SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/5/2022 7:42 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-5 “Herod’s Reason”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 14:3-11
Message of the verses: “3 For previously
Herod had arrested John and had him bound and put in prison, all on account of
Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4 For John had said to him, "It
is not right for you to have this woman." 5 Herod wanted to kill him for
this, but he was afraid of the people, since they all thought John was a
prophet. 6 But during Herod’s birthday celebrations Herodias’ daughter delighted
him by dancing before his guests, 7 so much so that he swore to give her
anything she liked to ask. 8 And she, prompted by her mother, said, "I
want you to give me, here and now, on a dish, the head of John the
Baptist!" 9 Herod was appalled at this, but because he had sworn in front
of his guests, he gave orders that she should be given what she had asked. 10 So
he sent men and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 Then his head was carried
in on a dish and presented to the young girl who handed it to her mother”
(Philips).
I said in our last SD that I wanted to begin today
by talking about Herod’s grief, and in the Philips Paraphrase he uses the word “appalled”
which may be a better way to look at this.
Herod’s “grief” “had nothing to do with remorse for sin or with genuine
repentance” writes John MacArthur. He
goes on “Like Pilate—who knew Jesus was innocent and would have freed Him
except for continued pressure by the Jewish leaders (Luke 23:4, 14-16, 20,
22:25; cf. John 19:12)—Herod cowardly capitulated to what he knew was unjust
and vindictive. Even drunk, he knew he
had been tricked, but his pride would not let him do what was right. Instead of admitting the foolish excess of
his promise, the king allowed himself to be used to commit an enormous crime—all
to save a reputation he did not have.
With the help of his wicked wife and unprincipled stepdaughter, his cup
of iniquity was filled.”
Verse
ten in the NASB95 states “10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.” Verse eleven then states “11 And his head was
brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.” How do we describe what just happened to John
here? Well it was Gruesome and ghoulish
or chilling may also be away to describe it, but during that time period such
things were not uncommon. Those who were
“potentates” actually had life-and-death power over their subjects and
prisoners, and that power was frequently exercised and seldom questioned. MacArthur writes “Herodias had an ancestor
crucified before the assembled guests.
While the men were hanging on their crosses, their wives and children
were slain in front of their eyes.” This
kind of reminds me of the last King of Judah who had his eyes put out after he
saw for the last thing all of his children murdered before him.
I
think that I will finish this gruesome tail in our next SD as this is not the
best thing for me to think about when I go to teach a Sunday school lesson in a
little while.
6/5/2022 8:04 AM
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