14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."
15 Others said, "He is Elijah."
And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago."
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
Notoriety of our Lord Jesus and His guys was spreading fast. In our verses for today, King Herod, son of Herod the Great, who was not officially a king rather a tetrarch – a ruler of a fourth part of his father’s kingdom - heard about Jesus’ doings and began quaking in his royal robes. Rumors were rampant over Jesus’ true identity. Some thought He was John the Baptist raised to life, others that He was the Prophet Elijah and still others thought Him to be a prophet like one from long ago. Herod, on the other hand, did not vacillate in his opinion but rather proclaimed adamantly that Jesus was the Baptist – the one whom he had beheaded and was now raised to life again. To be sure, a guilty conscience is difficult to reckon with.
“A guilty conscience needs no accuser or tormentor but itself...One might as well be haunted with ghosts and mythical creatures, as with the horrors of an accusing conscience.” Matthew Henry
Paul states in Acts before Governor Felix what we also should seek to strive for – a clear conscience:
16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. Acts 24:16 (NIV)
Interestingly – on a bit of a side note - the Apostle Paul did not necessarily equate a clear conscious with innocence being fully aware of the depths of depravity which dwells within the human heart. We find his words in 1 Corinthians to support this:
3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 1 Cor 4:3-4 (NIV)
The Prophet Jeremiah confirms this by stating:
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." Jer 17:9-10 (NIV)
The Baptist’s story was much akin to the Prophet Elijah’s in 1 Kings where King Ahab’s wife - the notorious Jezebel – sought the Prophet Elijah’s life. Much like Herodias, Jezebel was bent on the prophet’s destruction. Satan frequently fiercely fights against God’s elect. We should not be surprised when we find ourselves in the fiery furnace as well:
1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them." 1 Kings 19:1-2 (NIV)
“As sure as God puts His children in the furnace He will be in the furnace with them.” Charles H. Spurgeon
We also discover in our verses for today that John the Baptist was not fearful of being frank with the powers that be of his day. He appeared brazenly affrontingly in speaking the Truth to Herod regarding his relationship to Herodias. Instead of glossing over Herod’s indiscretion and winking it away, he boldly confronted him of his failings even though he must assuredly have known the possibility of a less than pleasant or favorable outcome for his forthrightness. John ran this risk rather than to fail to do his duty and call before God. Those ministers who are faithful in the work of God cannot afford to be fearful in the face of man. I am reminded how God strengthens His saints during such periods by the words penned in 2 Chronicles:
9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chron 16:9 (NIV)