“The Last Prophet”
(Matthew 14:1-12)
Series: God’s Fulfilled Promise [on screen]
Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD
First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida
October 6, 2019
The Passage
Matthew 14:1-12
1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus. 2 “This is John the Baptist,” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3 For Herod had arrested John, chained him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Though Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd since they regarded John as a prophet.
6 When Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them and pleased Herod. 7 So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” 9 Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests. 10 So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.
Introductory Comments:
We are back in our study of Matthew. I so appreciate Pastor Richard bringing the Word last week in my absence.
Today, we will hear about Jesus’ friend and cousin. We’ve talked about him a few times before. His name is John the Baptist.
Remember where we are in the book of Matthew. Jesus has just finished teaching a lot of parables about the kingdom of heaven. In the coming weeks, we will hear about several miracles that Jesus will do. However, sandwiched right in the middle of that is a story about John the Baptist.
Let’s learn about the history of what happened, and then learn several truths for us as Christians.
Let’s pray together before we continue.
(prayer)
We’re going to do this a bit different than normal. I go out of town for one week and I totally mix everything up. First, we’re going to discover some history, then we’ll discover some spiritual truth. Are you ready?
Let’s look at the passage again:
Read Matthew 14:1-12
1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus. 2 “This is John the Baptist,” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3 For Herod had arrested John, chained him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Though Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd since they regarded John as a prophet.
6 When Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them and pleased Herod. 7 So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” 9 Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests. 10 So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.
Ok, let’s discover these truths.
First, . . .
I. The Historical Truths [on screen]
We learn from this section about King Herod. We’ve heard about Herod before.
The last time we heard about Herod was when we heard about Herod the Great who was trying to kill all the babies in the land in order to stop the coming of King Jesus. The Herod in this passage is not Herod the Great. This is one of Herod’s three sons, named Herod Agrippa.
He’s called Herod the tetrarch here because a tetrarch is a ruler who rules over one-fourth of a kingdom. So, Herod Agrippa is a tetrarch who rules a certain area of Palestine.
Herod Agrippa was a bad man, just like his father, Herod the Great.
Herod decided that he wanted to take his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias, so he did.
John said that this was not ok. It’s not lawful for you to take your brother’s wife. Herod didn’t like that someone was telling him what to do, no matter who it is.
Herod didn’t think it was a good idea to kill John the Baptist because many of the people viewed John as a man of God. So, Herod put John in prison.
However, Herod made a foolish promise when this young girl danced for him on his birthday. He was so pleased with her dance that he promised her anything she wanted. Herodias (who was Herod’s new wife whom he stole from his brother) told the young girl (who was Herodias’ daughter) to ask Herod to cut off John’s head. So, Herod cut off his head, even though he didn’t really want to. So, this is the end of John the Baptist, the last great traditional prophet of God.
John’s disciples wanted to give him a proper burial, so they bravely removed his body and gave him a proper burial.
Well, after John the Baptist had been killed, Herod heard about the great works of Jesus and he feared that Jesus was John the Baptist who must have risen from the dead! Remember, John’s ministry started before Jesus’ ministry. So, Herod would have known about John first. Now that Jesus’ ministry is growing in popularity, Herod hears of it and thinks that John has come back to life.
That would be quite a miracle if John had come back from the dead. The crazy thing is, Herod Agrippa would still be king whenever Jesus was killed later, and Jesus would really rise from the dead!
So, that’s the history of what’s going on here. Well, why does this matter for followers of Jesus?
Next, let’s talk about . . .
II. The Kingdom Truths
We’re going to talk about three kingdom truths as we continue this message.
First, . . .
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- The kingdom will be rejected by fools. [on screen]
Even though Herod Agrippa was a king, he really acted like a fool.
You see, he knew a lot about Jesus, but he didn’t truly know Jesus.
He was foolish because he rejected God’s prophet, John the Baptist.
He was foolish because he let a young girl convince him to do something he didn’t really want to do, kill John the Baptist.
He was foolish because he didn’t recognize who Jesus was, even getting him confused with John.
Later, he would be foolish again when Jesus came before him before He was crucified. Herod would later reject Jesus, just as he did John.
It’s important for us to catch the fact that not everyone will follow Jesus. Not everyone will want to be a part of the kingdom of heaven. Some people will reject Jesus and His ways.
Rulers and politicians may reject Jesus, your coworkers may reject Jesus, family members may reject Jesus, people in this room who we think are Christians actually may reject Jesus (don’t try to guess who it is). Not everyone will accept Jesus.
People may have all the worldly wisdom, knowledge, and achievement there is to have, but they may be fools when it comes to the things of God.
Next, . . .
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- The kingdom will require sacrifice. [on screen]
Sometimes, in order to be a faithful follower of God, you will have to do things that are hard. You have to sacrifice.
John did something that cost him his life. John stood up for what was right and wrong. He told Herod that he was sinning when he took his brother’s wife.
Living for Christ today may cause us to lose favor with fellow man. Standing up for life for the unborn, showing compassion for the immigrant, rejecting acts of racism, holding to the sanctity of marriage, showing hospitality to those in need, holding to the exclusivity of the Gospel, standing up for truth and character when it becomes less popular every day; all of these things and more may lead us to lose popularity points with the world and at times to lose much more.
John ended up losing his life in order to follow the ways of God. We must ask ourselves if we are willing to sacrifice everything to follow Jesus, even our own lives?
Following Jesus means sometimes you will have to sacrifice your wants, your time, and your resources. You may lose friends, popularity, and dreams to follow Jesus. You may even lose your life when you chase after the kingdom of heaven.
However, it’s worth giving up everything to follow Jesus! Remember, last time we were in Matthew we talked about the kingdom of heaven being like a treasure hidden in a field or a great big pearl that was worth everything. So also, following Jesus is worth everything, including our sacrifice.
Finally, . . .
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- The kingdom will not be overcome by evil. [on screen]
Notice that God’s work did not stop after John was killed. God’s kingdom continued to be revealed!
God’s work would go on! Jesus would continue to minister and would eventually sacrifice His own life. After that, He would rise from the dead and the Holy Spirit would come to the earth to dwell in the hearts of people who give themselves to Jesus. Churches would be formed all over the world (including Bartow, Florida) and many people would be changed by God and used by God to change the world.
The death of John the Baptist was just a picture of what was to come in the betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion of Jesus. God’s kingdom would not be overcome!
Even though Herod Agrippa was an evil man and he did many very evil things, he would not stop the kingdom of heaven!
God continued to work His powerful plan and He is continuing to work His powerful plan still today.
Concluding Thoughts:
Bad things happen in this world, but the power of God is greater than the power of evil.
So, we should still be faithful to God no matter what happens.
That takes us to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: John the Baptist was fully faithful and we should be also. [on screen]
(repeat)
Today, commit to being like John the Baptist in terms of his faithfulness. Some might say, “I’m not sure I want to end up like John the Baptist.” Well, let me tell you this, it’s better to be faithful and end up like John than to not be faithful.
Better to be faithful to God than to be led by sin and faithlessness.
Better to lose a head that speaks true words than to be led by a heart full of false words.
Better to have a head on a plate than to have a heart full of hate.
Better to have a lifeless head than to have a life that is spiritually dead.
Better to have lived a bold life devoted to the eternal King than to live a spineless life trying to please a temporary king.
Better to lose your head being faithful to God than to keep your head trying to be acceptable to man.
Commit your life to faithfully following the Father.
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge: [on screen]
- Consider the cost of faithfulness. [on screen]
Take some time this week and consider whether you really do want to faithfully follow the Father.
Ask yourself what you would do if a tyrant demanded that you choose between your loyalty to him or to God.
Consider the cost.
- Fight for faithfulness this week. [on screen]
Make a commitment to wildly show your faithfulness to God.
Come up with a great act of faithfulness.
Perhaps you want to commit to sharing the Gospel with three people this week.
Perhaps you want to commit to being baptized, join the church, or make some other spiritual decision.
Perhaps you feel God calling you to full-time Gospel ministry or international missions.
Perhaps you know that you need to reach out to someone with love or forgiveness.
Perhaps you need to be supernaturally generous in some way.
Demonstrate your faith in Jesus Christ this week. Fight for faithfulness.
- Have faith in the King. [on screen]
As Pastor Richard said last week, “Faith is belief and action.”
Trust God. You can be faithful to Him and not fear the consequences. He’s in control.
David says in Psalm 56:11, “in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mere humans do to me?”
Don’t be afraid of an earthly king. Have faith in the King. Be faithful. Do not be afraid.
Closing:
All of us should be moved to greater faithfulness because of John’s life.
Further, all of us can have faith that God is in control, He is working His plan, and no one can stop it.
God the Father has brought the kingdom of heaven to us. Will we receive it? Will we be changed by it?
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.
