John the Baptist Beheaded - Matthew 14:10

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 when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. 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”, and in chapter fourteen and verse ten of his book, Matthew wrote how Herod, “sent, and beheaded John” where we read:

And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.

The verse reads, “And he sent, ...” Matthew began with the words, “and he” which means “and Herod Antipas” “sent” or “dispatched, charged and bid the following command to be carried out”. Matthew shared how Herod “commanded” the following edict.

The verse goes on to say, “... and beheaded John in the prison.” Matthew continued with the words, “and beheaded” which means “and cut, chopped, decapitated and severed the head of” “John” or “John the Baptist” “in the prison” which means “within the guarded and watched place where captives were kept”. Matthew shared how Herod had John “decapitated” within the “sentinel” where he was held captive.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we discover how the fore-runner to Jesus Christ was killed. Because He was a preacher of righteousness, John the Baptist was eliminated. From an earthly standpoint, this might trouble many who read, but from a heavenly standpoint, John went immediately to heaven to be with God. Those who put their faith in Jesus should never assume that everything is going to go well for them when they venture out for the sake of God's gospel. Some people are persecuted, and many die for the cause, however, God's desire continues to be to have an eternal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus. Those who are wise will choose to receive Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord” regardless of the earthly consequences, and when they do, they are promised “everlasting life” with God regardless of what happens to them on earth.

Next time we see Matthew shares how John the Baptist's, “head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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