Herod Wanting to Kill John the Baptist - Matthew 14:6

Matthew the apostle wrote, “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus. And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for you to have her”, and in chapter fourteen and verse five of his book, Matthew wrote what happened when Herod, “would have put him to death” where we read:

And when he would have put him to death,

he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

The verse reads, “And when he would have put him to death, ...” Matthew began with the words, “and when” or “and at the time and moment” “he would have put him to death” which means “Herod would have killed John the Baptist. Matthew referred to the “time” when Herod would have killed John the Baptist.

The verse continues, “... he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.” Matthew added the words, “he feared” which means “Herod was afraid, seized with alarm and struck with fear by” “the multitude” or “the populace and crowds of people”, “because” which means “since and on account of” “they counted him” or “the multitudes held, owned and recognized John the Baptist” “as a prophet” or “like unto one who is moved by the Spirit of God and hence his organ or spokesman and solemnly declares to men what he has received by inspiration, especially concerning future events, and in particular such as relate to the cause and kingdom of God and to human salvation”. Matthew shared how Herod was afraid to kill John the Baptist because the crowds of people recognized John as a “prophet” of God.

When we consider Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Herod let the populace control his actions toward John the Baptist. Although he desired to kill John, he knew there would be backlash from the multitude if he did. God desires to have a loving relationship with every person, and although there are people ruling in public office who are like Herod, they are under the control of God Almighty. Everyone has an opportunity to come to God through His Son Jesus Christ, but woe be to those who like Herod desire to “kill” God's child.

Next time we see Matthew shares what happened, “when Herod's birthday was kept”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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