Matthew: The Death of John (14:1-12)

This sermon was preached to Grace Church Guildford on 4 June 2023. The audio recording of the sermon can be found below along with the transcript.

The year was 1521 and Medieval Europe was in total meltdown. It had only been 4 years since the German monk, Martin Luther, had begun to publicly protest against the power of the Papacy and the Church of Rome. And yet, in those 4 years, he had managed to set Europe ablaze with the fires of reformation. Something had to be done, Luther had to be stopped. And so, in April 1521, Luther was summoned to stand before the Holy Roman Emperor himself, Charles V, and answer for his heresies. As he made the journey to the city of Worms, Luther would have known the last religious protester to receive such a summons, Jan Hus, never came back, but was instead declared a heretic and burn alive. And I’m sure that was on Luther’s mind as he was led into the Imperial Court room. As he entered, he observed a large stack of his writings piled up in front of the Emperor, and Luther was asked if he was ready to recant of all he said in them against the Church of Rome. Every eye turned to look at Luther, everyone held their breath to hear what this monk would say to the almighty Emperor. Would Luther bend under pressure? Would he back down before the most powerful man in the world? Would Luther hold his tongue to save his life?

I wonder what you would do in such circumstances: confronted by those in power, threatened with pain and death, pressured by everyone around you, not to speak, not to tell the truth, but just to be quiet and keep your head down. From our passage this morning, it is clear what John the Baptist would do. Indeed, did do. For like Luther, he too was confronted by worldly power, threatened with pain and death, and yet John did not hold his tongue, even in order to save his life. For Matthew 14:1-12, tell us the story of the death of John the Baptist.

However, did you notice that our passage this morning, actually tells us about three people who are put under pressure. Firstly and most obviously, we see the courage of John, for despite being under immense pressure, he refused to back down, refused to keep quiet. However, we also see something else, for the passage secondly tells us about the cowardice of Herod. In our story, Herod also comes under pressure at different points, and unlike John, he gives in, gives up. However, even more importantly, this morning we shall see this story not merely tells us about the courage of John, or the cowardice of Herod, but it tells us about another person’s reaction, for it speaks to us of the commitment of Jesus. Those are the three things I want us to consider this morning: (1) The Courage of John; (2) The Cowardice of Herod; and (3) The Commitment of Jesus. Let’s look at that first one now.

1.     THE COURAGE OF JOHN

If you have been following along in our sermon series in the book of Matthew, you will have heard much about this man John the Baptist. Back in Matthew 3, we heard how he was preaching in the wilderness, calling Israel to repent and prepare for the promised Messiah, who later turned out to be his cousin, Jesus Christ.. However, the last time Matthew told us about John, the news wasn’t so good, for in Matthew 11 we heard John was locked up in Herod’s prison. Now in Matthew 14, we’re told how that happened, why it was John ended up in prison and how his story came to a rather sad end. King Herod was the semi-Jewish ruler that the Romans installed in power in Galilee. And in 14:3-4, we are told why he seized this prophet and put him in prison. There we read: [READ].

If newspapers had gossip columns in those days, there would be no shortage of scandal about this man Herod to fill them. Just consider what we learn of him in this story. God’s prophet is decapitated, and his head presented on a platter at Herod’s party. Herod’s teenage stepdaughter is used to provide sexual entertainment for guests. The picture we get of this king and his court is not a commendable one. Herod is a man immersed in immorality. And the event that starts this story off is no less scandalous. Indeed, when you go back and look in the history books, you see people writing about this scandal all over Israel. For it seems Herod has been having an affair with his sister-in-law, Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. We don’t know how long this had been going on, but it was clearly public knowledge. And eventually Herod and Herodias divorced their spouses and married each other. Everyone in Israel was talking about it, conservative Jews were aghast at this blatant breach of God’s law. First the adultery, then divorce, and then remarriage. All three were forbidden in these circumstances by the Old Testament. It was a national scandal. And yet, as John Calvin puts it: what others all say behind Herod's back, John has the courage to say to his face. And it surely took great courage to do this, for Herod was not a man to cross lightly. Afterall, his father was the infamous Herod the Great, who earlier in Matthew 2, slaughtered the infants of Bethlehem. John would have understood offending this king could well be the last thing he ever did. That if he opened his mouth, he might well lose his head. And yet, John still confronted Herod. John would not stay silent about sin. From 14:4, it seems he publicly and repeatedly pronounced it was not lawful for Herod to have Herodias. John had the courage to speak truth to power, to open his mouth, even if it meant losing his head.

If you are here this morning and are following Jesus, trusting in him for your salvation, obeying him as your Lord, then I think John here shows you the kind of courage we need today. What struck me as I studied the passage this week, is what John was actually martyred for. Back, in Matthew 3, John declared Jesus as the Messiah,. And yet, it seems Herod wasn’t really bothered by that all. What did it matter to him if some people thought that Jesus was God’s Son. No, what got him worked up, what offended him, was not John pointing to a Saviour, but John pointing out his sin. Christian, is that not true today? In this cultural moment, our society is happy for us to preach about a Saviour. To talk about the life and death of Jesus, to sing our songs and pray our prayers. And yet, when we start to speak about sin, when like John we begin to apply the truth of God’s Word to the actions of people’s lives, that is when we too will cause offence, when we too will start to suffer.

John did not die for declaring Jesus to be God’s Son. No, he died for declaring Herod to be in sin. And did you notice what specific issue John suffered for? John was put to death for his views on marriage. For teaching that marriage was exclusively, permanently, between one man and one woman, and that no authority on earth, even the king, could defy that to fit their desires. In this case, Herod ignored the exclusivity of marriage by adultery, and then the permeance of marriage by his divorce and remarriage to Herodias. And friends, see here there is nothing new under the sun. John was put to death for viewing marriage differently to those around him. Fast forward 2000 years, and it is this same issue that can make us stand out, and even suffer in our day. Like Herod, today that are those who corrupting and changing marriage, not only defying its exclusivity and permeance, but by even denying that it is between one man and one woman. And in response to those who do that today, we too, like John, must say, “It is not lawful for you to do that...”.

Like John, we too can come under pressure not to speak about such sin. Pressure from friends and family members. Pressure in our workplaces. Many of you will face such pressure this month at work. June is now known as Pride month [...], and so many of your workplaces (schools and university) will be running events to promote LGBT+ issues. Lanyards will be worn, email footers will change, conversations not just in the kitchen, but even in team meetings will turn to matters of morality. And Christian, you face great pressure not to speak, not to stand out. And so, like John, you must have courage, for we cannot ultimately stay silent about sin, dumb down God’s demands to make them less offensive to man’s desires. Of course, there are all kinds of questions about what you should say, when you should say it, how you should say it, who you should say it to. As a church, we should talk to one another, ask wiser more mature brothers and sisters, how we should respond in specific situations, when and whether we should speak. And we should be praying for those among us who face this challenge in the weeks ahead, that they may have wisdom and courage. [...] For like John, it takes courage for us to speak about such sin.

That’s true when we see sin in someone else. But it is also true when we see sin in ourselves. Sometimes, when it comes to pointing out the sins of others, it can be easy to act with all the courage of John the Baptist. But when it comes to our own sin, we are far slower to see and to speak of it. Christian, just as you cannot compromise God’s Word when applying it to others, you cannot do so when applying it to yourself. I wonder this morning whether are you ready to acknowledge that area in which you have been holding sinful thoughts, indulging wrong desires. And I don’t just mean sexual sin. If you go away and read Luke 2, you will see that John the Baptist spoke about all kinds of sin, for he called people to repent of violence and extortion, of discontentment and hypocrisy. Are you ready to tell yourself to repent of those things as well? To declare, like John did, that ‘it is not lawful for me to do such things’ and then to confess those sins to God. For friends, we must not only have the courage to condemn sin out there, but also the courage to confess it is in here. If we fail to do this, we might think we are acting like prophets, but we are really acting more like pharisees. Yes, we may be known as the defender of marriage at work, but we will fail to care for our wives at home. Yes, we’ll speak against homosexuality with our mouths, but then we’ll fantasise about that man in our minds. Christian, you must have the courage not only to condemn sin, but also to confess sin, to see it and speak about it not only in the lives of others, but also in your own heart as well.

2.     THE COWARDICE OF HEROD

This is what contrasts so sharply with the courage of John in our passage. For did you notice that again and again, Herod is also put under pressure. And yet, unlike John, he doesn’t act with courage, no Herod acts with cowardice. First, in 14:3, we read that it was “because of Herodias” that Herod put John in prison. It seems that Herod arrests John, due to the pressure from this woman he’s having an affair with. However, in 14:5, Herod is kept from killing John, as he planned because, “he feared the people”. Do you see here what Herod does is determined by the whims and wishes of those around him: first this woman Herodias, and then his people. Later, we see the same situation again at this birthday feast. There again, Herod is enticed by desires, this time not for Herodias, but for her teenage daughter, who pleases him with her dance. And so, he says he will give in to whatever she wants. When she asks for the head of John, once again, Herod is pressured by those around him, this time not his people, but his guests, before whom he does not want to break his oath and ruin his reputation. And so, he gives into pressure, and orders the execution. O yes, it may be John who is in prison. But do you see that it is actually Herod who is the prisoner. For he is enslaved to those around him. He is controlled by fear of losing his power to his people, and fear of damaging his reputation before his friends. In the same way, Herod is being controlled by his sexual desires, first for Herodias, and then her teenage daughter. Herod may be a king, but he is not in control. For he is too cowardly to confront his partner or his people, this girl or these guests, and instead gives in under pressure again and again.

Friends, this is such a striking picture of what sin does to us. It traps and entangles us, it controls and enslaves us. To pursue sin is to become a prisoner. That’s what Jesus says in John 8:34. There he states, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” And that is what we see with Herod. Both his sinful desire for others, and his fear of others, keeps him from doing what he wants to do, and at the same time, forces him to do what he does not want to do. That’s what we see in Herod’s life. I wonder if that is what you see in your own life? Are you the prisoner of sin, controlled by your desires, enslaved by your fears? If so, friends, see here sin promises you freedom, but then puts you in a prison cell. Herod may have sat on a throne and worn a crown, but he turned out to be more of a slave than a king. The story has a sad ending for John, for he loses his life. But in many ways, the end of the story is even sadder for Herod, for he seems to be so scarred by what he has done that when he hears of Jesus’ ministry in 14:2, he is convinced, indeed, paranoid that John has come back from the dead to haunt him. Herod tried to silence his conscience through the ministry of John, and yet we see he only ends up being troubled in conscience the rest of his life. Brothers and sisters, I hope you see it is better to be executed like John than enslaved like Herod, better to die with a good conscience than live with a troubled one.

How can we do this? How can we avoid following in Herod’s footsteps? Where can we get courage like John’s? Well, it might surprise you, but John wasn’t always so courageous. Indeed, there were days in that prison cell, that John began to doubt, wonder whether things were as he first thought. We know this, for when John was last mentioned in Matthew 11, it was because he sent disciples to ask Jesus whether he really was the Messiah, the one whom John had declared him to be. Friends, we never have to look too long at the lives of even the greatest, most courageous, Christian heroes to see that they, like us, struggled and wobbled. Even John the Baptist doubted.

Indeed, even Martin Luther hesitated. On that day Luther appeared before the Emperor, he was so overcome by the occasion, overwhelmed by what was at stake, that when he was asked if he would recant what he had written, to the surprise of everyone, he quietly and hesitantly asked for time. Asked to be given time to think about it. Luther was given one day, one day to contemplate what was at stake, decide whether he would bow to the pressure and save his life. However, the next day, when he came before the Emperor again, Luther was no longer the quiet hesitant man he was the day before. Luther had found his courage, and when asked whether he would recant what he had written, he refused, declaring: “My conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one's conscience is neither safe nor sound. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me.” No one knows what Luther did during that day he had to think about his answer. However, we know that in the end he found his courage, and his answer makes clear where it he found it, and where we can find courage to. For as Luther said, his conscience was captive to the Word of God. If Herod was captive to his sin, Luther was captive to Scripture. And so, what God said, he said. His courage came from his conviction, in the Word of God.

And is that not what we see in John’s response here as well. What is it that John says in 14:4? What gives John the courage to open his mouth, and thereby lose his head? Well, in 14:4 he declares, “It is not lawful...”. When it came to determining whether this affair, divorce and remarriage was permissible, John knew that there was only one place to look. It wasn’t to public opinion, cultural analysis, pragmatic concerns, even threats against his life. The one place he must look was in the Law of God. And when he did so, it was clear that Herod was in sin. Adultery is condemned in the Ten Commandments. Leviticus 20:21 says a man was not marry his brother’s wife. It was black and white in the Bible, and so like every faithful preacher, John made it black and white in his sermon. He spoke as clearly and as confidently on this issue, as it was spoken of in Scripture itself. For like Luther, John was captive to the Word of God. What God said, he said. If God condemned it, he must do so as well.

Friends, see here that it is conviction in God’s Word that turns cowardly men and women, into courageous ones. That can take the doubting John’s and hesitating Luther’s of this world, and embolden them to act with bravery. And it is this same conviction that can help us, can help you, act with such courage today, and in the days to come. Only the Lord knows where this current manifestation of the redefinition of marriage will take us. If Herod defied marriage through having Herodias. Today, it is the LGBT+ movement that’s seeking to do the same. And friends, unless God spares our society through an outpouring of his Spirit, it seems that will have many decades of this storm to endure, many years where the flag flown in our town centres and workplaces symbolises something that is not lawful according to God’s Word. And as Christians, we may have to get used to being a despised and increasingly persecuted minority. Friends, if you are in my generation, then realistically, you and I could have 40, 50, 60 years of this storm to weather. What is it that will keep us faithful? What will cause us to consistently speak against it for all those years? Where can we find courage to cry out against such sin in our day in the same way that John did in his day? What will keep us from become cowards like Herod, giving in to the pressure of those around us? Friends, see here that it is our confidence in God’s Word. Our conviction that what God has said, we must not only believe, but indeed we must publicly and repeatedly proclaim to the world around us, even if we are taken to trial like Luther, even if we are imprisoned like John, even if we are put to death, like so many of our brothers and sisters before us in history and around us in our world today. Like John, if we are convince that this book is the Word of God, we will be willing to open our mouths, even if it means losing our heads. For to channel the words of Luther, to echo the spirit of John, our conscience will be captive to the Word of God. There we stand, we can do no other. God help us.

3.     THE COMMITMENT OF JESUS

It often isn’t a good sign when a preacher only starts talking about Jesus in his final point. Grace Church, that’s usually a pretty good indicator that you shouldn’t ask someone to preach again, if they are only getting to Jesus at the very end of their sermon. However, in my defence, I think it is right in this passage. For, as many point out, this is the only story in Matthew’s Gospel that doesn’t centre on Jesus. As we’ve seen, the characters at the centre of this story are John and Herod. And yet, while it doesn’t centre on Jesus, did you notice that it is surrounded by Jesus? That is, Jesus is both the start and end of this story. Did you notice that? In 14:1, the reason why Herod is mentioned in the first place, is because he hears reports about Jesus. And in 14:12, the story concludes with John’s disciples arriving to tell Jesus all that has happened. I think those two details are crucial for understanding how this story sits within the broader book, they explain why Matthew mentions this story to us.

Think about how the story is introduced. It begins with Herod mistaking Jesus for John. Herod hears of the miracles Jesus is performing, perhaps the sermons he is preaching, and he comes to the crazy conclusion that this must be John the Baptist back from the grave. Herod mistakes Jesus for John! And yet, we see there is more truth in this mistake than we might first think. For in this passage, we see John is Jesus’ forerunner in more ways than one. Oh yes, John came to prophesise the way of the Lord in what he declared, but here we also see him prophesise it with how he died. This story is not just a flashback to what happened to John, this story is a foreshadow of what will happen to Jesus.

Just step back and think about it. In our passage, we have heard the story of a man who was considered a prophet by the people. He is wrongfully imprisoned and charged for simply speaking the truth. He is reluctantly sentenced by his judge, who comes under pressure from those around him. And then he is brutally executed and publicly shamed. After he dies, his body is taken and buried by his disciples. However, it is rumoured he rose from the dead. That’s the story we are told here in our passage about John, and that is exactly what Matthew later tells us happened to Jesus. So many aspects of Jesus death are laid out in detail here in the death of John the Baptist. John before Herod is a preview of Jesus before Pilate. The axe of John’s executioner points to the nails of Jesus’ cross. The rumoured empty tomb of John, points to the reality of the empty tomb of Jesus.

And that is what makes what happens at the end of our passage so remarkable. For in 14:12, when John’s disciples tell Jesus all that has happened, when Jesus hears about the suffering not only of his cousin, but of his forerunner, Matthew tells us that in 14:13 Jesus withdraws to a desolate place by himself. As we will see next Sunday evening in 14:14, Jesus isn’t initially able to get alone due to the needs of the crowds, but in 14:23 we read that he is finally able to dismiss the crowd and we are told that “went up on the mountain by himself to pray.” We aren’t told what Jesus retreats to pray about, and yet in light of what he has just heard about John, I am sure that he went there to prepare himself to face a similar fate. Indeed, I think Jesus indicates this to his disciples, for in 17:12, as he comes down from the mount of transfiguration, he explains to his disciples that just as “they have done everything they wished” to John the Baptist, “In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Jesus understood the death of John the Baptist to point to his own death. Where he will not die for talking of the sins of a king, but for taking on the sins of the world. For Jesus was crucified on the cross to take the punishment for sin that we deserve, to suffer for all those who put their trust in him, so that we can be forgiven for all we have done.

When Jesus hears news of John’s death, it is hardly remarkable then that he takes himself off to pray and prepare himself for his own death in the future. However, what is remarkable, what is wonderful, is that Jesus not only went up that mountain to pray, but that he came down it again. That having heard of the suffering of John, that he set his face like a flint, and pressed on towards Jerusalem. Oh yes, we have thought much about the courage of John the Baptist in our passage, and rightly so. But friends, see here the most amazing thing in our passage is the commitment of Jesus. Yes, John had the courage to speak of sin. But yet, Jesus had the courage to suffer for sin.

If you are here this morning, and you are not a Christian, I want you to see two things as we close. First, see the law of God. We’ve thought about that a lot this morning. As Christians, we understand God to have told us what is wrong and right in his Word, we believe that the Bible is our authority, and that in it God has given us his law. And that we all, like Herod, have broken that law. We have all sinned, and we deserve judgment as a result. However, as we close, I not only want you to see the law of God, I want you to also see secondly, the love of God. For God loved us so much that he sent his son to die on the cross, to take the punishment his people deserve for breaking his law. Jesus committed himself to go to the cross. So that all who turn from their sin and trust in him, confess that they have broken God’s law and come to Jesus, will be forgiven. If John reminds you of your sin, that it is not lawful for you to live in the way you are living, let Jesus also remind you of salvation, that if you repent this morning, you can be saved, come into his family, belong to his people. You can begin to follow him, yes perhaps through persecution and even prison in this life, but if you have the courage to follow him to the end, then there will be glory.