2/11/12: "Bring me the head of John The Baptist."

Matthew 14

John the Baptist Beheaded

 ¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, ² and 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.”

 ³ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

 ⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much ⁷ that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰ and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

 ¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

***

I heard a great quote the other day; one of those quotes that forever makes you see the world differently. 


"Everyone is the hero of their own story."


Now this might sound like fluffy, philsophical nonsense, but what It means is this: Most people believe they live good, right lives. When they do wrong and are able to admit it, they typically have a personal justification for what they've done. (The justification is almost always circumstantial: "Someone else was doing it too!" "But I had a really hard day at work today!" "But you never let me _____!") 


This is a natural occurrence; most people dont want to go through life constantly beating themselves up mentally when they've done something that might hurt someone else. (No hero is constantly told they make wrong choices, right?) So instead, most people will blame their action, or lack of action, on external circumstances, thereby justifying it in their own eyes. 


In this way, most people tend to see their actions as either 1) outright good or 2) necessary & justifiable in the moment. 


In this passage we see something very fascinating: a snippet of Herod's life.


Herod was trying to pass Jesus off as the resurrected John The Baptist to explain away his miracles. Herod already had John in prison because Herod had wanted to sleep with his sister-in-law and John had to tell him, "That's wrong." 


Herod inadvertently promises his sister-in-law the head of John The Baptist. Whether she wants him dead because she wants to be with Herod too, we don't know; we do know that Herod has him killed in prison and the rest of the body is given over to John's disciples. They mourn. 


So, what's Herod's reaction to a sin he commits? He justifies it because the woman he wants to sleep with asked for it. 


He is the hero of his own story.


Inversely in verse 13 & 14, you see Jesus, even though he wants to be alone and mourn John, healing the sick of the people who interrupt his personal time. Jesus could've easily been the hero of his own story right there: "Well CLEARLY I'm praying right now, so go away and maybe I'll deal with you later." "No, I'm busy!"


But he doesn't. Because he is not the hero of his own story: The Father is. Scripture speaks clearly to Jesus' relationship with the Father and that he was in clear & obvious submission to Him. This is our model for our own lives. The Father is pleased when His people live submitted lives for Him.


Thoughts for reflection:

1. As a family, are we constantly blaming each other for our own actions?
2. Would Jesus want us to take responsibility for what we do? Why?
3. Am I, as a member of this family and the Body of Christ, submitting myself to the Lord regularly?
4. Are there other members of this family that are younger than me whom I can set a better example for?
5. Do I need to apologize to any other member of this family today?
6. Pray together as a family to keep God at the center of your family's story and not yourselves (or each other).