By
Allen White
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the
reports about Jesus, 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.”
Now Herod had arrested John and bound him
and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for John
had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Herod wanted to
kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a
prophet.
On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias
danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath
to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here
on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was distressed, but
because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be
granted and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter
and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John’s disciples came and
took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. Matthew 14:1-12
In my early days of
ministry, I had many doubts about my effectiveness as a pastor and especially
as a preacher or Bible study leader. A number of those doubts remain.
Most Wednesday
nights after presenting a Bible study, I would go home and contemplate my short
future in the ministry. People wouldn’t keep coming back, would they? I soon
learned the best remedy for my Wednesday night blues was eating dinner and
watching L.A. Law. The evaluation could wait.
Once in a while,
after I spoke, someone would feel the need to give me some feedback on what
they just heard. Today, I believe feedback is the breakfast of champions. Back
then, it felt like someone was pounding another nail in my ministry coffin.
But, one person
always lifted me out of the pit, my friend, Doris Hayes. No matter how well I
did, this dear woman would always tell me, “That was just great.” And, believe
me there were a number of times when I sought her out just to hear her lie to
me.
Doris wasn’t trying
to deceive me. She was a great encourager. And, in those early days, I
certainly needed the encouragement.
Reality is a little
hard for all of us to face at times. More likely than not, our fear of reality
is greater than the impact of the truth. If we’ve failed or are doing things
that take away from who God created us to be, it’s hard to hear that out of
line. When we know it’s time to do the hard work of character building, it’s
hard to hear someone point out our flaws. No one really likes to be called out.
John the Baptist
had called Herod and his sister-in-law out on the inappropriateness of their
relationship. In appreciation to John for his candor, Herod sent him to prison.
He couldn’t kill John – the fallout was too great. But, Herod didn’t want to
confront the wrong in his own life. He just needed to silence John the Baptist.
Prison served the purpose initially.
At Herod’s birthday
party, his sister-in-law-turned-wife’s daughter (I’m assuming his niece)
presented Herod with a dance. This family put the “fun” in dysfunction. Herod
was so pleased he offered her anything. She asked for John the Baptist’s head.
I’m thinking that for most young girls in that day, a prophet’s decapitated
head wasn’t at the top of their lists. But, she wanted to please her mother.
The prophet would be silenced for good.
Herodias’ daughter
had no concern for John the Baptist or apparently the life of another, but she
had great concern for pleasing her mother and step-father/uncle.
Herod couldn’t
argue with the request on several levels. After all, a promise is a promise.
John was finally silence for good. Herod and Herodias lived happily ever after
– sort of. At least no one else would challenge their relationship.
Now, we could go
one way in this devotional and ask who you’ve spoken the truth to only to have
them resent or avoid you. But, rather than taking the high road and assume
we’re more like John the Baptist, let’s go the other way: when have we sat in
Herod’s seat and heard a truth we didn’t want to hear?
How did we feel
toward that person? Did we isolate ourselves from them? Did we write off what
they had to say? Did we plot a way to get them back?
Who has irritated
you with the truth? How have their words shown true over the years? Maybe it’s
time to reconcile the relationship. It’s time to admit they were right and give
them credit. After all, they loved you enough to say something about it.
To make a tax deductible donation to
Galatians 4:19 Ministries:
To subscribe or leave a comment on the galatians419
devotional blog:http://galatians419.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment