St Matthew, Capter 14, verses: 6 - 8, Herod's murder plot: The promise with an Oath.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Herod murdered John) Part 2.      

Herod was a deceitful King.  He was a liar and a murderer.  He was filled with his own passion and guided by his wife Herodias.  For Herod loved Herodias.  He desired her.  He lusted  that he would do anything for her.  John spoke against Herod and Herodias and they did not like it.  How dare he speak against the king.  How dare he speak against the king's wife.  Any lesser man would have been put to death immediately.  But John was a prophet.  John was the messenger of the Messiah.  John proclaimed the coming of the savior and the people revered him.  But Herodias was filled with hatred and passion against John and she would have his head for speaking against her.

To appease Herodias, Herod had John arrested and imprisoned.  Herod would have liked to put him to death but the people would have revolted against him for such actions and that would have involved the Romans coming in to calm the crowds.  So Herod was perplexed as to what to do about John the Baptist.  He wondered, he planned, he schemed, and he plotted.  And finally he came up with a plan.  The demons were with him.  The demons helped him to plan.  The demons that possessed Herod had him do their actions to murder John the Baptist.  This was their plan. 

On Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.  Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask of him.   Then she, at her mother's prompting, said, "Give me here on a dish the head of John the Baptist.

And so the plot enacted.  John was to  beheaded because of an oath by the King to give anything to his wife's daughter.  This was the plan.  This was the plot.  This was the scheme of the demons to get rid of John the Baptist.  The demons were loosing disciples because of John the Baptist.  They were being cast out.  They were loosing souls to John the Baptist who was baptising souls to Christ.  But the demons had a plan.  The demons had a plot.  And the demons had agents to work for them.  The demons had Herod and Herodias to do their will in killing John the Baptist.

Be not an agent for the devil.  Become an agent for Christ.  There is no middle ground.  You are either one or the other.  You are either working with Christ or you are working against Christ.  And the demons are recruiting daily.  They are plotting.  They are planning.  They are running every kind of scheme to steal the souls of men, women, girls and boys, children and all mankind.  For they work for the evil one who's goal is to capture as many souls as he can and destroy them in hell. 

Christ said beware the one who can kill the body and destroy the soul in hell.  He it is whom you should fear.  There are agents in this world for the evil one.  Do not become one of them.  Repent and be born again in Christ.  For he will cleans you of the evil that would possess you.  He will sanctify you that you may be made anew.  He will justify you that you will be made holy before the father.  He will protect you that you may not fall again to the tricks and traps of the evil one.  His word is truth.  His word is life.  His word is love.  Become one in Christ and he will become one  you.

St Matthew, Chapter 14, verses: 3 - 5, Herod's murder plot: Imprison John the Baptist.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Herod murdered John) Part 1.  

Herod was fearful.  He thought that Christ was John the Baptist resurrected.  And he knew that he had murdered John.  He knew that he had planned and plotted to get rid of John.  John was loved by the people.  He was a prophet.  He carried the message of the kingdom preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah.  Many came to John to repent.  Many came to John to be baptized.  Many came to John that they may prepare themselves for the coming of the kingdom.  And John was the messenger.  John was the voice of one crying in the wilderness calling people to repent, telling them of the evil in the world.  And John spoke of Herod.  This is why Herod wanted to get rid of John.   For Herod had taken John, and bound him, and put him in prison, because of Herodias, his brother's wife. 

John told the people of Herod.  John told the people of the sins of Herod.  John told the people to repent of their evil ways and not to follow the ways of Herod.  For Herod was their ruler.  He set the morals of his people by his own example.  And the people followed what they believed was true and correct as set by Herod.  Herod had married his brother's wife.  Herod had his brother murdered so that he could marry his wife, Herodias, for he wanted her.  Lust had filled him with desire and he wanted his brother's wife.  So he created a plot to get rid of his brother that he may have Herodias.  And she, Hereodias, participated in the plan.  For she lusted for Herod.  She lusted for power.  She lusted for the position to be the mate of Herod the king.  So together they plotted that they may be together.  And John spoke to the people of this evil.   "For John had said to him, “It is not lawful for thee to have her."

John had spoken of the evil that existed in the kingdom.  John had preached of repentance to the people.  John preached of the coming of the Messiah and told the people to repent of their evil ways that they may be saved.  Do not follow the ways of Herod, he preached.  Do not fall into temptation as Herod did, he told the people.  Do not lust as Herod does, he told the people.  For Herod was living in sin and should repent of his ways.  Herod should repent and rid himself of Herodias.  But Herod did not follow the preachings of the prophet.  Herod did not believe that he should rid himself of Herodias.  Herod lusted of her pleasures and wanted to rid himself of John and his preachings.   And he would have liked to put him to death, but he feared the people, because they regarded him as a prophet.

John spoke of the evil in his time.  He told the people to repent.  He spoke to them of the coming of the Messiah that they may be saved.  John was bold.  John was outspoken.  John was a man of God.  He spoke to the evil wherever it stood.  John feared not.  Are you like John the Baptist, today?  Are you fearless?  Are you outspoken?  Are you a man/woman of God?  Speak to the evil wherever you see it.  Speak to the evil wherever you encounter it.  Be bold yet be loving.  Be courageous yet be understanding.  For God is the ultimate judge of evil. 

We speak to evil that our words may open the eyes and the ears of those who may hear the message of the kingdom, helping them to repent of their sins and be healed by Christ.  We are not to judge.  We are not to condemn.  We are to love.  We are to understand that those who commit sin are like us.  We are all human.  We are all sinful.  But with the light of Christ within us we sin no more.  And if we do sin we have his forgiveness and his love to bring us back from sin.  For it is through our repentance that we are justified.  It is through our repentance that we are sanctified.  It is through our repentance that we are born anew and glorified in Christ.  Be a John the Baptist today.  Preach the gospel wherever you go.  Call for repentance with whoever you meet.  For God is our creator and our father.  He loves us all and would have us with him in the kingdom of heaven for eternity.

St Matthew, Chapter 14, verses: 1 - 2, Jesus' fame causes fear in Herod

Our paragraph topic is:  (Herod fears that Christ is John the Baptist)   

And the word spread.  It spread from the mouth of one person to the ear of another.  It spread from the market of one town to the  market of another.  It spread from the village of one town to the village of another.  It spread from the town of one district to the towns of other districts.  And Christ was known by many.  His works were spoken of by many who had seen, many who had heard, many who had witnessed his miracles and those who were recipients of his works.  He was the latest news.  He was the latest talk.  He was the latest whisperings of the people of the towns through the kingdom.  And the word came to Herod.  The word was spoken to Herod.  The word was received by Herod from his news keepers in the streets.

The news keepers were the eyes and ears of Herod.  He paid them well to keep him informed of what the people were talking about.  He planned his life around the people.  He planned his policy around the people, and he planned his lies and deceit around the people to keep them in line.  For Herod was the King.  He was the ruler of the people, appointed by the Roman Emperor.  It was his responsibility to keep his people calm and to have them follow the rules of the Romans.  Herod had to know.  He had to hear.  He had to see what was going on in his towns, in his villages, and in his kingdom.  So he put people on the streets to listen to the latest news.  And he heard of Jesus.  At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus.

Herod heard the news.  Herod heard the whisperings.  Herod listened to the stories that were told of Christ.  And Herod could not believe.  Herod could not understand.  Herod could not make sense of what the people were talking about because Herod was full of John the Baptist.  John had spoken to the heart of Herod.  John had spoken to the people of the evil in Herod.  John the Baptist had brought forth the truth in the relationship of Herod and Herodias, his wife.  And Herod wanted him dead.  Herod wanted to kill John the Baptist and that is what he did.  Herod created an elaborate plot to murder John the Baptist and he was full of himself when he carried it out.  He gloated over the sweetness of the plan that he carried out in the face of the public that allowed him to murder a prophet.  And now comes Jesus, another prophet, another man of God.   And he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are working through him."

Herod was fearful.  He was fearful of what he had done to John the Baptist.  He loved his elaborate scheme to murder John the Baptist, but he was fearful that John would come back and exact revenge upon him.  Herod was the ruler and no man was supposed to have more fame than he.  No man was supposed to be talked about by the common people more than he.  No common man was supposed to be more loved by the people than he.  And jealousy came to him.  Vanity came also.  Then hatred, and fear and doubt came.  And finally came larceny who helped him create a plan to murder John the Baptist.  For John was loved by the people.  John was revered by the people.  John was spoken of by the people more than Herod.  And John was number one with the people over Herod.   Herod wanted to be number one so he sought a way to remove John.

Satan seeks a way to remove Christ from our lives today.  He wants to murder Christ.  He wants to get rid of Christ.  He wants the people to talk about him and not Christ.  He wants to be number one in our lives today.  So he creates schemes to rid us of Christ.  He makes plans to turn us away from Christ and to turn us to him.  He builds worlds around us to blind us to the light of Christ that we may not see.  He creates playgrounds for us to have fun so that we will forget about Christ.  He fills our eyes and our ears with pleasures that compel us to enjoy and he fills our bodies with passions that make us want.  He does all this to distract us from Christ, to turn us from God, to hide us from the truth.  We were made for God and he is our father.  He is our satisfaction and our pleasure.  Nothing else can replace him in our lives. 

But Satan wants us to believe that we can be happy and have joy and peace if we turn from Christ and from God our Father.  Just as Herod feared that Christ was John the Baptist resurrected, Satan fears the resurrected man in Christ.  For in Christ we have power.  In Christ we are miracles.  In Christ we are the light of the world that he cannot turn off.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  Hear the message of the kingdom.  Become new life in Christ.  Seek the Holy Spirit and you will know true life in Christ.  Seek the Holy Spirit and you will become the miracle.  Seek the Holy Spirit and you will know the truth of the kingdom of heaven here on earth.