Introduction.

The relationship between King Herod and John the Baptist is curious and intriguing. Herod was a great monarch whose sense of extravagance and tyrannical power were extreme. Herod was a man of authority and did not hesitate to use his power in wicked ways to accomplish his goals. He had a reputation as a ruthless and cruel man. The Scriptures tell us that King Herod (Antipas) feared John the Baptist. He feared a poor prophet whose clothing was coarse and diet austere. John the Baptist sought no honour or favours from men. His attitude to life was ruled by the Messiah, who had come, and of whom John the Baptist said; ‘He must increase, but I must decrease'. (John 3:30.) John the Baptist performed no miracles, nor did he do any marvellous work, but he spoke the truth with authority. He spoke of Jesus' purpose when he said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.'   King Herod feared this poor prophet who had no personal ambitions, except to proclaim the coming of the Lord and call people to repentance. This morning I want us to focus on King Herod and his fear and fascination of John the Baptist.

1. King Herod's respect for the messenger sent by God.

1. Mark 6:20 tells us that Herod knew that John was a just man. The term justright according to God's law. There is something awesome about a man who is known as one who is just. He lives according to God's law without compromise and hypocrisy. The demands John the Baptist called for to validate true repentance were fully met in his own life. Herod had imprisoned John the Baptist for publicly rebuking him for breaking the law of Leviticus 20:21 which says, ‘If a man takes his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness.' When a hypocrite points out your wrong doings it is easy to shrug it off as a joke, but when a just man brings a charge, it troubles the conscience and inflicts heart felt guilt. Herod knew that what John the Baptist said was right and that what he was doing in the eyes of God was an abomination.
   
   
2. Herod also knew that John the Baptist was a holy man. There was no debate concerning the fact that John the Baptist was a prophet sent by God. There is no doubt that he stood along side prophets such as Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah and Malachi. A holy man was not a man full of his own wisdom and opinions, but filled with the word of God. As John the Baptist was a prophet Herod knew that his words came from the Royal Throne of God. Herod knew he was not simply dealing with a man, but with the LORD who has sent John to preach repentance. Herod respected John as a just and holy man of God.
   
   
3. It is very interesting that King Herod not only listened to John the Baptist's preaching, but he put into practice some of the things he demanded. Mark 6:20 tells us that he did many things. Every time he heard John preach he felt that John the Baptist spoke the truth and that he was absolutely right and that his arguments were irrefutable. Are we to understand that Herod recognised HerodHerod  some sinful ways and changed his attitude and ways? Did he realise that he had been a liar, thief, cheat, adulterer, idolater and murderer? Was there some remorse in his heart for the things he had done? There can be no doubt that the preaching of John the Baptist had an impact on Herod's heart and mind. There was something inside Herod that told him that he needed to repent of his sins, but he did so selectively and on his own terms. He did not stop his affair with Herodias his brother Philip's wife. He knew his affair was wrong, his conscience testified to the fact that John the Baptist was right, but he loved his sin too much to take the action that was really demanded by God.
   
   
4. The Scriptures also tell us that Herod listened to John the Baptist gladly. It is remarkable that a wicked King like Herod Antipas would listen to sermons calling for repentance. He gladly listened to John who would have been forthright, blunt and very clear in his condemnation of sinfulness and demand for repentance. If we had been believers at that time and heard these things about Herod we might have thought there was hope as he was showing signs of seeking after the Lord. When notoriously wicked men place themselves under the means of grace we are greatly encouraged and hope that by God's grace they would turn from their sins. Would I be wrong to suggest that every time Herod went to listen to the poor prophet preach Herodias would have been angry with him and probably rebuked him. It is easy to imagine Herodias going on and on about how it was disgraceful and unacceptable for a King to go down to the prison to listen to a trouble-maker. Herod was nevertheless drawn to hear John the Baptist, even though he knew what he would hear. Even though he knew he would wrestle with his conscience and feel the grip of guilt in his heart, he willingly returned to hear John the Baptist preach over and over again. He found John the Baptist's preaching hard to ignore and difficult to resist. John the Baptist's preaching was like the flame of a candle to a moth. Herod had a great deal of respect for the poor prophet who rebuked him for his lawbreaking and called him to repentance.

2. King Herod's response to the message brought by God's servant.

1. The message that John the Baptist preached was very simply and clear. Like all the prophets before John the Baptist saw how far the Jews had drifted from the only true and living God. The lives that they lived revealed that they had disregarded the law and only gave lip service to its demands. The Pharisees, who were the dominant faction among the Jews, loved the law and used it to gain personal power, influence and prestige rather than to demonstrate their love and devotion to the Lord. Some Pharisees who heard John the Baptist preach were convicted of their sins and came to be baptised to indicate their repentance. Even as they came to be baptised John preached against any of their number who might be coming with a hypocritical attitude. Listen to what John says to them in Matthew 3: 7-12, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." There was no political correctness in John the Baptist's speech. The fact that these were men of high esteem holding religious offices made no difference to John the Baptist's approach. I have no doubt that Herodias would have said that he was a rude and obnoxious man. Many Pharisees and Sadducees would have been in total agreement with her and dismissed him as fanatical idiot or bigot. Herod saw what these people did not see, John was not a raving madman, he was a prophet sent by God to deliver a message from the courts of heaven.

2. What caused Herod to fear John? Was it not his clear God given message concerning God's wrath against all unrighteousness? The message John the Baptist preached touched Herod's conscience and deeply affected him. It is interesting to note that there is a textual variation which in the place of ‘Herod did many things' reads ‘Herod was perplexed.'  Listen to Spurgeon's comment on this matter, ‘Herod loved his sin, and he could see a "beauty of holiness" in religion, and he wished to be holy; but there was Herodias, and he could not give her up. When he heard a sermon, he was like a relative of his in after days, "almost persuaded," yet he did not give up his lust. He could not go the whole length John would have him go. He could not leave his bosom sin, and yet he felt as if he wished to leave it. There was a halting between two opinions, a hesitating, a wavering: he was inclined to good if he could have good and have his pleasure too; but his pleasure was so very much his master that he could not escape from it.' His conscience was disturbed by the message, but not enough to animate him to leave his sin and seek God's grace. He responded to the message by acknowledging in his mind, heart and conscience that he was a sinner who needed to repent, but his will stopped him from doing what he knew he should and must do. Herod knew the message was true, knew that it came from the Lord, that he should obey it, but his will would not let go of his sin.

3. Mark 6:18-20 makes it clear that Herodias loathed both the messenger and the message and in order to end John the Baptist's accusations tried to kill him. The way the text reads suggests that Herod took responsibility for John the Baptist's safety. Imprisonment would take him out of the public eye and shut him up, but also stop Herodias' hit-men from murdering the poor prophet. Listen to Lloyd-Jones, ‘Herodias had frequently pleaded with Herod to destroy him (John the Baptist) and put him to death. Indeed I think it is plain and clear that she had often tried to bring that to pass in spite of Herod and without his knowledge. For we read that Herod "observed him" which means "kept him safely" or "looked after him". However difficult John might have made things for him, Herod saw clearly that John was a man of God; and respected him and periodically visited him in prison.' The message convicted Herod, he knew it was true, right and applicable to him and that it was God's Word, but he would not submit himself to the message and give obedience to the demands of God.

3. Herod's rejection of the Gospel offer.

1. The offer of the Gospel comes from God's sovereign free grace. The call of the Gospel is essentially a call for repentance of sins and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Herod feared John, respected him and believed his message was true, but never seriously considered Jesus. It was not John's purpose to build up a great group of followers around himself, he urged them to become followers of Christ. John knew that he was a servant of his Master the Lord Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was a sign post pointing to Christ Jesus. It is inconceivable to think that John the Baptist would not have pleaded with all who heard him preach while in Herod's prison to become disciples of Jesus. Herod seems to have been very selective in what he believed and what he did not. He believed he needed to repent, but not that he needed a Saviour to reconcile him to God. He was convicted of his sin. But not of his need of a Saviour.

2. Herod recognised and respected the fact that John the Baptist was a just and holy man, he admired the goodness he saw in him, but he had no desire to have goodness rule in his own heart. The Lord Jesus Christ who knew that hearts of all men called King Herod a fox. Listen to the context in Luke 13:31-32 where Jesus uses this term to describe Herod, ‘On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, "Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You."  And He said to them, "Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.' Herod was a very foxy man, selfish, full of scheming tricks and plans. Foxy people are full of themselves and are super-confident that they are in control and call the shots. As Spurgeon says, they want to go to heaven, but they like the road to Hell. Herod was drawn to hear the word of God preached, and he gladly listened to John, but he never submitted to have the word rule over him, he set himself above the Word of God. He was the kind of man who would tell others that they needed to hear John preach and obey him, but he was never willing to give unconditional obedience.

3. The message John preached was clear; sinners needed to repent and transform their lives to honour Almighty God. Herod did not care for a thorough reformation, for that would call for too great a self-denial, and cost his pride too much. There were many sins Herod would be willing to give up, but there was one he loved too much to even think about giving up. Had Herod been offered a gospel that promised freedom from the condemning power of the law without reforming his life he would have embraced it with great pomp and ceremony. He could not consider a gospel that demanded a total reformation of life, values, morals, goals and pleasures. The sin that he would not give up ruled over him. The influence of this woman was his curse and ruin. Herod could not positively respond to the Gospel because it would mean ending his illegal relationship with his niece Herodias. Herod was not his own man; he was under the influence of Herodias. The influence of others often makes it very difficult to respond positively to the free offer of the Gospel.

4. King Herod, John the Baptist and you.

1. There is an old saying that says, ‘you can take a horse to the water, but you can't make it drink.' John the Baptist presented the truth to Herod. Herod heard his preaching gladly and respected John the Baptist as a just and holy man sent by God to proclaim a God-given message. The message of repentance that John the Baptist preached had a real impact on his conscience and filled his heart with a sense of sin and guilt. Herod accepted the message as right and just and acknowledged that he was a sinner and changed some things in his life, but would not submit to the Word of God or give up the sin that he loved more than anything. Herod was fascinated by the poor prophet and his preaching, loved listening to his sermons, took what he liked and rejected anything that was too demanding. John the Baptist took King Herod to the water of life, but Herod refused to drink.

2. Think about what happened to King Herod after he refused to drink the living water offered by John the Baptist. He murdered the poor prophet whom he once feared, believed and respected. The sin he would not give up lead him on to greater wicked and evil things. Herod went a step lower, however, for Herod Antipas was the same man who mocked the Saviour on the night that he was betrayed. Listen to Luke 23:11, ‘Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.' Herod's men of war were involved in a war against Aretas a Nabataean King the father of Herod's wife whom he divorced to marry Herodias. We can be sure that Jesus was mocked in such a way that he was humiliated, discredited and vilified. These were the actions of the same man who heard John the Baptist preach against sin and did many things in response to that preaching. Herod was defeated by Aretas and stripped of his power and influence and spent the remainder of his life as an exile. The Jewish historian Josephus says that many of the Jews regarded Herod's defeat as divine retribution for the murder of John the Baptist.

3. Are you like King Herod? You may not have heard John the Baptist preach, but you have heard preachers proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, you have heard the call to repent and believe. You have believed the preaching you have heard that says you are a sinner, that you are under God's wrath and condemnation, and that trusting Christ Jesus is the only way of salvation. You may had resisted some peer pressure and refused to be part of certain sinful activities. You may have respect for just and holy preachers, but are not prepared to go through a thorough reformation of life, because you are afraid of what family, friends, colleges and neighbours would say. Can you see that you are like King Herod, you have been taken to the water of life, urged to drink the living water offered by Christ but you refuse.

Conclusion.

Preachers of the Gospel do not want you to respect and admire them; they want you to go directly to Christ. Go to Jesus and ask him to pardon you from your sins, seek redemption from him, plead with him to give you a new heart, to write his law on your mind, to indwell you by his Holy Spirit. Go to Jesus and seek blessings from him. Preachers of the Gospel would be deeply grieved if you know them and do not know their Master. Perhaps the greatest tragedy in life is for a man to listen to the most faithful preachers in the world, but do not know their Master or heed his voice and obey the call of his gospel. The motivation of the religion given by Christ is love for God. What is true conversion? It is to love Christ Jesus and his gospel to delight in the truth and to rejoice in holiness. Herod feared John, feared judgement, feared hell, but loved his sin too much to submit to God. Do not be like Herod; act on what you know is God's truth. Plead with the Lord to set you free from the sins you love.