Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 5.djvu/165

Rh disciples in a storm, v. 22..33. 3. His healing the sick with the touch of the hem of his garment, v. 34..36. Thus he went forth, thus he went on, conquering and to conquer, or rather, curing and to cure.

T that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus; 2. And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. 3. For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison, for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. 4. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 5. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. 6. But when Herod's birth-day was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. 7. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. 8. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. 9. And the king was sorry: nevertheless, for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. 10. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. 11. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. 12. And his disciples came and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

We have here the story of John's martyrdom. Observe,

I. The occasion of relating this story here, v. 1, 2. Here is,

1. The account brought to Herod of the miracles which Christ wrought. Herod, the tetrarch or chief governor of Galilee, heard of the fame of Jesus. At that time, when his countrymen slighted him, upon the account of his meanness and obscurity, he began to be famous at court. Note, God will honour those that are despised for his sake. And the gospel, like the sea, gets in one place what it loses in another. Christ had now been preaching and working miracles above two years; yet, it should seem, Herod had not heard of him till now, and now only heard the fame of him. Note, It is the unhappiness of the great ones of the world, that they are most out of the way of hearing the best things, (1 Cor. 2. 8.) which none of the princes of this world knew, 1 Cor. 1. 26. Christ's disciples were now sent abroad to preach, and to work miracles in his name, and this spread the fame of him more than ever; which was an indication of the spreading of the gospel by their means after his ascension.

2. The construction he puts upon this; (v. 2.) He said to his servants, that told him of the fame of Jesus, As sure as we are here, this is John the Baptist, he is risen from the dead. Either the leaven of Herod was not Sadducism, for the Sadducees say, There is no resurrection; (Acts 23. 8.) or else Herod's guilty conscience (as is usual with Atheists) did at this time get the mastery of his opinion, and now he concludes, whether there be a general resurrection or no, that John Baptist is certainly risen, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. John, while he lived, did no miracles; (John 10. 41.) but Herod concludes, that, being risen from the dead, he is clothed with a greater power than he had while he was living. And he very well calls the miracles he supposed him to work, not his mighty works, but mighty works showing forth themselves in him. Observe here concerning Herod,

(1.) How he was disappointed in what he intended by beheading John. He thought if he could get that troublesome fellow out of the way, he might go on in his sins, undisturbed and uncontrolled; yet no sooner is that effected, than he hears of Jesus and his disciples preaching the same pure doctrine that John preached; and, which is more, even the disciples confirming it by miracles in their master's name. Note, Ministers may be silenced, and imprisoned, and banished, and slain, but the word of God cannot be run down. The prophets live not for ever, but the word takes hold, Zech. 1. 5, 6. See 2 Tim. 2. 9. Sometimes God raises up many faithful ministers out of the ashes of one. This hope there is of God's trees, though they be cut down, Job 14. 7—9.

(2.) How he was filled with causeless fears, merely from the guilt of his own conscience. Thus blood cries, not only from the earth on which it was shed, but from the heart of him that shed it, and makes him Magor-missabib—A terror round about, a terror to himself. A guilty conscience suggests every thing that is frightful, and, like a whirlpool, gathers all to itself that comes near it. Thus the wicked flee when none pursue; (Prov. 28. 1.) are in great fears, where no fear is, Ps. 14. 5. Herod, by a little inquiry, might have found out that this Jesus was in being long before John Baptist's death, and therefore could not be Johannes redivivus—John restored to life; and so he might have undeceived himself; but God justly left him to this infatuation.

(3.) How, notwithstanding this, he was hardened in his wickedness; for though he was convinced that John was a prophet, and one owned of God, yet he does not express the least remorse or sorrow for his sin in putting him to death. The devils believe and tremble, but they never believe and repent. Note, There may be the terror of strong convictions, where there is not the truth of a saving conversion.

II. The story itself of the imprisonment and martyrdom of John. These extraordinary sufferings of him who was the first preacher of the gospel, plainly show that bonds and afflictions will abide the professors of it. As the first Old-Testament saint, so the first New-Testament minister, died a martyr. And if Christ's forerunner was thus treated, let not his followers expect to be caressed by the world. Observe here,

1. John's faithfulness in reproving Herod, v. 3, 4. Herod was one of John's hearers, (Mark 6. 20.) and therefore John might be the more bold with him. Note, Ministers, who are reprovers by office, are especially obliged to reprove those that are under their charge, and not to suffer sin upon them; they have the fairest opportunity of dealing with them, and with them may expect the most favourable acceptance.

The particular sin he reproved him for, was, marrying his brother Philip's wife, not his widow, (that had not been so criminal,) but his wife. Philip was now living, and Herod inveigled his wife from him, and kept her for his own. Here was a complication of wickedness, adultery, incest, beside the wrong done to Philip, who had had a child by this woman; and it was an aggravation of the wrong, that he was his brother, his half brother by the father, but not by the mother. See Ps. 50. 20. For this sin John reproved him; not by tacit and oblique terms, but in plain terms, It is not lawful for thee to have her. He charges it upon him as a sin; not, It