Matthew 14 commentary

MATTHEW 14 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
John the Baptist Beheaded
1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the
reports about Jesus,
BAR ES, "Herod the tetrarch - See also Mar_6:14-16; Luk_9:7-9. This was a son
of Herod the Great. Herod the Great died probably in the first year after the birth of
Christ, and left his kingdom to his three sons, of whom this “Herod Antipas” was one. He
ruled over Galilee and Perea. See the notes at Mat_2:15. The title “tetrarch” literally
denotes one who rules over a “fourth” part of any country. It came, however, to signify
the governor or ruler of any province subject to the Roman emperor - Robinson,
Lexicon.
Heard of the fame of Jesus - Jesus had been a considerable time engaged in the
work of the ministry, and it may seem remarkable that he had not before heard of him.
Herod might, however, have been absent on some expedition to a remote part of the
country. It is to be remembered, also, that he was a man of much dissoluteness of
morals, and that he paid little attention to the affairs of the people. He might have heard
of Jesus before, but it had not arrested his attention. He did not think it a matter worthy
of much regard.
CLARKE, "Herod the tetrarch - This was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the
Great. See the notes on Mat_2:1, where an account is given of the Herod family. The
word tetrarch properly signifies a person who rules over the fourth part of a country; but
it is taken in a more general sense by the Jewish writers, meaning sometimes a governor
simply, or a king; see Mat_14:9. The estates of Herod the Great were not, at his death,
divided into four tetrarchies, but only into three: one was given by the Emperor
Augustus to Archelaus; the second to Herod Antipas, the person in the text; and the
third to Philip: all three, sons of Herod the Great.
GILL, "At that time Herod the tetrarch,.... Not Herod the Great, in whose reign Christ
was born, and who slew the infants of Bethlehem, but his son; this was, as the Jewish

chronologer (c) rightly observes,
"Herod Antipater, whom they call ‫,טיתרקי‬ "the tetrarch"; the son of Herod the First, and
brother of Archelaus, and the third king of the family of Herod.''
And though he is here called a "tetrarch", he is in Mar_6:14 called a king: the reason of
his being styled a "tetrarch" was this; his father Herod divided his large kingdom into
four parts, and bequeathed them to his sons, which was confirmed by the Roman senate:
Archelaus reigned in Judea in his stead; upon whose decease, that part was put under
the care of a Roman governor; who, when John the Baptist began to preach, was Pontius
Pilate; this same Herod here spoken of, being "tetrarch" of Galilee, which was the part
assigned him; and his brother Philip "tetrarch" of Ituraea, and of the region of
Trachonitis; and Lysanias, "tetrarch" of Abilene, Luk_3:1 the word "tetrarch": signifying
one that has the "fourth" part of government: and in Munster's Hebrew Gospel, he is
called "one of the four princes"; and in the Arabic version, "a prince of the fourth part";
and in the Persic, a "governor of the fourth part of the kingdom". The "time" referred to,
was after the death of John the Baptist; and when Christ had been for a good while, and
in many places, preaching and working miracles; the particular instant which respect is
had unto, is the sending forth of the twelve disciples to preach and work miracles; and
which might serve the more to spread the fame of Christ, and which reached the court of
Herod; who, it is said here,
heard of the fame of Jesus: what a wonderful preacher he was, and what mighty things
were done by him.
HE RY, "We have here the story of John's martyrdom. Observe,
I. The occasion of relating this story here, Mat_14:1, Mat_14:2. 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
(1Co_2:8). Which none of the princes of this world knew, 1Co_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.
JAMISO , "Mat_14:1-12. Herod thinks Jesus a resurrection of the murdered
Baptist - Account of his imprisonment and death. ( = Mar_6:14-29; Luk_9:7-9).
The time of this alarm of Herod Antipas appears to have been during the mission of
the Twelve, and shortly after the Baptist - who had been in prison for probably more
than a year - had been cruelly put to death.
Herod’s theory of the works of Christ (Mat_14:1, Mat_14:2).
At that time Herod the tetrarch — Herod Antipas, one of the three sons of Herod
the Great, and own brother of Archelaus (Mat_2:22), who ruled as ethnarch over Galilee
and Perea.

heard of the fame of Jesus — “for His name was spread abroad” (Mar_6:14).
HAWKER 1-12, ""At 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 show 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 birthday 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."
What a vast variety of solemn thoughts arise from this short, but affecting narrative of
the death of John the Baptist. The cruelty of the actors, the implacable hatred of the
human mind, towards this poor Prophet, the savage feelings of Herod’s guests, and,
above all, the Lord’s providence in the appointment! what endless meditations arise
from these, and the like subjects, suggested by the event. Oh! what a proof the whole
brings of that solemn scripture: The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance,
he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So that a man shall say, verily, there is a
reward for the righteous, verily he is a God that judgeth the earth. Psa_58:10-11. Reader!
pause over the subject. Who that would desire truly to know to what a state the human
nature is reduced by the fall of man, must learn it; under divine teaching, from such
savage instances as are here exhibited. What one man is capable of doing, all are; and,
but for restraining grace, if temptations arose to prompt to like acts, would do. The seeds
of every sin are in every heart, the same by the fall. Reader! do you believe this? Yes! if
God the Holy Ghost hath convinced you of sin. And until this is feelingly known in the
heart, never will the infinitely precious redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ be
understood or valued. Oh! how precious to them that believe is Jesus! 1Pe_2:7. Hence a
child of God reads this account of Herod, therefrom to abhor himself, and to love Jesus!
1Co_4:7.
CALVI , "The reason why the Evangelists relate this occurrence is, to inform us
that the name of Christ was universally celebrated, and, therefore, the Jews could
not be excused on the plea of ignorance. Many might otherwise have been perplexed
by this question, “How came it that, while Christ dwelt on the earth, Judea
remained in a profound sleep, as if he had withdrawn into some corner, and had
displayed to none his divine power?” The Evangelists accordingly state, that the
report concerning him was everywhere spread abroad, and penetrated even into the
court of Herod.
BARCLAY 1-12, "In this tragic drama of the death of John the Baptist, the
dramatis personas stand clearly delineated and vividly displayed.

(i) There is John himself. As far as Herod was concerned John had two faults. (a) He
was too popular with the people. Josephus also tells the story of the death of John,
and it is from this point of view that he tells it. Josephus writes (Antiquities of the
Jews, 18. 5. 2): " ow when many others came in crowds about him, for they were
greatly moved by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John
had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion
(for they seemed ready to do anything he should advise), thought it best, by putting
him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into
difficulties by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it was too late.
Accordingly he was sent a prisoner out of Herod's suspicious temper to Machaerus
... and was there put to death." As Josephus read the facts, it was Herod's suspicious
jealousy of John which made him kill John. Herod, like every weak and suspicious
and frightened tyrant, could think of no way of dealing with a possible rival other
than killing him.
(b) But the gospel writers see the story from a different point of view. As they see it,
Herod killed John because he was a man who told the truth. It is always dangerous
to rebuke a tyrant, and that is precisely what John did.
The facts were quite simple. Herod Antipas was married to a daughter of the king of
the abatean Arabs. He had a brother in Rome also called Herod; the gospel writers
call this Roman Herod, Philip; his full name may have been Herod Philip, or they
may simply have got mixed up in the complicated marriage relationships of the
Herods. This Herod who stayed in Rome was a wealthy private individual, who had
no kingdom of his own. On a visit to Rome, Herod Antipas seduced his brother's
wife, and persuaded her to leave his brother and to marry him. In order to do so he
had to put away his own wife, with, as we shall see, disastrous consequences to
himself. In doing this, apart altogether from the moral aspect of the question, Herod
broke two laws. He divorced his own wife without cause, and he married his sister-
in-law, which was a marriage, under Jewish law, within the prohibited
relationships. Without hesitation John rebuked him.
It is always dangerous to rebuke an eastern despot, and by his rebuke John signed
his own death warrant. He was a man who fearlessly rebuked evil wherever he saw
it. When John Knox was standing for his principles against Queen Mary, she
demanded whether he thought it right that the authority of rulers should be
resisted. His answer was: "If princes exceed their bounds, madam, they may be
resisted and even deposed." The world owes much to the great men who took their
lives in their hands and had the courage to tell even kings and queens that there is a
moral law which they break at their peril.
(ii) There is Herodias. As we shall see, she was the ruination of Herod in every
possible sense, although she was a woman not without a sense of greatness. At the
moment we simply note that she was stained by a triple guilt. She was a woman of
loose morals and of infidelity. She was a vindictive woman, who nursed her wrath to
keep it warm, and who was out for revenge, even when she was justly condemned.
And--perhaps worst of all--she was a woman who did not hesitate to use even her

own daughter to realize her own vindictive ends. It would have been bad enough if
she herself had sought ways of taking vengeance on the man of God who confronted
her with her shame. It was infinitely worse that she used her daughter for her
nefarious purposes and made her as great a sinner as herself. There is little to be
said for a parent who stains a child with guilt in order to achieve some evil personal
purpose.
(iii) There is Herodias' daughter, Salome. Salome must have been young, perhaps
sixteen or seventeen years of age. Whatever she may later have become, in this
instance she is surely more sinned against than sinning. There must have been in her
an element of shamelessness. Here was a royal princess who acted as a dancing-girl.
The dances which these girls danced were suggestive and immoral. For a royal
princess to dance in public at all was an amazing thing. Herodias thought nothing of
outraging modesty and demeaning her daughter, if only she could gain her revenge
on a man who had justly rebuked her.
THE FALL OF HEROD (Matthew 14:1-12 continued)
(iv) There is Herod himself. He is called the tetrarch. Tetrarch literally means the
ruler of a fourth part; but it came to be used quite generally, as here, of any
subordinate ruler of a section of a country. Herod the Great had many sons. When
he died, he divided his territory into three, and, with the consent of the Romans,
willed it to three of them. To Archelaus he left Judaea and Samaria; to Philip he left
the northern territory of Trachonitis and Ituraea; to Herod Antipas--the Herod of
this story--he left Galilee and Peraea. Herod Antipas was by no means an
exceptionally bad king; but here he began on the road that led to his complete ruin.
We may note three things about him.
(a) He was a man with a guilty conscience. When Jesus became prominent, Herod
immediately leaped to the conclusion that this was John come back to life again.
Origen has a most interesting suggestion about this. He points out that Mary, the
mother of Jesus, and Elisabeth, the mother of John, were closely related (Luke
1:36). That is to say, Jesus and John were blood relations. And Origen speaks of a
tradition which says that Jesus and John closely resembled each other in
appearance. If that was the case, then Herod's guilty conscience might appear to
him to have even more grounds for its fears. He is the great proof that no man can
rid himself of a sin by ridding himself of the man who confronts him with it. There
is such a thing as conscience, and, even if a man's human accuser is eliminated, his
divine accuser is still not silenced.
(b) Herod's action was typical of a weak man. He kept a foolish oath and broke a
great law. He had promised Salome to give her anything she might ask, little
thinking what she would request. He knew well that to grant her request, so as to
keep his oath, was to break a far greater law; and yet he chose to do it because he
was too weak to admit his error. He was more frightened of a woman's tantrums
than of the moral law. He was more frightened of the criticism, and perhaps the
amusement, of his guests, than of the voice of conscience. Herod was a man who
could take a firm stand on the wrong things, even when he knew what was right;

and such a stand is the sign, not of strength, but of weakness.
(c) We have already said that Herod's action in this case was the beginning of his
ruin, and so it was. The result of his seduction of Herodias and his divorce of his
own wife, was that (very naturally) Aretas, the father of his wife, and the ruler of
the abateans, bitterly resented the insult perpetrated against his daughter. He
made war against Herod, and heavily defeated him. The comment of Josephus is:
"Some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God,
and that very justly, as a punishment for what he did against John, who was called
the Baptist" (Antiquities of the Jews, 18. 5. 2). Herod was in fact only rescued by
calling in the power of the Romans to clear things up.
From the very beginning Herod's illegal and immoral alliance with Herodias
brought him nothing but trouble. But the influence of Herodias was not to stop
there. The years went by and Caligula came to the Roman throne. The Philip who
had been tetrarch of Trachonitis and Ituraea died, and Caligula gave the province
to another of the Herod family named Agrippa; and with the province he gave him
the title of king. The fact that Agrippa was called king moved Herodias to bitter
envy. Josephus says, "She was not able to conceal how miserable she was, by reason
of the envy she had towards him" (Antiquities of the Jews, 18. 7. 1). The
consequence of her envy was that she incited Herod to go to Rome and to ask
Caligula that he too should be granted the title of king, for Herodias was determined
to be a queen. "Let us go to Rome," she said, "and let us spare no pains or expenses,
either of saver or gold, since they cannot be kept for any better use than for the
obtaining of a kingdom."
Herod was very unwilling to take action; he was naturally lazy, and he also foresaw
serious trouble. But this persistent woman had her way. Herod prepared to set out
to Rome; but Agrippa sent messengers to forestall him with accusations that Herod
was preparing treacherously to rebel from Rome. The result was that Caligula
believed Agrippa's accusations, took Herod's province from him, with all his money,
and gave it to Agrippa, and banished Herod to far off Gaul to languish there in exile
until he died.
So in the end it was through Herodias that Herod lost his fortune and his kingdom,
and dragged out a weary existence in the far away places of Gaul. It is just here that
Herodias showed her one flash of greatness and of magnanimity. She was in fact
Agrippa's sister, and Caligula told her that he did not intend to take her private
fortune from her and that for Agrippa's sake she need not accompany her husband
into exile. Herodias answered, "Thou indeed, O Emperor, actest after a magnificent
manner, and as becomes thyself, in what thou offerest me; but the love which I have
for my husband hinders me from partaking of the favour of thy gift; for it is not just
that I, who have been a partner in his prosperity, should forsake him in his
misfortune" (Antiquities of the Jews, 8. 7. 2). And so Herodias accompanied Herod
to his exile.
If ever there was proof that sin brings its own punishment, that proof lies in the

story of Herod. It was an ill day when Herod first seduced Herodias. From that act
of infidelity came the murder of John, and in the end disaster, in which he lost all,
except the woman who loved him and ruined him.
BE SO , "Matthew 14:1-2. ow at that time — When our Lord had spent about a
year in his public ministry, and had sent out his disciples to preach the gospel, to
cast out devils, and to heal diseases, and they, by virtue of his name, had been
successful in that work; Mark 6:12-14; Luke 9:6-7; Herod the tetrarch — King of
Galilee and Peræa, the fourth part of his father’s dominions; (see note on Matthew
2:1;) heard of the fame of Jesus — ow everywhere spread abroad, in consequence
of the marvellous works done by him and his apostles; and said, This is John the
Baptist: he is risen from the dead — Herod was a Sadducee; and the Sadducees
denied the resurrection of the dead: but Sadducism staggers when conscience
awakes. See the note on Mark 6:14-28.
COFFMA , "This Herod was a son of Herod the Great by the second Mariamne,
daughter of Simon. He had inherited the tetrarchy of Galilee of Perea. On a visit to
Rome, he was enamored by Herodias, his niece, who was the wife of his half-
brother, Herod Philip II, who at that time were private citizens in Rome. Herod
seduced her, divorced his own wife, married her, and made her his queen. Herod's
comment concerning John, recorded in these two verses, was made in the aftermath
of John's murder, which is detailed in this chapter. His remarks pointed up his guilt
and also the conviction he held that John was indeed a righteous man.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Herod the tetrarch.—The son of Herod the Great by Malthace.
Under his father’s will he succeeded to the government of Galilee and Peræa, with
the title of Tetrarch, and as ruler of a fourth part of the Roman province of Syria.
His first wife was a daughter of Aretas, an Arabian king or chief, named in 2
Corinthians 11:32 as king of the Damascenes. Herodias, the wife of his half-brother
Philip (not the Tetrarch of Trachonitis, Luke 3:1, but son of Herod the Great by
Mariamne, and though wealthy, holding no official position as a ruler), was
daughter of Aristobulus, the son whom Herod put to death, and was therefore niece
to both her husbands. Prompted partly by passion, partly by ambition, she left
Philip, and became the wife of Antipas (Jos. Ant. xviii. 5, §4). The marriage, at once
adulterous and by the Mosaic law doubly incestuous, shocked the conscience of all
the stricter Jews. It involved Antipas in a war with the father of the wife whom he
had divorced and dismissed, and it was probably in connection with this war that
we read of soldiers on actual duty as coming under the teaching of the Baptist in
Luke 3:14. The prophetic spirit of the Baptist, the very spirit of Elijah in his
dealings with Ahab and Jezebel, made him the spokesman of the general feeling,
and so brought him within the range of the vindictive bitterness of the guilty queen.
Heard of the fame of Jesus.—The words do not necessarily imply that no tidings had
reached him till now. Our Lord’s ministry, however, had been at this time at the
furthest not longer than a year, and possibly less, and Antipas, residing at Tiberias
and surrounded by courtiers, might well be slow to hear of the works and teaching
of the Prophet of azareth. Possibly, the nobleman of Capernaum (John 4:46), or

Manaen the foster-brother of the tetrarch (Acts 13:1), or Chuza his steward (Luke
8:3), may have been among his first informants, as “the servants” (the word is not
that used for “slaves”) to whom he now communicated his theory as to the reported
wonders.
BURKITT, "Observe here, 1. How strange it was the Herod should not hear of the
fame of Jesus till now; all the country and adjoining regions had rung of his fame,
only Herod's court hears nothing. Miserable is that greatness which keeps princes
from the knowledge of Jesus Christ. How plain is it from hence that our Saviour
came not to court? He once sent indeed a message to that fox (Herod) whose den he
would not approach; teaching us by his example, not to affect, but to avoid, outward
pomp and glory. The courts to thrive in.
Observe, 2. The misconstruction of Herod, when he heard of our Saviour's fame:
this, says he, is John the Baptist, whom I beheaded. His conscience told him he had
offered an unjust violence to an innocent man; and now he is afraid that he is come
again to be revenged on him for his head. A wicked man needs no worse tormentor
than his own mind. O the terrors and tortures of a guilty conscience! How great are
the anxieties of guilt, and the fears of divine displeasure, than which nothing is more
stinging and perpetually tormenting.
PETT, "John had stirred the people in Peraea, another part of Herod’s territory
east of Jordan. But his ministry had been restricted to preaching. He had performed
no miracles. ow, however, came news to Herod of great crowds gathering to hear a
prophet who performed amazing miracles, who was right here in Galilee. To a man
like Herod, who bore a heavy burden of guilt this news was disturbing. As far as he
was concerned there could only be one explanation (it was after all unusual that two
such prophets should arise one after the other). This must be John the Baptist
returned with heavenly power.
EBC, "THE CRISIS IN GALILEE
THE lives of John and of Jesus, lived so far apart, and with so little intercommunication,
have yet been interwoven in a remarkable way, the connection only appearing at the
most critical times in the life of our Lord. This interweaving, strikingly anticipated in the
incidents of the nativity as recorded by St. Luke, appears, not only at the time of our
Saviour’s baptism and first introduction to His Messianic work, but again at the
beginning of His Galilean ministry, which dates from the time when John was cast into
prison, and once again as the stern prophet of the desert finishes his course; for his
martyrdom precipitates a crisis, to which events for some time have been tending.
The period of crisis, embracing the facts recorded in the two chapters following and in
part of the sixteenth, is marked by events of thrilling interest. The shadow of the cross
falls so very darkly now upon the Saviour’s path, that we may look for some more
striking effects of light and shade, - Rembrandt-like touches, if with reverence we may so
put it, - in the Evangelist’s picture. Many impressive contrasts will arrest our attention as
we proceed to touch briefly on the story of the time.
I - THE BANQUET OF HEROD AND THE FEAST OF CHRIST Mat_14:1-21

"Among them that are born of woman there hath not risen a greater than John the
Baptist." Such was the Saviour’s testimony to His forerunner in the hour of his
weakness; and the sequel fully justified it. The answer which came to John’s inquiry
brought him no outward relief. His prison bolts were as firmly fastened as before, Herod
was as inexorable, the prospect before Him as dark as ever; but he had the assurance
that Jesus was the Christ, and that His blessed work of healing the sick and preaching
the gospel to the poor was going on; and that was enough for him. So he was quite
content to languish on, resting in the Lord and waiting patiently for Him. We learn from
St. Mark that Herod was in the habit of sending for him at times, evidently interested in
the strange man, probably to some extent fascinated by him, and possibly not without
some lingering hope that there might be some way of reconciling the preacher of
righteousness and securing the blessing of so well-accredited a messenger of Heaven.
There is little doubt that at these times the way was open for John to be restored to
liberty, if only he had been willing to lower his testimony against Herod’s sin, or consent
to say no more about it; but no such thought ever crossed his noble soul. He had said, "It
is not lawful for thee to have her"; and not even in the hour of deepest depression and
darkest doubt did he for a moment relax the rigour of his requirements as a preacher of
righteousness.
As he had lived, so he died. We shall not dwell on the details of the revolting story. It is
quite realistic enough in the simple recital of the Evangelist. One cannot help recalling in
this connection four hideous pictures of Salome with the head of John the Baptist
recently displayed, all on the line, in the Salon at Paris. Of what possible use are such
representations? To what sort of taste do they minister? There was no picture of John
looking with flashing eyes at the guilty monarch as he said, "It is not lawful for thee to
have her." That is the scene which is worthy of remembrance: let it abide in the memory
and heart; let the tragic end serve only as a dark background to make the central figure
luminous, "a burning and a shining light."
The time of Herod’s merciful visitation is over. So long as he kept the Baptist safe (Mar_
6:19-20) from the machinations of Herodias, he retained one link with better things. The
stern prisoner was to him like a second conscience; and so long as he was there within
easy reach, and Herod continued from time to time to see him and hear what he had to
say, there remained some hope of repentance and reformation. Had he only yielded to
the promptings of his better nature, and obeyed the prophet, the way of the Lord would
have been prepared, the preacher of righteousness would have been followed by the
Prince of Peace; and the gospel of Jesus, with all its unspeakable blessing, would have
had free course in his court and throughout his realm. But the sacrifice of the prophet to
the cruelty of Herodias and the folly and wickedness of his vow put an end to such
prospects; and the fame of Christ’s deeds of mercy, when at last it reached his ears,
instead of stirring in him a living hope, aroused the demon of guilty conscience, which
could not rid itself of the superstitious fear that it was John the Baptist risen from the
dead. Thus passed away for ever the great opportunity of Herod Antipas.
The disciples of John withdrew in sorrow, but not in despair. They had evidently caught
the spirit of their master; for as soon as they had reverently and lovingly taken up the
mortal remains and buried them, they came and told Jesus.
It must have been a terrible blow to Him, - perhaps even more than it was to them, for
they had Him to go to; while He had none on earth to take counsel with: He must carry
the heavy burden of responsibility all alone; for even the most advanced of the Twelve
could not enter into any of His thoughts and purposes; and certainly not one of them, we
might indeed say not all of them together, had at this time anything like the strength and

steadfastness of the great man who had just been taken away. We learn from the other
accounts that at the same time the Twelve returned from their first missionary journey;
so that the question would immediately come up, What was to be done? It was a critical
time. Should they stir up the people to avenge the death of their prophet? This would
have been after the manner of men, but not according to the counsel of God. Long ago
the Saviour had set aside, as quite apart from His way of working, all appeals to force;
His kingdom must be a kingdom of the truth, and on the truth He will rely, with nothing
else to trust to than the power of patient love. So He takes His disciples away to the other
side of the lake, outside the jurisdiction of Herod, with the thoughtful invitation: "Come
ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile."
What are the prospects of the kingdom now? Sin and righteousness have long been at
strife in the court of Galilee; now sin has conquered and has the field. The great preacher
of righteousness is dead; and the Christ, to Whom he bore such faithful witness, has
gone to the desert. Again the sad prophecy is fulfilled: "He is despised and rejected of
men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." That little boat crossing from the
populous shores of Gennesaret to the desert land on the other side-what does it mean?
Defeat? A lost cause? Is this the end of the mission in Galilee, begun to the music of that
majestic prophecy which spoke of it as daybreak on the hills and shores of Naphtali and
Zebulun, Gennesaret and Jordan? Is this the outcome of two mighty movements so full
of promise and hope? Did not all Jerusalem and Judea go after John, confessing their
sins and accepting his baptism? And has not all Galilee thronged after Jesus, bringing
their sick to be healed, and listening, at least with outward respect and often expressed
astonishment, to His words of truth and hope? Now John is dead, and Jesus is crossing
with His own disciples and those of John in a boat-one boat enough to hold them all-to
mourn together in a desert place apart. Suppose we had been sitting on the shore that
day, and had watched it getting ever smaller as it crossed the sea, what should we have
thought of the prospects? Should we have found it easy to believe in Christ that day?
Verily "the kingdom of God cometh not with observation."
The multitudes will not believe on Him; yet they will not let Him rest. They have rejected
the kingdom; but they would fain get as much as they can of those earthly blessings
which have been scattered so freely as its signs. So the people, noticing the direction the
boat has taken, throng after Him, running on foot round the northern shore. When
Jesus sees them, sad and weary as He is, He cannot turn away. He knows too well that it
is with no pure and lofty devotion that they follow Him; but He cannot see a multitude of
people without having His heart moved with a great longing to bless them. So He "went
forth, and healed their sick."
He continued His loving work, lavishing His sympathy on those who had no sympathy
with Him, tilt evening fell, and the disciples suggested that it was time to send the people
away, especially as they were beginning to suffer from want of food. "But Jesus said unto
them, They need not depart: give ye them to eat. And they say unto Him, We have here
but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to Me."
The miracle which follows is of very special significance. Many things point to this.
(1) It is the one miracle which all the four Evangelists record.
(2) It occurs at a critical time in our Lord’s history. There has been discouragement after
discouragement, repulse after repulse, despite and rejection by the leaders, obstinate
unbelief and impenitence on the part of the people, the good seed finding almost
everywhere hard or shallow or thorny soil, with little or no promise of the longed-for
harvest. And now a crowning disaster has come in the death of John. Can we wonder

that Christ received the tidings of it as a premonition of His own? Can we wonder that
henceforth He should give less attention to public preaching, and more to the training of
the little band of faithful disciples who must be prepared for days of darkness coming on
apace-prepared for the cross, manifestly now the only way to the crown?
(3) There is the significant remark (Joh_6:4) that "the Passover was nigh." This was the
last Passover but one of our Saviour’s life. The next was to be marked by the sacrifice of
Himself as "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." Another year, and
He will have fulfilled His course, as John has fulfilled His. Was it not, then, most natural
that His mind should be full, not only of thoughts of the approaching Passover, but also
of what the next one must bring. This is no mere conjecture; for it plainly appears in the
long and most suggestive discourse St. John reports as following immediately upon the
miracle and designed for its application.
The feeding of the five thousand is indeed a sign of the kingdom, like those grouped
together in the earlier part of the Gospel (Mat_8:1-34, Mat_1:1-25). It showed the
compassion of the Lord upon the hungry multitude, and His readiness to supply their
wants. It showed the Lordship of Christ over nature, and served as a representation in
miniature of what the God of nature is doing every year, when, by agencies as far beyond
our ken as those by which His Son multiplied the loaves that day, He transmutes the
handful of seed-corn into the rich harvests of grain which feed the multitudes of men. It
taught also, by implication, that the same God Who feeds the bodies of men with the rich
abundance of the year is able and willing to satisfy all their spiritual wants. But there is
something more than all this, as we might gather from the very way it is told: "And He
commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and looking
up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the
disciples to the multitude." Can we read these words without thinking of what our
Saviour did just a year later, when He took bread and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it
to the disciples and said, "Take, eat, this is My body?" (Mat_26:26) He is not, indeed,
instituting the Supper now; but it is very plain that the same thoughts are in His mind as
when, a year later, He did so. And what might be inferred from the recital of what He did
becomes still more evident when we are told what afterwards He said-especially such
utterances as these: "I am the bread of life; The bread which I will give you is My flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world; Verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of
the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you."
We have, then, here, not a sign of the kingdom only, but a parable of life eternal, life to
be bestowed in no other way than by the death to be accomplished at Jerusalem at the
next passover, life for thousands, life ministered through the disciples to the multitudes,
and not diminished in the ministering, but growing and multiplying in their hands, so
that after all are fed there remain "twelve baskets full,"-far more than at the first: a
beautiful hint of the abundance that will remain for the Gentile nations of the earth. That
passover parable comes out of the anguish of the great Redeemer’s heart. Already, as He
breaks that bread and gives it to the people, He is enduring the cross and despising the
shame of it, for the joy set before Him of giving the bread of life to a hungry world.
One can scarcely fail at this point to contrast the feast in honour of Herod’s birthday
with the feast which symbolised the Saviour’s death. "When a convenient day was come,
Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of
Galilee; and "the rest is well known, -the feasting, mirth, and revelry, ending in the dark
tragedy, followed by the remorse of a guilty conscience, the gnawing of the worm that
dieth not, the burning of the fire that is not quenched. Then think of that other feast on
the green grass in the pure air of the fresh and breezy hillside-the hungry multitudes, the

homely fare, the few barley loaves and the two small fishes; yet by the blessing of the
Lord Jesus there was provided a repast far more enjoyable to these keen appetites than
all the delicacies of the banquet to the lords of Galilee-a feast pointing indeed to a death,
but a death which was to bring life and peace and joy to thousands, with abundance over
for all who will receive it. The one is the feast to which the world invites; the other is the
least which Christ provides for all who are willing to "labour not for the meat that
perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life."
II - CALM ON THE MOUNTAIN AND TROUBLE ON THE SEA.
We learn from the fourth Gospel that the immediate result of the impression made by
our Lord’s miraculous feeding of the five thousand was an attempt on the part of the
people to take Him by force and make Him a king. Thus, as always, their minds would
run on political change, and the hope of bettering their circumstances thereby; while
they refuse to allow themselves to think of that spiritual change which must begin with
themselves, and show itself in that repentance and hunger and thirst after righteousness,
which He so longed to see in them. Even His disciples, as we know, were not now, nor
for a long time subsequent to this, altogether free from the same spirit of earthliness;
and it is quite likely that the general enthusiasm would excite them not a little, and
perhaps lead them to raise the question, as they were often fain to do, whether the time
had not at last come for their Master to declare Himself openly, put Himself at the head
of these thousands, take advantage of the widespread feeling of irritation and discontent
awakened by the murder of John the Baptist, whom all men counted for a prophet,
(Mar_11:32) hurl Herod Antipas from the high position he disgraced, and, with all
Galilee under His control and full of enthusiasm for His cause, march southward on
Jerusalem. This was no doubt the course of action they for the most part expected and
wished; and, with One at their head Who could do such wonders, what was there to
hinder complete success?
May we not also with reverence suppose that this was one of the occasions on which
Satan renewed those assaults which he began in the wilderness of Judea? A little later,
when Peter was trying to turn Him aside from the path of the Cross, Jesus recognised it,
not merely as a suggestion of the disciple, but as a renewed temptation of the great
adversary. We may well suppose, then, that at this crisis the old temptation to bestow on
Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them-not for their own sake, of course
(there could have been no temptation in that direction), but for the sake of the
advancement of the interests of the heavenly kingdom by the use of worldly methods of
policy and force-was presented to Him with peculiar strength.
However. this may have been, the circumstances required prompt action of some kind. It
was necessary that the disciples should be got out of reach of temptation as soon as
possible; so He constrained them to enter into a boat, and go before Him to the other
side, while He dispersed the multitude. And need we wonder that in the circumstances
He should wish to be entirely alone? He could not consult with those He trusted most,
for they were quite in the dark, and anything they were at all likely to say would only
increase the pressure put upon Him by the people. He had only One for His Counsellor
and Comforter, His Father in heaven, Whose will He had come to do; so He must be
alone with Him. He must have been in a state of great physical exhaustion after all the
fatigue of the day, for though He had come for rest He had found none; but the brave,
strong spirit conquers the weary flesh, and instead of going to sleep He ascends the
neighbouring height to spend the night in prayer.
It is interesting to remember that it was after this night spent in prayer that He delivered
the remarkable discourse recorded in the sixth chapter of St. John, in which He speaks

so plainly about giving His flesh for the life of the world. It is evident, then, that, if any
question had arisen in His mind as to the path of duty, when He was suddenly
confronted with the enthusiastic desire of the multitudes to crown Him at once, it was
speedily set at rest: He now plainly saw that it was not the will of His Father in heaven
that He should take advantage of any such stirring of worldly desire, that Be must give
no encouragement to any, except those who were hungering and thirsting after
righteousness, to range themselves upon His side. Hence, no doubt, the sifting nature of
the discourse He delivered the following day. He is eager to gather the multitudes to
Himself; but He cannot allow them to come under any false assumption; -He must have
spiritually-minded disciples, or none at all: accordingly He makes His discourse so
strongly spiritual, directs their attention so far away from earthly issues to the issues of
eternity ("I will raise him up at the last day" is the promise He gives over and over again,
whereas they wanted to be raised up then and there to high places in the world), that not
only did the multitude lose all their enthusiasm, but "from that time many of His
disciples went back, and walked no more with Him," while even the Twelve themselves
were shaken in their allegiance, as seems evident from the sorrowful question with
which He turned to them: "Will ye also go away?" We may reverently suppose, then, that
our Lord was occupied, during the early part of the night, with thoughts like these-in
preparation, as it were, for the faithful words He will speak and the sad duty He will
discharge on the morrow.
Meantime a storm has arisen on the lake-one of those sudden and often terrible squalls
to which inland waters everywhere are subject, but which are greatly aggravated here by
the contrast between the tropical climate of the lake, 620 feet below the level of the
Mediterranean, and the cool air on the heights which surround it. The storm becomes
fiercer as the night advances. The Saviour has been much absorbed, but He cannot fail to
notice how angry the lake is becoming, and to what peril His loved disciples are exposed.
As the Passover was nigh, the moon would be nearly full, and there would be frequent
opportunities, between the passing of the clouds, to watch the little boat. As long as
there seems any prospect of their weathering the storm by their own exertions He leaves
them to themselves; but when it appears that they are making no progress, though it is
evident that they are "toiling in rowing," He sets out at once to their relief.
The rescue which follows recalls a former incident on the same lake. (Mat_8:23-27) But
the points of difference are both important and instructive. Then He was with His
disciples in the ship, though asleep; in their extremity they had only to rouse Him with
the cry, "Save, Lord, or we perish!" to secure immediate calm and safety. Now He was
not with them; He was out of sight, and beyond the reach even of the most piercing cries.
It was therefore a much severer trial than the last, and remembering the special
significance of the miracle of the loaves, we can scarcely fail to notice a corresponding
suggestiveness in this one. That one had dimly foreshadowed His death; did not this, in
the same way, foreshadow the relations He would sustain to His disciples after His
death? May we not look upon His ascent of this mountain as a picture of His ascension
into heaven-His betaking Himself to His Father now as a shadow of His going to the
Father then-His prayer on the mount as a shadow of His heavenly intercession? It was to
pray that He ascended; and though He, no doubt, needed, at that trying time, to pray for
Himself, His heart would be poured out in pleading for His disciples too, especially when
the storm came on. And these disciples constrained to go off in a boat by themselves, -
are they not a picture of the Church after Christ had gone to His Father, launched on the
stormy sea of the world? What will they do without Him? What will they do when the
winds rise and the waves roar in the dark night? Oh! if only He were here, Who was
sleeping in the boat that day, and only needed to be roused to sympathise and save!

Where is He now? There on the hilltop, interceding, looking down with tenderest
compassion, watching every effort of the toiling rowers. Nay, He is nearer still! See that
Form upon the waves! "It is a spirit," they cry; and are afraid, very much as, a little more
than a year afterward, when He came suddenly into the midst of them with His "Peace
be unto you," they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a
spirit. (Luk_24:37) But presently they hear the familiar voice: "Be of good cheer: it is I;
be not afraid." There can be no doubt that the remembrance of that night on the lake of
Galilee would be a wondrous consolation to these disciples during the storms of
persecution through which they had to pass after their Master had ascended up to
heaven; and their faith in the presence of His Spirit, and His constant readiness to help
and save, would be greatly strengthened by the memory of that apparently spectral Form
they had seen coming across the troubled sea to their relief. Have we not some reason,
then, for saying that here, too, we have not only another of the many signs of the
kingdom showing our Lord’s power over nature and constant readiness to help His
people in time of need, but a parable of the future, most appropriately following that
parable of life through death set forth in the feeding of the thousands on the day before?
There seems, in fact, a strange prophetic element running all through the scenes of that
wondrous time. We have already referred to the disposition on the part even of the
Twelve, as manifested next day at the close of the discourse on the "bread of life," to
desert Him-to show the same spirit which afterward, when the crisis reached its height,
so demoralised them that "they all forsook Him, and fled"; and have we not, in the
closing incident, in which Peter figures so conspicuously, a mild foreshadowing of his
terrible fall, when the storm of human passion was raging as fiercely in Jerusalem as did
the winds and waves on the lake of Galilee that night? There is the same self-confidence:
"Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water"; the same alarm when he was
brought face to face with the danger the thought of which he had braved; then the
sinking, sinking as if about to perish, yet not hopelessly (for the Master had prayed for
him that his faith should not fail); then the humble prayer, "Lord, save me"; and the
gracious hand immediately stretched out to save. Had the adventurous disciple learnt
his lesson well that day, what it would have saved him! May we not say that there is
never a great and terrible fall, however sudden it seems, which has not been preceded by
warnings, even long before, which, if heeded, would have certainly averted it? How much
need have the disciples of Christ to learn thoroughly the lessons their Lord teaches them
in His gentler dealings, so that when darker days and heavier trials come they may be
ready, having taken unto themselves the whole armour of God to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand.
There are many other important lessons which might be learnt from this incident, but
we may not dwell on them; a mere enumeration of some of them may, however, he
attempted. It was faith, in part at least, which led the apostle to make this venture; and
this is, no doubt, the reason why the Lord did not forbid it. Faith is too precious to be
repressed; but the faith of Peter on this occasion is anything but simple, clear, and
strong: there is a large measure of self-will in it, of impulsiveness, of self-confidence,
perhaps of love of display. A confused and encumbered faith of this kind is sure to lead
into mischief, -to set on foot rash enterprises, which show great enthusiasm, and
perhaps seem to rebuke the caution of the less confident for the time, but which come to
grief, and in the end bring no credit to the cause of Christ. The rash disciple’s enterprise
is not, however, an entire failure: he does succeed so far; but presently the weakness of
his faith betrays itself. As long as the impulse lasted, and his eye was fixed on his Master,
all went well; but when the first burst of enthusiasm was spent, and he had time to look
round upon the waves, he began to sink. But how encouraging it is to observe that, when

put to extremity, that which is genuine in the man carries it over all the rest!-the faith
which had been encumbered extricates itself, and becomes simple, clear, and strong; the
last atom of self-confidence is gone, and with it all thought of display; nothing but
simple faith is left in that strong cry of his, "Lord, save me!"
Nothing could be imagined better suited than this incident to discriminate between self-
confidence and faith. Peter enters on this experience with the two well mixed together, -
so well mixed that neither he himself nor his fellow-disciples could distinguish them; but
the testing process precipitates one and clarifies the other, -lets the self-confidence all go
and brings out the faith pure and strong. Immediately, therefore, his Lord is at his side,
and he is safe; -a great lesson this on faith, especially in revealing its simplicity. Peter
tried to make a grand thing of it: he had to come back to the simple, humble cry, and the
grasping of his Saviour’s outstretched hand.
The same lesson is taught on a larger scale in the brief account of the cures the Master
wrought when they reached the other side, where all that was asked was the privilege of
touching His garment’s hem, "and as many as touched were made perfectly whole"; not
the great ones, not the strong ones, but "as many as touched." Only let us keep in touch
with Him, and all will assuredly be well with us both in time and in eternity.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR 1-11, "Herod the tetratch heard of the fame of Jesus.
A Court preacher
Herod is favourable to John, how could he be more unfortunate than to strike in the face
the king who protects him? Is not the confidence of Herod an indication of the
providence of God, not to be cast aside? This is what Court preachers of almost all
epochs say to themselves. Moses was taught at the Court of Pharaoh, but said to the
King, “Let the people of God go.” John says to Herod, “It is not lawful.”
I. His fidelity. He might have taken another means of fulfilling his mission, completely
saving his life. He might have aroused the people against the King, and have made
himself a popular hero. That is the protestation which God demands, not noisy
indignation, but that humble and firm testimony in the presence of evil. But you suffer
for your frankness; but who has found the secret of loving truly without suffering. False
love always seeks itself; it will not alienate a heart to save it. True love, which seeks the
good of others, and not its own interest, consents to be forgotten, sacrificed.
II. The recompense of this fidelity. Life for us so easy and for the old saints so terrible;
we are tempted to accuse God of inexplicable severity. John dead! are you sure? Ask the
authors of the crime. Herod sees him haunting him everywhere. Dead!-one cannot die
when one has served God. To-day John speaks to us, his example has cheered our souls.
Dead! no, in the cause which he has served nothing is useless, and if the most obscure
devotion does not lose its recompense, what will be the recompense of a martyrdom
such as his? Dead! but is that dying, to go to rejoin those who were witnesses of God on
earth. “Let me die the death of the righteous,” etc. (E. Bersier, D. D.)
The Church built and enlarged by humble but heroic fidelity to truth
It is from similar devotedness that the Church has been able to arise and enlarge. When
you see glittering in the air some massive cathedral, which remains standing as a
testimony to the faith of past generations, think, then, of the blocks buried in the depths

of the ground. None look to see them, but without those layers the edifice would fall at
the first gust of a storm. Well, if to-day there is in the world a Christian Church, if there
is a refuge accessible to all the sorrows of earth, an asylum where the soul escapes for
ever from the oppressions of this world, a spiritual home where faith, hope, and love
abide for ever; if we ourselves have been able to find there a place; it is certain that at its
base there are acts of devotion without number, obscure deaths, unknown sufferings,
silent sacrifices, which none can count. (E. Bersier, D. D)
Compromising Court preachers
Who knows now but that the favour of the monarch is a providential arrangement by
God, for the furtherance of His Truth? Will you go, and by an early and unseasonable
speech overthrow the designs of God:” Yes, my brethren, this is that which Court
preachers of almost all epochs say to themselves. This is that which was said at the Court
of Constantine, and thus it was that that emperor was deified who murdered his own
son. Alas! this is that which was said in the sixteenth century, at the Court of Henry
VIII., while that monarch stained the English Reformation with his disgraceful
profligacy. This is that which was said at the Court of Philip of Hesse, and it was thus
that Luther, in a day of weakness, covered, with a cowardly compromise, the profligacies
of that prince. This is that which was said at the Court of Louis XIV., and it was thus that
Bossuet, so implacable upon this point against Luther himself, had scarcely a
courageous word, in presence of scandals far more crying still. This is how Massillon
reassured himself at the Regent’s Court. This is how, upon the free soil of America, in the
face of negro slavery and of all the infamy which accompanied it, some thousands of
ministers of the gospel remained a long time silent, or only spoke so peaceably that a
clap of thunder might have come to startle their sleeping consciences. Ah! deplorable
allurement of the favour of the world! That is why dishonoured Religion has had some
Te Deum for every fortunate action of power, some absolutions for all scandals, and why
to-day it is miserably compromised in all the complications of human politics, when,
alone, and without other support than its very truth, it would have, perhaps, brought
over the world to Jesus Christ. (E. Bersier, D. D.)
Conscience and the moral law
Herod had a motive which shut our all reason and argument. It was his guilty conscience
told him this was John the Baptist. The use I make of this passage is to set before you
such considerations as naturally arise from it, and are proper for the direction and
government of ourselves.
I. Observe the great force and efficacy of conscience. The fears which surround the guilty
are so many undoubted proofs and records of the Judge’s authority.
II. This moral law is promulgated to every rational creature: the work of the Law is
written in the heart. The rebukes of conscience will sooner or later restore the true sense
to the Law, which was darkened by the shades of false reason serving the inclinations of
a corrupted heart.
III. What care the wise author of our being has taken, not only to manifest himself and
his laws to us, but likewise to secure our obedience, and thereby our eternal happiness
and welfare. (T. Sherlock, D.D.)

The rewards and punishment of religion are in the present as well as in the
future
It is thought a great disadvantage to religion that it has only such distant hopes and fears
to support it; and it is true that the great objects of our hopes and fears are placed on the
ether side of the grave, whilst the temptations to sin meet us in every turn and are
almost constantly present with us. But then to balance this it must be considered that
though the punishments and rewards of religion are at such a distance, yet the hopes
and fears are always present, and influence the happiness of our lives here, as much, and
often much more, than any other good or evil which can befall us. The peace of mind
which flows from doing right, the fear, anxiety, the torments which attend the guilty, will
inevitably determine the condition of men to happiness or misery in our life. (T.
Sherlock, D.D.)
The terrors of conscience
The state of the wicked is a very restless one. The wildness and inconsistency of Herod’s
imagination.
I. The reproaches of conscience unavoidable, proved from
(1) Scripture;
(2) Reason;
(3) Experience. Tales of ghosts and spectres accounted for upon this principle.
II. To account for the difficulties that attend the proof of this proposition, it is to be
observed-
1. That our judgments often mislead us when they are formed only upon the outside
and surface of men’s actions.
2. That the reprehensions of conscience are not a continued, but intermitting,
disease.
3. The few instances of wicked men that go out of the world without feeling the
stings of conscience, to be ascribed either to ill principles early and deeply imbibed,
or to an obstinacy of temper, or to a natural and acquired stupidity. These only prove
that there are monsters in the moral, as well as in the natural world, but make
nothing against the settled laws of either applications. Even for pleasure’s sake we
ought to abstain from all criminal pleasures. It is the best way to secure peace to
ourselves by having it always in our consciences. Let those chiefly listen to this
reprover who are otherwise set in great measure above reproof. (F. Atterbury.)
Wounds of conscience
Whatever doth violence to the plain dictates of our reason concerning virtue and vice,
duty and sin, will as certainly discompose and afflict our thoughts as a wound will raise a
smart in the flesh that receives it. (F. Atterbury.)

Herod, a man governed by fear
I. He is an example of how cowardice, superstition, and cruelty naturally go together.
1. Fear of his bad wife leads him to imprison John.
2. Fear of the multitude stays him from killing him.
3. Fear of his oath and fear of ridicule drive him to carry out a vow which it was
wicked to make, and tenfold more wicked to keep.
4. Fear of a bad conscience makes him tremble lest Jesus should prove to be John
risen from the dead to trouble him.
II. Only when Jesus is brought bound before him, and is surrounded by his men of war,
does the coward gain courage to mock him. (J. P. Norris.)
Conscience a preacher
I. There can be no dispute that he is lawfully in office.
II. He has been long in office.
III. This preacher never lacks clearness of discrimination.
IV. Boldness is another characteristic of this preacher.
V. Awakening.
VI. Preaches everywhere.
VII. And as for effectiveness, wizen has this preacher been surpassed?
VIII. Benevolent.
IX. Will never stop preaching.
1. All other preaching can be effective only as it harmonizes with that of this
preacher.
2. Shall the everlasting ministrations of this preacher be to us a blessing or a curse?
(H. B. Hooker, D. D.)
Herod; or, the power of conscience
I. Conscience will not be silenced by wealth or earthly surroundings.
II. A guilty conscience is troubled with not only real, but imaginary, troubles.
III. A guilty conscience will torment a sinner in spite of his avowed scepticism. (T.
Kelly.)
Conscience-fears
A man will give himself up to the gallows twenty years after the treacherous stroke. Nero
was haunted by the ghost of his mother, whom he had put to death. Caligula suffered
from want of sleep-he was haunted by the faces of his murdered victims. We can still see
the corridors recently excavated on the Palatine Hill. We can walk under the vaulted

passages where his assassins met him. “Often weary with lying awake,” writes Suetonius,
“sometimes he sat up in bed, at others walked in the longest porticos about the house,
looking out for the approach of day.” You may see the very spot where his assassins
waited for him round the corner. Domitian had those long wails cased with clear agate.
The mark of the slabs may still be seen. The agate reflected as in a glass any figure that
might be concealed round an angle, so that a surprise was impossible. It is said that
Theodoric, after ordering the decapitation of Lysimachus, was haunted in the middle of
his feasts by the spectre of a gory head upon a charger. And how often must a nobler
head than that of Lysimachus have haunted a more ignoble prince than Theodoric as he
sat at meat and muttered shudderingly aside, “It is John whom I beheaded!” (H. R.
Haweis.)
Conscience in defiance of sceptical decrial
Herod was a Sadducee; he appears to have been the avowed patron and protector of that
sect which believed neither in the existence of spirit, whether angels, men, or devils. Yet
see how the conscience of Herod crushes his creed to pieces; though he believed not in
the resurrection of the dead, yet he feared that John had risen from the dead; though he
despised the idea of hell as a fable, and as a bugbear, he felt within him all the horrors of
Gehenna, the gnawings of a “worm that dieth not,” the scorchings of a “fire that is not
quenched.” Men may try to believe that there is no existence beyond the grave; they may
write upon the sepulchre, “Death is an eternal sleep”; these flimsy pretences burst
through them like a river rushing through a mound of sand, or a roaring lion through a
spider’s web. (Dr. Thomas.)
Head in a charger
History tells of similar instances of barbarity. Mark Antony caused the heads of these
whom he had proscribed to be brought to him while he was at table, and entertained
himself by looking at them. Cicero’s head being one of those brought, he ordered it to be
placed on the very tribune whence Cicero had spoken against him. Agrippina, the
mother of Nero, sent an officer to kill Lollia Paulina, her rival for the throne. When her
head was brought, she examined it with her hands, till she discovered some mark by
which the lady had been distinguished.
Troubled conscience
Though Herod thought good to set a face on it to strangers, unto whom it was not safe to
bewray his fear; yet to his domestics he freely discovered his thoughts; “This is John
Baptist.” The troubled conscience will many a time open that to familiars, which it hides
from the eyes of others. Shame and fear meet together in guiltiness. (Bishop Hall.)
Need of ministerial faithfulness
There was a foolish law among the Lacedaemonians, that none should tell his neighbour
any ill news which had befallen him, but every one should be left to find it out for
themselves. There are many who would be glad if there was a law that could tie up
ministers’ months from scaring them with their sins; most are more offended with the
talk of hell than troubled for that sinful state that should bring them thither. But when

shall ministers have a fitter time to tell sinners of their dangers, if not now, for the time
cometh when no more offers of love can be done for them. (H. Smith.)
Bold in reproof
A minister without boldness is like a smooth file a knife without an edge, a sentinel that
is afraid to let off his gun. If men will be bold in sin, ministers must be bold to reprove.
(Gurnall.)
Conscience a tormentor
A wicked man needs no other tormentor, especially for the sins of blood, than his own
heart. Revel, O Herod, and feast and frolic; and please thyself with” dances, and
triumphs, and pastimes: thy sin shall be as some Fury, that shall invisibly follow thee,
and scourge thy guilty heart with secret lashes, and upon all occasions shall begin thy
hell within thee. (Bishop Hall.)
Herod a hypocrite
Is there a worldly-minded man, that lives in some known sin, yet makes much of the
preacher, frequents the church, talks godly, looks demurely, carries fair? Trust him not;
he will prove, after his pious fits, like some testy horse, which goes on some paces readily
and eagerly, but anon either stands still, or falls to flinging and plunging, and never
leaves till he have cast his rider. (Bishop Hall.)
Influence of Balls
I was employing a very respectable woman a few days to do some work for me, and one
evening she said to me, “You must please to let me off earlier to-night, ma’am; I’m going
to the bail.” “To the ball,” I exclaimed in amazement, “to the ball!” “Yes,” she said: “I am
at all the balls.” I could not understand her; for, never going to such places myself, I am
somewhat ignorant of what goes on. So she added, “I am keeper of the china and am tea-
maker; so I am obliged to be there; and I shall not get to bed before six o’clock to-
morrow morning. Oh ma’am!” she burst out, “it’s a dreadful life! I have seen young
ladies, when they first came to this town, looking so bright, their cheeks so rosy, their
eyes so dancing with joy; and before the winter was over I have not known them, they
looked so old and pale and haggard and miserable.” (S. S. Teacher’s Journal.)
Dancing
Dancing in itself, as it is a set, regular harmonious motion of the body, cannot be
unlawful, more than walking or running. Circumstances may make it sinful. The wanton
gesticulations of a virgin, in a wild assembly of gallants warmed with wine, could be no
other than riggidh and unmaidenly. (Bishop Hall.)

Known by our pleasures
There cannot be a better glass, wherein to discern the face of our hearts, than our
pleasures; such as they are, such are we; whether vain or holy. (Bishop Hall.)
Blundering wickedness
I. Herod in his first act moves too late. Herod imprisoned John, intending a crushing
blow against the good cause; but it was ineffectual. He was powerless to hinder John’s
work. That work was done, and not to be undone. His influence was already abroad in
the air. His words were pricking the hearts of thousands. Herod could not arrest this,
any more than he could lock up the atmosphere within prison bars.
II. Even if Herod could have stopped the revolution he had seized the wrong man. John
had passed over the leadership to his chief. The Messiah was spreading His truth in the
villages, to the northward, out of reach.
III. In bringing John to his castle to confront his royal authority, he only gives the
fearless prophet A chance to come to close quarters with him. The ruler furnished a great
opportunity to God’s prophet and he took it.
IV. incontinent depravity reels through revelry to blood-guiltiness. Poor and comfortless
is evil’s triumph. (W. V. Kelley.)
The dead prophet yet alive
The prophet’s voice is not silenced by the executioner’s hand, but sounds on in the
guilty, haunted soul. John troubles Herod more now than when he was alive. The
prisoner does not stay down in the dungeon any more, but rooms with Herod, sits
spectral at the Tetrarch’s feasts, makes festival doleful as funeral, wakes him in the night,
and keeps saying unpleasant things on the inner side of his ear-drum. (W. V. Kelley.)
Martyrdom of John Baptist
Learn from this-
I. That if we faithfully do our duty, we must be prepared to suffer for it. John would have
received many marks of favour and acts of kindness from Herod, if only he would have
kept silence on one subject; because he dared not be silent, he met with prison and
death. So with us. If we are really in earnest in serving God, Satan will be sure to stir up
some opposition against us. These hindrances are the tests of our faithfulness.
II. That God’s grace is always sufficient. The Baptist’s life and death were lonely; but,
though separated from Jesus in the body, he was nearer to Him in spirit than the
multitude which thronged Him. It is blessed to be constantly in God’s house, to live in an
atmosphere of Divine consolation; but it is even more blessed to be content if, through
no fault of our own, we are deprived of this: nothing can take away from us the
satisfaction of reposing our soul simply upon the will of God.
III. That death may be viewed not with horror but with joy. Herodias sought to wreak
cruel vengeance on John; she did but release him from a weary imprisonment, and open
the door to his eternal bliss. If only we are ready for death can death come too soon? It is

the door of release from storm and cloud, sorrow and sin. (S. W. Skeffington, M. A.)
Contrast
(1) the fearlessness of the witness to the truth, with the fickleness of the truckler
to public opinion;
(2) the true consistency which adheres unswervingly to the truth and does not
shrink from bearing testimony at all hazards and against all transgressors, with
that false consistency which holds to a sinful promise rather than own itself to be
in the wrong;
(3) the external fortunes in this world of the friends and the enemies of the truth;
its enemies feasting in pomp, and carrying out unchecked their own wicked will,
while its friends lie solitary in a dungeon or are cruelly murdered;
(4) their spiritual and eternal condition the witness-bearer passing from prison
to rest and peace, the blasphemer going on from one enormity to another, and
finally going down to his own place. (Vernon W. Hutting, B. A.)
Herod’s marriage with Herodias
The marriage was unlawful for three reasons.
1. The former husband of Herodias, Philip, was still living. This is expressly asserted
by Josephus.
2. The former wife of Antipas was still living, and had fled to her father, Aretas, on
hearing of his intention to marry Herodias.
3. Antipas and Herodias were already related to one another within the forbidden
degrees of consanguinity.
Dislike of faithful rebuke
Lais broke her looking-glass because it showed the wrinkles on her face. Man; men are
angry with those who tell them their faults, when they should be angry with the faults
that are told them.
A charger
A somewhat capacious platter, often made of silver, which was charged or loaded with
meat at banquets. The sight of the Baptist’s head would be a feast to Herodias and her
daughter. (J. Morison)
Monarchs subject to law
How different a part did John act from that of the judges of Persia in the times of
Cambyses. That madman of a monarch wished to marry his sister; and he demanded of
the judges whether there were any Persian law that would sanction such a marriage.
They pusillanimously answered that they could find no such law but they found another-
that the monarch of Persia was at liberty to do whatsoever he pleased. (J. Morison.)

Reproving the rich
It is not uncommon for men to reprove the poor and the humble in society for their
offences, but it is a rare virtue to charge crime, with unflinching fidelity, upon the higher
classes. The poor are lectured on all hands, and the most contemptible clap-traps are
adopted to catch their ear. But where are the Johns to lecture the rich and the royal, the
Herods? (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Fidelity often provokes
Faithful rebukes, if they do not profit, usually provoke. (M. Henry.)
Faithful prelates
So Latimer presented for a new-year’s gift to King Henry VIII., a New Testament, with a
napkin, having this posy about it. “Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”
Archbishop Grindal lost Queen Elizabeth’s favour, and was confined, for favouring
prophecies etc., as it was pretended; but in truth, for condemning an unlawful marriage
of Julio, an Italian physician, with another man’s wife. (John Trapp.)
Herod’s birthday
A mere plot. A great feast must be prepared, the states invited, the damsel must dance,
the king swear, the Baptist thereupon he beheaded, that the queen may be gratified. And
this tragedy was new acted at Paris. A.D. 1572, when the French massacre was
committed under pretence of a wedding royal. (John Trapp.)
Like mother, like daughter
Neither good bird nor good egg. Such another hussy as this was dame Alice Pierce, a
concubine to our Edward III. For when, as at a parliament in the fiftieth year of that
king’s reign, it was petitioned that the Duke of Lancaster, the Lord Latimer,
chamberlain, and this dame Alice might be removed from court, and the petition was
vehemently urged by Sir Peter la Mare; this knight afterwards, at the suit of that
impudent woman, was committed to perpetual imprisonment at Nottingham. And
another such history we have of one Diana Valentina mistress to Henry II., King of
France whom she had so subdued that he gave her all the confiscations of goods made in
the kingdom for cause of heresy. Whereupon many were burned in France for religion,
as they said, but indeed to maintain the pride and satisfy the covetousness of that lewd
woman. (John Trapp.)
Herod’s oath
Were his oaths an absolute bar upon retraction? No doubt the original promise was the
original sin. He should not have made such an unconditional promise. He made it in the

spirit of a braggart and a despot. His oaths were hatched in wickedness. But though thus
hatched, was he not bound, when they were once in existence, to adhere to them? There
was something good in adhering to them-something of respect and reverence for the
Divine Being, who is either explicitly or implicitly appealed to in all oaths. But there was
also something appallingly bad. There was adherence to what was utterly unlawful and
wicked. He had no business to peril such lives as that of John on the freak and pleasure
of Salome, or on the hate of Herodias, or on any rash words of his own. It was criminal
to put any lives in such peril. If his oath had merely perilled valuable goods and chattles,
then, though he had sworn to his own hurt, it would have been his duty not to change.
But no oath whatsoever, and no bond whatsoever within the limits of possibility, could
constitute an obligation to commit a crime. Illegitimate oaths are immoral, and should
be repented of, not fulfilled. (J. Morison, D. D.)
Herod’s sorrow at death of the Baptist
As Andronicus, the Greek Emperor, that deep dissembler, would weep over those whom
he had for no cause, caused to be executed, as if he had been the most sorrowful man
alive; so this cunning murderer craftily hides his malice, and seeming sad in the face is
glad at heart to be rid of the importunate Baptist, that he may sin uncontrolled. (John
Trapp.)
The last struggle of conscience
In that moment there must have come before his mind his past reverence for the
prophet, the joy which had for a time accompanied the strivings of a better life, possibly
the counsels of his foster-brother, Manaen. Had there been only the personal influence
of Herodias, these might have prevailed against it; but, like most weak men, Herod
feared to be thought weak. It was not so much his regard for the oath which he had taken
(that, had it been taken in secret, he might have got over), but his shrinking from the
taunt, or whispered jest, or contemptuous gesture, of the assembled guests, if they
should see him draw back from his plighted word. A false regard for public opinion, for
what people will say or think of us in our own narrow circle, was in this, as in so many
other instances, an incentive to guilt, instead of a restraint. (Dean Plumptre.)
Salome’s death retributive
A tradition or legend relates that Salome’s death was retributive in its outward form. She
fell upon the ice, and in the fall her head was severed from the body. (Dean Plumptre.)
2 and he said to his attendants, “This is John the
Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why

miraculous powers are at work in him.”
BAR ES, "This is John the Baptist - Herod feared John. His conscience smote
him for his crimes. He remembered that he had wickedly put him to death. He knew him
to be a distinguished prophet; and he concluded that no other one was capable of
working such miracles but he who had been so eminent a servant of God in his life, and
who, he supposed, had again risen from the dead and entered the dominions of his
murderer. The alarm in his court, it seems, was general. Herod’s conscience told him
that this was John. Others thought that it might be the expected Elijah or one of the old
prophets, Mar_6:15.
CLARKE, "This is John the Baptist - Ον εγω απεκεφαλισα, Whom I beheaded.
These words are added here by the Codex Bezae and several others, by the Saxon, and
five copies of the Itala. - See the power of conscience! He is miserable because he is
guilty; being continually under the dominion of self-accusation, reproach, and remorse.
No need for the Baptist now: conscience performs the office of ten thousand accusers!
But, to complete the misery, a guilty conscience offers no relief from God - points out no
salvation from sin.
He is risen from the dead - From this we may observe:
1. That the resurrection of the dead was a common opinion among the Jews; and
2. That the materiality of the soul made no part of Herod’s creed.
Bad and profligate as he was, it was not deemed by him a thing impossible with God to
raise the dead; and the spirit of the murdered Baptist had a permanent resurrection in
his guilty conscience.
GILL, "And said unto his servants,.... Those of his household, his courtiers, with
whom he more familiarly conversed; to these he expressed his fears, that it might be true
what was suggested by the people, and he was ready to believe it himself;
this is John the Baptist: some copies add, "whom I have beheaded", as in Mar_6:16
the guilt of which action rose in his mind, lay heavy on him, and filled him with horror
and a thousand fears:
he is risen from the dead; which if he was a Sadducee, as he is thought to be, by
comparing Mat_16:6 with Mar_8:15 was directly contrary to his former sentiments, and
was extorted from him by his guilty conscience; who now fears, what before he did not
believe; and what he fears, he affirms; concluding that John was raised from the dead, to
give proof of his innocence, and to revenge his death on him:
and therefore mighty works do show themselves in him, or "are wrought by
him"; for though he wrought no miracles in his lifetime, yet, according to a vulgar

notion, that after death men are endued with a greater power, Herod thought this to be
the case; or that he was possessed of greater power, on purpose to punish him for the
murder of him; and that these miracles which were wrought by him, were convincing
proofs of the truth of his resurrection, and of what he was able to do to him, and what he
might righteously expect from him.
HE RY, "2. The construction he puts upon this (Mat_14:2); 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 (Act_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
miracle (Joh_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, Zec_1:5, Zec_1:6. See
2Ti_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 Magoᑇmissabib - 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
(Pro_28:1); are in great fear, where no fear is, Psa_14:5. Herod, by a little enquiry,
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, Mat_14:3, Mat_14:4. Herod was one of
John's hearers (Mar_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 here for his own. Here was a complication of
wickedness, adultery, incest, besides 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 Psa_50:20. For this sin John reproved
him; not by tacit and oblique allusions, but in plain terms, It is not lawful for thee to
have her. He charges it upon him as a sin; not, It is not honourable, or, It is not safe, but,
It is not lawful; the sinfulness of sin, as it is the transgression of the law, is the worst
thing in it. This was Herod's own iniquity, his beloved sin, and therefore John Baptist
tells him of this particularly. Note, (1.) That which by the law of God is unlawful to other
people, is by the same law unlawful to princes and the greatest of men. They who rule
over men must not forget that they are themselves but men, and subject to God. “It is
not lawful for thee, any more than for the meanest subject thou hast, to debauch another
man's wife.” There is no prerogative, no, not for the greatest and most arbitrary kings, to
break the laws of God. (2.) If princes and great men break the law of God, it is very fit
they should be told of it by proper persons, and in a proper manner. As they are not
above the commands of God's word, so they are not above the reproofs of his ministers.
It is not fit indeed, to say to a king, Thou art Belial (Job_34:18), any more than to call a
brother Raca, or, Thou fool: it is not fit, while they keep within the sphere of their own
authority, to arraign them. But it is fit that, by those whose office it is, they should be
told what is unlawful, and told with application, Thou art the man; for it follows there
(Mat_14:19), that God (whose agents and ambassadors faithful ministers are) accepteth
not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor.
JAMISO , "And said unto his servants — his counselors or court-ministers.
This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead, etc. — The murdered
prophet haunted his guilty breast like a specter and seemed to him alive again and
clothed with unearthly powers in the person of Jesus.
CALVI , "2.And said to his servants. From the words of Luke it may be inferred,
that Herod did not of his own accord adopt this conjecture, but that it was suggested
to him by a report which was current among the people. And, indeed, I have no
doubt that the hatred which they bore to the tyrant, and their detestation of so
shocking a murder, gave rise, as is commonly the ease, to those rumors. It was a
superstition deeply rooted, as we have formerly mentioned, in the minds of men,
that the dead return to life in a different person. early akin to this is the opinion
which they now adopt, that Herod, when he cruelly put to death the holy man, was
far from obtaining what he expected; because he had suddenly risen from the dead
by the miraculous power of God, and would oppose and attack his enemies with
greater severity than ever.
Mark and Luke, however, show that men spoke variously on this subject: some
thought that he was Elijah, and others that he was one of the prophets, or that he
was so eminently endued with the gifts of the Spirit, that he might be compared to
the prophets. The reason why they thought that he might be Elijah, rather than any
other prophet, has been already stated. Malachi having predicted (Malachi 4:5) that

Elijah would come to gather the scattered Church, they misunderstood that
prediction as relating to the person of Elijah, instead of being a simple comparison
to the following effect: “That the coming of Messiah may not be unknown, and that
the people may not remain ignorant of the grace of redemption, there will be an
Elijah to go before, like him who of old raised up that which was fallen, and the
worship of God which had been overthrown. He will go before, by a remarkable
power of the Spirit, to proclaim the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” The Jews,
with their usual grossness of interpretation, had applied this to Elijah the Tishbite,
(1 Kings 17:1,) as if he were to appear again and discharge the office of a prophet.
Others again conjecture, either that some one of the ancient prophets had risen, or
that he was some great man, who approached to them in excellence.
It was astonishing that, amidst the diversity of views which were suggested, the true
interpretation did not occur to any one; more especially as the state of matters at
that very time directed them to Christ. God had promised to them a Redeemer, who
would relieve them when they were distressed and in despair. The extremity of
affliction into which they had been plunged was a loud call for divine assistance.
The Redeemer is at hand, who had been so clearly pointed out by the preaching of
John, and who himself testifies respecting his office. They are compelled to
acknowledge that some divine power belongs to him, and yet they fall into their own
fancies, and change him into the persons of other men. It is thus that the world is
wont, in base ingratitude, to obliterate the remembrance of the favors which God
has bestowed.
With respect to Herod himself, as I hinted, little ago, the conjecture that John had
risen did not at first occur to himself; but as bad consciences are wont to tremble
and hesitate, and turn with every wind, he readily believed what he dreaded. With
such blind terrors God frequently alarms wicked men; so that, after all the pains
they take to harden themselves, and to escape agitation, their internal executioner
gives them no rest, but chastises them with severity.
And therefore miracles work in him. We naturally wonder what reasoning could
have led them to this conclusion. John had performed no miracle during the whole
course of his preaching. There appears to be no probability, therefore, in the
conjecture, that it was John whom they saw performing extraordinary miracles. But
they imagine that miracles are now performed by him for the first time, in order to
prove his resurrection, and to show that the holy prophet of God had been wickedly
put to death by Herod, and now came forward with a visible and divine protection,
that no man might afterwards venture to assail him. They think that miracles work (
ἐνεζγοῦσιν ) in him; that is, are powerfully displayed, so as to give him greater
authority, and make it evident that the Lord is with him.
COKE, ". This is John the Baptist— From Luke 9:7 we learn that Herod and his
courtiers were strangely perplexed respecting the fame of Jesus, which occasioned
manyspeculations among them. Some supposed that it wasJohn risen from the dead,
others, that it was Elias, and others, one of the old prophets; but Herod declared it
to be his opinion that it was John; and therefore, says he, mighty works do shew

forth themselves in him, that is to say, extraordinary and miraculous powers were
exerted by him. Erasmus indeed thinks, that as Herod was of the sect of the
Sadducees, who denied the immortality of the soul, (compare ch. Matthew 16:6.
Mark 8:15.) he might say this by way of irony to his servants, ridiculing the notions
of the lower people, and those who joined in that opinion; and this solution might
have passed, had not Herod been perplexed on this occasion, Luke 9:7. The image of
the Baptist whom he wrongfully put to death, presented itself often to his thought,
and tormented him; therefore, when it was reported that he was risen from the
dead, and was working miracles, Herod, fearing some punishment would be
inflicted on him for his crime, in the confusion of his thoughts said, that John was
risen from the dead, notwithstanding he was a Sadducee. ay, he might say this,
although he had heard of Jesus and his miracles before, there being nothing more
common than for persons in vehement perturbations to talk inconsistently. Besides,
it is no easy matter to arrive at a steady belief of so great an absurdity as the
annihilation of the human mind. The being of God, the immortality of the soul, the
rewards and punishments of a future state,with the other great principles of natural
religion; often obtrude themselves upon unbelievers, in spite of all their efforts to
banish them; and leave a sting behind them in the conscience, whose pain, however
it may be concealed, cannot easily be allayed. Of this, Herod is a remarkable
example; for, notwithstanding he was a king, his conscience made itself heard and
felt, amidst all the noise, the hurry, the flatteries, and the debaucheries of a court.
ELLICOTT, "(2) This is John the Baptist.—In Matthew 16:14, Luke 9:7-9, this is
given as one of the three opinions that were floating among the people as to our
Lord’s character, the other two being, (1) that He was Elijah, and (2) that He was
one of the old prophets who had risen again. The policy of the tetrarch connected
him with the Sadducean priestly party rather than with the more popular and rigid
Pharisees, and a comparison of Matthew 16:6 with Mark 8:15 at least suggests the
identity of the “leaven of Herod” with that of the Sadducees. On this supposition,
his acceptance of the first of the three rumours is every way remarkable. The
superstitious terror of a conscience stained with guilt is stronger than his scepticism
as a Sadducee, even though there mingled with it, as was probable enough, the
wider unbelief of Roman epicureanism. To him the new Prophet, working signs and
wonders which John had never worked, was but the re-appearance of the man
whom he had murdered. It was more than a spectre from the unseen world, more
than the metempsychosis of the soul of John into another body. It was nothing less
than John himself.
PETT, "Surely the only explanation for this new figure with these amazing powers
was that it was John, come back from the dead. That alone explained the source of
His unusual powers. This could only bode ill for Herod because of his previous
treatment of John. And when a Herod was disturbed, no one knew quite what he
would do.
There is a deliberate irony in that Herod is here seen as believing in the resurrection
of the dead, but only as a kind of tool that God can use against him to punish him.
Later Israel would have the same kind of experience through the resurrection of

Jesus. Because of their unbelief His resurrection could only bring them harm as God
reached out to judge them, for He was raised not only as Saviour but as judge. But
there is in this belief of Herod a hint of what will actually happen to Jesus, and this
is expanded on in the parallel incident in the chiasmus of the section, where we will
learn that Jesus will rise from the dead (Matthew 17:23).
3 ow Herod had arrested John and bound him
and put him in prison because of Herodias, his
brother Philip’s wife,
BAR ES, "For Herod had laid hold on John ... - See Mar_6:17-20; Luk_3:19-
20. This Herodias was a granddaughter of Herod the Great. She was first married to
Herod Philip, by whom she had a daughter, Salome, probably the one that danced and
pleased Herod. Josephus says that this marriage of Herod Antipas with Herodias took
place while he was on a journey to Rome. He stopped at his brother’s; fell in love with
his wife; agreed to put away his own wife, the daughter of Aretas, King of Petraea; and
Herodias agreed to leave her own husband and live with him. They were living,
therefore, in adultery; and John, in faithfulness, though at the risk of his life, had
reproved them for their crimes. Herod was guilty of two crimes in this act:
1. Of “adultery,” since she was the wife of another man.
2. Of “incest,” since she was a near relation, and such marriages were expressly
forbidden, Lev_18:16.
CLARKE, "For Herodias’ sake - This infamous woman was the daughter of
Aristobulus and Bernice, and grand-daughter of Herod the Great. Her first marriage was
with Herod Philip, her uncle, by whom she had Salome: some time after, she left her
husband, and lived publicly with Herod Antipas, her brother-in-law, who had been
before married to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petraea. As soon as Aretas
understood that Herod had determined to put away his daughter, he prepared to make
war on him: the two armies met, and that of Herod was cut to pieces by the Arabians;
and this, Josephus says, was supposed to be a judgment of God on him for the murder of
John the Baptist. See the account in Josephus, Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 7.
GILL, "For Herod had laid hold on John,.... By his servants, whom he sent to
apprehend him:
and bound him; laid him in chains, as if he was a malefactor;

and put him in prison, in the castle of Machaerus (d),
for Herodias's sake; who was angry with him, had a bitter quarrel against him, and by
whose instigation all this was done; who was
his brother Philip's wife. This Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, son to
Herod the Great (e), and brother to Philip, and to this Herod; so that she was niece to
them both; and first married the one, and then the other, whilst the former was living.
Philip and this Herod were both sons of Herod the Great, but not by the same woman;
Philip was born of Cleopatra of Jerusalem, and Herod Antipas of Malthace, a Samaritan
(f); so that Philip was his brother by his father's side, but not by his mother's; the
Evangelist Mark adds, "for he had married her": the case was this, Herod being sent for
to Rome, called at his brother Philip's by the way, where he fell into an amorous intrigue
with his wife, and agreed, upon his return, to take her with him and marry her; as he
accordingly did, and divorced his own wife, who was daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia
Petraea; which occasioned a war between Herod and his wife's father, in which the
former was beaten (g),
HE RY, "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, Mat_14:3, Mat_14:4. Herod was one of
John's hearers (Mar_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 here for his own. Here was a complication of
wickedness, adultery, incest, besides 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 Psa_50:20. For this sin John reproved
him; not by tacit and oblique allusions, but in plain terms, It is not lawful for thee to
have her. He charges it upon him as a sin; not, It is not honourable, or, It is not safe, but,
It is not lawful; the sinfulness of sin, as it is the transgression of the law, is the worst
thing in it. This was Herod's own iniquity, his beloved sin, and therefore John Baptist
tells him of this particularly. Note, (1.) That which by the law of God is unlawful to other
people, is by the same law unlawful to princes and the greatest of men. They who rule
over men must not forget that they are themselves but men, and subject to God. “It is
not lawful for thee, any more than for the meanest subject thou hast, to debauch another
man's wife.” There is no prerogative, no, not for the greatest and most arbitrary kings, to
break the laws of God. (2.) If princes and great men break the law of God, it is very fit
they should be told of it by proper persons, and in a proper manner. As they are not
above the commands of God's word, so they are not above the reproofs of his ministers.
It is not fit indeed, to say to a king, Thou art Belial (Job_34:18), any more than to call a
brother Raca, or, Thou fool: it is not fit, while they keep within the sphere of their own

Matthew 14 commentary

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (16)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (6)

Similar to Matthew 14 commentary

Similar to Matthew 14 commentary (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Matthew 14 commentary