Herod Thinks this is John the Baptist - Matthew 14:2

Matthew the apostle wrote, “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus”, and in chapter fourteen and verse two of his book, Matthew wrote how Herod thought, “this is John the Baptist” where we read:

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.

The verse reads, “And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead;” Matthew began with the words, “and said” which means “and uttered, declared and proclaimed” “unto his servants” or “to Herod's ministers, slaves and attendants”, “This is John the Baptist” which means “that Jesus is actually John whose name means Jehovah is a gracious giver and was the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, the forerunner of Christ. By order of Herod Antipas he was cast into prison and afterward beheaded.”; “he is risen” or “John the Baptist is aroused, awaken and raised” “from the dead” which means “as those who are lifeless, have breathed their last, aremdeceased, departed and without life”. Matthew shared how Herod thought Jesus was John the Baptist who was “risen from the dead”.

The verse goes on to say, “and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.” Matthew added the words, “and therefore” which means “and with that intent and thus” “mighty works” or “miracles, strength, ability and moral powers” “do show forth themselves” which means “are operative, at work and in effect” “in him” which refers to “Jesus”. Matthew shared how Herod thought Jesus could perform miracles because He was John the Baptist risen from the dead.

When we consider Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Herod assessed what he heard about Jesus and thought He was John the Baptist risen from the dead. The miracles performed by Jesus caught Herod's attention, and he immediately concluded this was John the Baptist's work. The world makes their assessments of Jesus and His works, and they are often as off track about Him as was Herod, however, this does not change the fact that Jesus is the Messiah sent from God to die for the sins of the whole world. By Jesus' sacrifice, “salvation” is available for every person to have a personal relationship with God. May all who read these words consider who Jesus really is and receive Him as their “Savior and Lord” today.

Next time we see Matthew shares how Herod, “had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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