A Contrast in Character

By Pastor Dan Hickling

“At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 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.’ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for John had been saying to him: ‘It is not lawful for you to have her.’ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.”—Matthew 14:1–5 (NIV)

At this point in Matthew’s Gospel, we take a brief break from following the life and ministry of Jesus to follow up on John the Baptist’s storyline. The last time we saw John he was in prison, sending a couple of his disciples to ask Jesus whether He was the promised Messiah or not (Matthew 11:2). But it’s revealed here that he’s now dead and Matthew explains why John had been put in prison and how he died.

As far as why John was imprisoned, it was a simple matter of him standing up and speaking out against Herod, who had engaged in an adulterous relationship with his own brother’s wife! This was obviously wrong on several levels and deserved to be publicly denounced. And when you consider John’s character, who devoted his life to preaching repentance from sin, you can understand John being a major thorn in Herod’s side. Herod’s best option was to arrest John, knowing the prophet wasn’t going to top speaking out.

Notice; however, that even though there was a side of Herod that wanted to kill John, he didn’t . . . and the reason he didn’t would be his ultimate undoing. You see, Herod was the type of leader who was actually being led by popular opinion. It was a fear of how people would react that kept him from killing John. That’s not good leadership, and we’re going to see how destructive this motivation is when we see how John died.

“On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so muchthat he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.’The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be grantedand had John beheadedin the prison.His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it.Then they went and told Jesus.”—Matthew 14:6–12 (NIV)

Herod was backed into a corner. He knew John was a godly man and undeserving of death. But because of that underlying motivation to save face and stay on the right side of other’s opinions, he went against his better judgment and ordered John’s gruesome execution.

We see a stark contrast in character here! We have Herod, whose leadership is dictated by the current of public opinion, and then we have John, whose life was led according to his knowledge of God’s will. John was willing to go against the flow of what was popular because he decided it was better to honor and obey God than please man.

The question that rises out of this account is, “Whose example are we going to follow?” Are we going to be like Herod, always gauging which way the wind is blowing before deciding what we say and do? Or will we follow John’s lead by setting our course according to the eternal word and will of the Lord? Our answer will be demonstrated the next time we’re faced with a choice between doing what’s popular or doing what’s right.

While doing the right thing often carries short-term consequences (as with John), it will never lead to long-term regret. Choose wisely!

Pause: What’s the “character contrast” we see between John and Herod?

Practice: Be honest with yourself and identify which example you tend to follow. Then, examine why this is the case.

Pray: Father, we want to be more like John than Herod when it comes to the choices and decisions we make in life. Help us to let go of the desire to be popular and to please others. Give us a growing conviction deep in our being to honor and obey You, regardless of what other people think. Empower us to live more for You. Amen.