Death of John the Baptist

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 www.dtminc.org
Today’s Date: April 10, 2005

The Death of the Baptist: Sin, Dysfunction, Manipulation, Pride and Guilt


“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." James 1:13-16

“…and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:23

“At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, 2 and said to his servants, ‘This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’ 3 For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. …And he sent and had John beheaded in the prison.” Matthew 14:1-3


The story of the death of John the Baptist is given to us in the beginning of Matthew 14. While informing us of John’s tragic end, Matthew also gives us a glimpse into the sordid family life and disturbed, twisted mind of Herod the tetrarch. This was the son of Herod the Great, who had been king of all Palestine at the time of Jesus’ birth. (It was he who was responsible for the murder of the infant boys in the environs of Bethlehem in a paranoid attempt to destroy the appearance of a Messiah, a competitor for his throne. Cf. Matt. 2.) When Herod the Great died, his kingdom was divided into four parts (tetrarchies) and divided among three of his surviving sons. Four older sons had been murdered by their father, guilty (or at least implicated) of plots to overthrow the kingdom. Two sons of Malthace, a Samaritan woman, survived, Archelaus and Antipas. According to their father’s will, Archelaus, the older brother, received two portions, which included Judea (cf. Matt. 2:22), Samaria and Idumea (Edom), and was given the title “king” or “ethnarch”. Herod Antipas received one portion, which included the territory of Galilee and Peraea (cf. Lk. 3:1), and was called a “tetrarch” (a continual reminder that his domain was only one fourth of his father’s). Another half-brother, Philip, the son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra of Jerusalem, inherited a tetrarchy comprised of Gaulonitus, Trachonitus and Ituraea, lands north of Palestine.
The family of Herod was Idumean, descended from the Edomites. They had been nominally converted to Judaism about 125 B.C., but were not Jewish by blood. Although the Herods had originally come to political prominence through the favor of the Hasmonean priests of Jerusalem, one of the first acts of Herod the Great was to exterminate this family, fearing the potential rivalry. The Hasmonean priests had been descended from the Maccabean family of priests, and, in the eyes of the populace had a legitimate claim on the Davidic throne. In his insane desire to remove any claimant to this family line, he also murdered his own wife, Mariamne, who was a daughter of the high priest. Eventually, his mother-in-law, and his own two sons by Mariamne also were exterminated. This caused great outrage and bitterness among the people, who had been loyal to the Hasmonean house, and saw in their “pure bloodline” a hope for the fulfillment of OT prophecies regarding the restoration of the Davidic throne. The fact that Achelaus and Antipas had a Samaritan mother heightened the aggravation the Jewish people felt at this impure, compromising, conniving and oppressive family which ruled over them.

The moral, spiritual and domestic confusion and corruption of the family was proverbial. The infighting, intrigue, manipulation, lust, sexual promiscuity and unfaithfulness, incest, violence and even murder which went on in this family is an amazing lesson of what misery and disaster is caused by sin running riot. It should come as no surprise that Herod Antipas, who was raised in his father’s household and in the corrupt environment of Rome, should have had no scruples about his relationship with Herodias (Prov. 13:20; 14:7; I Cor. 15:33). Herodias was the daughter of one of Antipas’ older half-brothers, Aristobulus, and was therefore his niece. She had been married to a different Herod Philip, half-brother to Antipas (she would have been his niece as well), who was banished to Rome. Antipas, already married to a daughter of Aretas the Nabatean king, met Herodias in Rome, fell in love with her and seduced her there. She secured a divorce from her husband, Antipas divorced the daughter of Aretas, and they were married to each other. Salome, the daughter of Herodias, was the daughter of Herod Philip and Herodias. Sounds like something you would read in National Inquirer, doesn’t it? It is a sad commentary on the state of our society that this does not really raise much scandal in our minds, anymore. We see it on the TV soap operas, and in the lives of movie stars, politicians and other celebrities everyday. What used to be considered shameful and wrong has become accepted and nearly commonplace. We, like Antipas, have become desensitized by our surrounding culture.

The Bible is very clear on these issues, however. Of course, adultery is clearly wrong. “You shall not commit adultery” is the seventh of the ten commandments (Ex. 20:14). The Law God gave to Moses also clearly states that it is wrong to marry the wife of one’s brother (Lev. 18:16; 20:21), and it is also wrong to marry one’s aunt or uncle (Lev. 18:12-14; 20:19,20). These behaviors are described as abhorrent to God. They defile the land where they are practiced, and bring the judgment of God upon it. Furthermore, God hates divorce, especially treachery against one’s spouse (Mal. 2:13-17). Of course, what Antipas and Herodias did was a blatant violation of all these prohibitions. Their relationship began with sinful lust, betrayal, adultery, then escalated to the treachery of divorcing their spouses so that they could marry each other. Furthermore, the incestual nature of their relationship screamed out their total disregard of God and His holiness. Because they were public figures, and had done these things so openly, John the Baptist could not help but speak out against their behavior. In his arrogance, Antipas added to his already extensive list of sins the arrest and imprisonment of John.

John was a voice crying in the wilderness, calling people to repent (change their perspective on life), turn from their sin and become faithful followers of God as their King. He was confronting everyone’s sins, not just Herod’s. Antipas and Herodias, while they made some pretension of legality to get what they wanted, were not fooling anyone. Everyone, including themselves, knew that their relationship was wrong. John, however, was not willing to keep this quiet, so everyone could pretend that everything was kosher. It wasn’t. John boldly stated what God’s word said. He said, “It is not lawful for you to have her” (Matt. 14:4). Both Antipas and Herodias were not used to having people confront them. They had come to believe that they were the final authority for their lives and decisions. No one was going to tell them what they could or could not do. Obviously, however, their consciences were not clear, because they could not ignore John’s rebuke. It mattered to them that they maintain some measure of acceptance with the people, …and John was ruffling feathers. Their solution: Remove John.

They both wanted to kill John for his lack of deference and his interference in their affairs. Antipas was enough of a politician to realize the ill effect that would befall his popularity if he were to execute the prophet, so he refused to give in to Herodias and his own inner sense of resentment. In fact, somewhere deep inside, Herod had some sense of respect for John and Divine justice. He “was fearing John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he was keeping him safe” (Mk. 6: 20). He even liked to converse with John, though he was often perplexed after his meetings with the prophet. Herodias, however, continued to hold a grudge against John, and was plotting to have him killed. Her opportunity came at Herod’s birthday party, when Antipas, pleased with the sensual dancing of Salome, offered to give her anything she wanted as a reward for her performance. Undoubtedly feeling expansive and extra-generous because of the wine and wanting to impress his guests at his magnanimity, he made this offer with a very strong public oath. Salome, retreating to take counsel from her mother, came back immediately to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. The king, trapped by his pride and his own words, was not willing to refuse her, and sent the executioner to bring back the Baptist’s head. Even though he felt regret about this action, he felt compelled, out of wanting to save face before his guests, and he went against his own inner conscience. Later on, his conscience bothered him, because when he heard the report of Jesus’ miracles, he was convinced that John must have risen from the dead (Mk. 6:14-16).

This episode in the history of the Herod family illustrates many Biblical principles. We have alluded to some already. Here are three to consider: (1.) One’s moral standards, one’s default understanding of what is right and wrong, can be strongly influence by those around us. If our family or friends live in sin or dysfunction, we tend to learn from them and accept those standards as “normal”. God’s standards are unchangeable, wherever we are, because He does not change.(Mal. 3:6). He will respond to us and judge us based upon His standards, not ours. (2.) Sin begets sin. Every time we see multiple wives in the Scriptures, we see family discord and dysfunction. Often there is jealousy and rivalry not only between the wives, but also between the respective children. Antipas was not as outwardly immoral as his father, who did have a literal harem, with several wives at the same time. He tried to look more respectable by having only one wife at a time. Of course, no one was impressed, and the rivalries and enmity between factions did not disappear. The same is true of “blended families” today, or of people who have children through multiple partners. The sin of violating God’s commandment about sex and faithfulness in marriage often produces a wealth of emotional hurts, abuse, poverty and heartache as those consequences unfold through life. …And those sins are often visited upon the children and grandchildren of those who actually started the mess, setting the descendants up for repeating the pattern learned from previous generations. God’s commandments are meant to protect us from all that hurt. Too often, however, we don’t want to hear Him. (3.) Alcohol [or drugs], pride, strong emotion, the desire to fit in or impress others, and making foolish promises are five avenues of manipulation for the devil or unscrupulous people to use to get us to step out where we otherwise may not go on our own. We would do well to avoid these excesses.

Are There People Offended At The Changes In Your Life?

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting

Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: April 3, 2005

Are There People Offended At The Changes In Your Life?

"He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? ⁵⁵ Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?’ ⁵⁷ And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.’ ⁵⁸ And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief." Matthew 13:53-58

"When they (the Jewish leaders) had placed them (the apostles) in the center, they began to inquire, ‘By what power, or in what name, have you done this?’ ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers and elders of the people, ⁹ if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, ¹⁰ let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead-- by this name this man stands here before you in good health. ¹¹ He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone.¹² And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.’ ¹³ Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus." Acts 4:7-13

If you become a serious follower of Jesus Christ, be prepared. Jesus talked about counting the cost of being one of His followers (Lk. 14:25-35), and He wasn’t kidding. Once you really identify with Jesus, …if you get serious about growing as a Christian and begin doing God’s will, all kinds of things begin to change. If you are truly born from above, the Spirit will war against the old flesh, and you will not be able to continue in your former habits without pangs of guilt and conviction. You find yourself putting aside old attitudes and behaviors. You are motivated to clean up your speech. You find that you become eager to learn more about God, and become interested in learning how to live in ways that are righteous, healthy and good, where you didn’t really care about that stuff before. You begin to notice other people. You find yourself uncomfortable about dirty jokes, or convicted about gossip. The ramification of being a follower of Jesus seeps into every corner of your life, if you will yield to the Spirit. You can’t lie any more. Stealing is no longer justifiable. You find yourself reading the Bible, listening to Christian music, and going to church or Bible studies, …things you never would have done before. If you were a party animal before, now you find that parties, booze and that whole scene feel empty. You might still try to find fulfillment there, but it doesn’t do it for you anymore. Your interests change. There is a bigger purpose for your life. You can’t be content massaging and fulfilling your creature appetites, because you know there is more. If you quit fighting against the Spirit, and begin to intentionally pursue growth and maturity in Jesus, the narrow path that leads to life will bring you into a whole new world of experiences and understanding that those outside cannot grasp, …things you could not have imagined or thought up yourself (Eph. 3:14-21).

These changes do not go unnoticed by others. Those who know us can see that something is different. They soon find out that we don’t want to do the things we used to do, and we are pursuing something else. They may even admit that it is something better, …and be glad for us, at first. It doesn’t take long, however, for the devil to show up. The word, "devil", means "slanderer", and that is exactly what he is best at. Humanity’s first encounter with him was in the Garden of Eden, where he dared to slander the motives and intentions of God Himself, in order to manipulate Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. He quickly moves in, sowing seeds of discord and accusation in our relationships. To him, it is bad enough that he is losing his influence on you. (He will do whatever he can to mess you up in your progress, by the way.) He certainly does not want to have you affect other people, especially those who have been closest to you. So, he sets about tweaking people’s perceptions and thoughts about the changes in your life, and they start becoming defensive toward you. Things that we innocently share with a friend or family member are perceived as accusations against them. We are excited about what we are learning in our new life in Christ, but they don’t want to hear it. When Jesus has been making a positive difference in our lives, and we try to share with them what is happening, they take that as an attempt to proselytize them. They begin to think that we are judging them, or that we have a "holier-than-thou" attitude, when that may not even be the faintest flicker in our minds. (There are plenty of religious people who do come across with that kind of attitude. This spiritual arrogance is not new. Jesus dealt with the same kind of self-righteousness in the Pharisees. It is important that we remain humble and remember that God’s grace is what is enabling us to find freedom. We cannot take the credit, nor should we look down upon others who have not yet experienced the life of the Spirit. We should pray for them, not judge them.)

The offense sometimes deepens even if we establish a positive track record, if we are doing something which our families or peer groups see as strange or different. If we start to become equipped in the Scriptures and dare to speak up to question the religious tradition which we grew up with, our family and old religious compatriots will be horrified. Who do we think we are to challenge the established church we grew up in? Who are we that we would dare to question the decisions of scholarly men and church authorities over the centuries? It does not matter if our questions are asked respectfully, or that what we are saying is clearly more in agreement with the Bible than the practice that has developed in history and has been adopted by the church group your family came from. Most people don’t even want to hear our argument. They don’t want to question. It is too much work. Leave that to the pastors, priests and religious scholars. It is almost comical to see people who rarely go to church at all suddenly become very insistent that their particular tradition is the right way to go. Somehow our conversion and continued growth are construed as an attack upon them. Why is it that, if we went to church as a child and found it to be boring or ineffective in developing a relationship with God or a life that was upright and free of vices, and then we are converted somewhere else, and do experience a relationship with the King of the universe, obtain joy and peace, and begin to straighten up our lives, we should be looked upon almost as traitors, as mavericks or religious oddballs? It would seem that people should be curious as to what happened. They should be excited at the change, and celebrate at what we testify is a good thing. They should marvel at the goodness of God, and offer praise to Him. Instead, they look at us with suspicion. They try to shut us down when we speak of our experience. They see us as a threat, instead of a blessing. In spite of the obvious fact that we are growing, changing, becoming more mature and healthy, they don’t really want to know why, because it challenges their view of the world. "Don’t confuse me with the facts, I already have my mind made up."

These reactions should not surprise us. They are exactly the same as Jesus and the apostles experienced. In the examples cited at the top of this study, the ones listening to them could see that they spoke with unusual wisdom. They knew of the miraculous things done through their ministry. (Unfortunately, that often adds to the offense, not break it down.) If you look closely at the record, you will see that the first reaction was surprise. They recognized that Jesus, and later the apostles, spoke with wisdom and clarity which did not come naturally. Note what the crowd in the synagogue said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous power?", "Where did He get all these things?" The problem was that they recognized the truth and reality of God, and they were convicted by it.

John’s gospel records where Jesus said His teachings and miraculous power came from. He said that He could do nothing from Himself (5:19,30; 8:28). He taught what the Father taught Him to say (7:16-18; 8:28,29,38; 12:49; 14:10). He did what He saw the Father doing (5:19,20). In other words, God was the source of His teachings, actions, and miracles. He taught His disciples that, because He was leaving, He would send the Holy Spirit to help them (14:16,17; 16:7). He would teach them (14:26; 16:13), enable them to speak up for God (15:26,27; cf. Matt. 10:19,20; Acts 1:8), and empower them to do even greater works than He had done (14:12). Those promises were certainly fulfilled in the apostles’ lives. When the chief priests, rulers, elders and scribes interviewed them concerning a lame beggar they had healed, they saw both the confidence and the clarity of their teaching, and realized that these were uneducated laymen, they were marveling and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. In other words, they had seen this same kind of thing before. Jesus had also done miracles and taught with wisdom, clarity and boldness which they could not stand against. He had not been trained in one of their rabbinical schools, and was an uneducated, private individual, …a lay person, not a carefully groomed religious professional. What they were dealing with here had the same signature as Jesus’ ministry. Then they realized that these guys had been hanging out with Jesus, and had obviously learned to operate in the same manner as He had. Since the man was obviously healed, there was nothing they could do, so they had to let them go.

The second reaction was to attempt to discredit or minimize the person. In the case of Jesus and the apostles, it was to look at their background. Where did they get these things? There was no good explanation. They didn’t go to school to learn this stuff. "This is just Joe Schmoe from down the street. Who is he to talk to me about my life and my beliefs?" The third reaction was to take offense. Finding no explanation for what they were saying and doing, they "stumbled" over them. Jesus was the stone examined and rejected by the religious leaders, and His own townspeople and relatives, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (Matt. 21:42-44; Rom. 9:32,33). If we follow Him, then we will come to be like Him (Matt. 10:25). We, too, will become stumbling stones to some (II Pet. 2:4-12). We should not be surprised at this, but encouraged. They may be seeing God at work in us.