Ask almost anyone and I am sure that they most likely heard that story before. I've read through Matthew a half dozen times and those are always the stories that catch my eyes. Those are the stories that I want to read more into, trying to find something new that I have never read before or even thought about.
Tonight, I was fascinated by a different story in Matthew 14 that I didn't realize happened. It was new to me, it was vicious, and crazy.
Philip, Herod's half brother, was another of Palestine's four rulers. Philip's wife, Herodias, left Philip to live with Herod Antipas. John the Baptist condemned the two for living immorally...
Fast forward a little bit, and on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests that pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Promoted by her mother, she said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist."
Herod was distressed by this. He didn't want to kill John the Baptist. But because of his oath and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in prison. His head was brought out in a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her matcher.
How terrible is that? I hadn't heard this story before. I didn't know a man who prepared the way for Jesus in so many times was gruesomely killed like he was.
I find it interesting that Herod didn't actually want to kill John. He didn't want to be embarrassed in front of his guests. Think about how easy it is to give into a crowd and to let ourselves be pressured into doing wrong.
I think a lesson we can take away from this is to not put ourselves in a situation where it will be too embarrassing to do what is right. We must determine to do what is right, no matter how embarrassing or painful it might be.
Sometimes lessons have to be taught through stories like this, and I am okay with that. Not everything in the Bible is butterflies in rainbows. The Bible is real, there is hurt and there is happiness...there is love and there is hate...most importantly it's the story of Jesus.
Next time you read through something that you may have read before, try to find something new, because you might have been missing out on something for years. Not that I was missing out on the beheading of John the Baptist, but the lesson that we can learn from that story and Herod - and that is to not be in a situation where we are embarrassed about doing what is right.
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