1At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus,
-Tetrarch was a ruler of 1/4 of a province. Powerful man heard about Jesus.
2and he said to his attendants, "This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him."
-Herod tries to make out Jesus as John.
-Herod's reasoning is kind of ridiculous. He must've been somewhat fearful of Jesus if he believed he indeed had enough power to rise from the dead.
3Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,
-Pretty poor reason to have someone arrested.
4for John had been saying to him: "It is not lawful for you to have her."
-Reason he was arrested was because he was causing them trouble by being clear about his adultery.
-John made sin what it was instead of just letting it be.
5Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet.
-Herod had a respect for John's following. Prophet with a large following could put Herod at risk even though he was a tetrarch.
6On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much 7that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist."
-Evil wife using her daughter to get what she wants.
-Being told that your sinful can be offensive enough to make people do crazy things. How wicked do you have to be to have someone murdered in this fashion? It's unbelievable the wickedness of this woman.
9The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted
-Don't make oaths you don't want to keep. If credit is given to Herod it would be that at least he kept his oaths.
10and had John beheaded in the prison. 11His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.
-Girl was as sick as her mother. How do you get to be like this? Very disgusting family.
12John's disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
-Sometimes when you're doing the right things the best stuff does not always happen to you. John's reward was in heaven not on earth. We need to live faithfully for God no matter what the cost.
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1 comment:
I remember reading this and being shocked at the depravity of this family too. It seems like in the face of such holiness in the days of Jesus, evil was more pervasive than ever. One could also explain the clear deterioration of righteousness around the world in these same terms, believing that Jesus is coming back. All of the disciples suffered grisly deaths except one, John, who died on the island of Patmos. I admit there is a part of me that wished that after being decapitated, God gave him the power to take a bite out of one of the family members, zombie style!
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