and he addressed him for particular sins.

John was a man with feeling. Why else would he persist in rebuking Herod? John cared for the honour of his God and he cared about the soul of Herod. We can deduce that Herod knew this because he spared his life. Others rebuked Herod because they hated him, John rebuked him because John loved his fellowmen.

John was a man with a future. We should not read this story as if it was describing the end of the life of John the Baptist. On the great day, John will wear a martyr’s crown, given to him by the King of Kings, and will reign with Jesus eternally in the new heavens and earth – in contrast to Herod.

What can we say about the character of John?

How did John behave in this way? Is there anything that he said that can help us understand how he became the man he was? His words when he was very popular tell us. He knew that Jesus must increase and that he must decrease. This outlook kept him faithful to the end. If he had changed his mind on that point, who knows where else he may have compromised? In having a low view of himself in comparison to Jesus, he became the man whom Jesus would commend very highly.

The actions of John’s disciples

Their leader had been put to death and it would have been easy for his disciples to steal away into the unknown and avoid the possibility of danger. Instead, they chose to put themselves at risk by taking care of his body. In doing this, they showed more commitment than the disciples of Jesus did when he was put to death by the authorities. It is common knowledge that they fled, but we forget that they had the example of John’s disciples to imitate. Thankfully, we know that God had his men for that moment, even although Joseph and Nicodemus would not have been anticipated by others that they would do for Jesus’ dead body what they did.

Why did the disciples of John do what they did? It was dangerous because they could have been arrested for believing what he had said about Herod’s relationships. We can assume that they engaged in this personally dangerous act out of a combination of love for John and loyalty to him. After all, John was the one who had told them about Jesus and his work as the lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. In God’s providence, they owed their salvation to the message that John had declared about Jesus. Yet we also know that it is possible to have a small love that does not extend to expressing loyalty when things get tough. Church history is full of accounts of people who chose to hide rather than show courage. But that cannot be said of the disciples of John.

The other action by them that is commendable was their decision to go and speak to Jesus about what had happened. Why did they do this? I suppose one answer is that they knew that on a previous occasion, in response to a message from John about whether or not Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus had provided the evidence that he was. So they went to the One who could be for them what John could never be. They would have received from Jesus comfort, counsel and contentment.

The comfort would have included the assurance that all was well with John despite the terrible way by which he was executed because his soul was now in heaven. The counsel they would have received would be to do what John had often told them to do, which was to look continually at the lamb of God. The contentment they would have received would come from doing what Jesus urged all weary and heavy-laden people to do – follow him and find rest for their souls.

Many good things can be said about John the Baptist. It says a lot for a leader when his followers too can be commended.