Matthew 14:1-12

Grooming for Discipleship

Matthew returned again to the order of Mark’s Gospel, though he would treat most of the incidents from his own perspective.

Matthew used the story of John the Baptist that follows to foreshadow the fate awaiting Jesus.  In the previous incident in Nazareth, Jesus had referred to himself as a prophet.  Here, John, like Jesus, would be identified explicitly as prophet.  Both were rejected, as were all prophets.

A Worldly Banquet

Matthew 14:1-12     Herod Executes John the Baptist

It is unlikely that Herod felt any particular guilt about John’s death – just fear of its consequences on the allegiance of his subjects.  That fear may have played on his religious ignorance.  Herod seemed to have made no effort to curtail the activities of Jesus (though he was almost certainly under surveillance), despite his public criticisms of contemporary social and political attitudes, and his clear promise of God’s Kingdom.  Since Jesus did not criticise him explicitly, Herod may have felt it expedient to leave things be, at least for the moment.

Matthew abbreviated Mark’s more colourful version.  Mark had included the story immediately after the mission of the twelve, to provide insight into the kind of treatment later apostles/disciples could expect.  As well, it served to remind the reader of the political climate in which Jesus operated.

Like his father before him, Herod Antipas was preoccupied with security issues, and vicious when necessary.  He was highly sensitive to criticism of his marriage to Herodias.  In the culture of the time, marriages served to strengthen political alliances, divorces to disturb them.  John’s criticism was not of Herod’s divorce and remarriage (they were taken for granted in the Torah), but of his remarriage within forbidden degrees of relationship – namely, with his half-brother’s former wife.   His repudiation of his former wife had become a highly divisive and volatile political issue.

With Matthew, the incident of John’s assassination served to highlight the contrast between the values of God’s Kingdom and those of the kingdoms of this world: issues of honour, thoughtless oaths, absence of respect for human life, political pragmatism, fear, religious credulity. Herod was not the first ruler, nor would he be the last, to resent the criticism of prophetic figures.  In John’s mind, moral considerations overrode political pragmatism.  In his criticism of royal figures, particularly female royal figures, John followed clearly in the footsteps of Elijah, the fierce critic of Jezebel and her husband Ahab.

Matthew was more critical of Herod than Mark had been.  He stated clearly that Herod wanted to kill him.  It was only fear of John’s popularity that had originally restrained Herod from killing John – though the deterrent influence of fear is rarely permanent.  Eventually, he took the decisive step to kill him, even though the narrative stated that he was troubled to have to do so.

John’s disciples had brought the news of his death to Jesus.

Herod’s banquet served to provide a sharp contrast to the banquet Jesus was about to serve.  Jesus’ banquet would illustrate the hundredfold of the Kingdom experience promised in his earlier parables.

Next >> Matthew 14:13-21