A new chapter - Matthew 14:1-12 - JTB returns and the fate of 2 kings

 

Doesn't she look like a true mountain woman eating here bison/cranberry jerky?  This is a recent trip up to Lulu City on the Colorado River Trail that was only in existence for 5 years and the population of 200.  Only 3 sides of one cabin remains.  For awhile it was just us and the wildlife on the trail but this is the time of the year when people migrate to the park.


We love family.  My brother and his wife, Tom and Tammy, swung into Grand Lake for a couple of days and also shared a worship experience at SCC.  This was the trek up from the Alpine Visitor Center to get our photo at the sign.  Seek to keep family ties strong.  Seek to restore them if they have been severed.  Pull out the super glue and piece it back together.  With both mom and dad gone now, my next connection to them are my siblings who carry on similar experiences of our time on Lehman Road so many years ago.  

We ventured into chapter 14 of Matthew this past Sunday.  John the Baptist (JTB) returns in a way.  The popularity of Jesus has people coming up with theories of who He might be and one of them that is held by Herod Antipas and others is that Jesus is the returning spirit of JTB back for the dead.  This gives us a little flashback of what happened to JTB at the hands of Herod Antipas.  JTB stood upon the words of God and it resulted in a beheading.  Herod Antipas was being pressured by his second wife Herodias who was the wife of his step brother Philip I, the popular opinion of the day, his own words of pride, and also the presence of his important guests of the day.  Do you see God in this list?  The answer would be no.  The only influence of God were the words of JTB that he was ignoring.

Herod covered his sin by putting JTB in prison.  Herod, on a strategic day as Mark records, allowed his sin to seek more by having lustful eyes for his step daughter who danced before him in a pleasing way, and he felt forced to go deeper into sin by beheading JTB.  He didn't go the way of confessing his sin rather the way of covering it up.  He didn't seek the Master rather he sought more sinful gratification.  He didn't experience freedom that only comes through confession to the Master but rather felt the forcing of his hand to sin more.  It is a tragic event that is played out over and over in our lives for we all sin.

The Christian can walk down the path of Herod but hopefully they follow the path of another king named David.  David covered his sin with Bathsheba by devising a plan to make it look like the child was Uriah's, her husband.  David sought more on a strategic day by not turning away from that rooftop glance of Bathsheba bathing.  David felt forced to eliminate Uriah to correct his wrong.  But when the word of God came through the prophet Nathan, David surrendered to confession, coming to the Master and receiving freedom that only comes from God.  This is the major difference between King Herod and King David.  One eventually bowed to the influence of the Savior while the other continued to bow to the influence of others and his own prideful words.

Herod Antipas would come face to face with the One he was wondering who He was.  Jesus is brought before Herod in His trial period and Herod is so excited.  Jesus is standing before the murderer of His cousin, JTB, and though prompted to do something great for the great Herod to see, Jesus says nothing.  Jesus who is God is silent before one who is following another savior, himself.  This is a place we don't want to be in.  We don't want to come before almighty God and He is silent.  We want to hear Him speak those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."  "Well done to follow after My words."  "Well done to be one who confesses sin and in turn confesses Me who died for them."

Adam

(video below is silent through the first song, so hang in there and the audio will come)



A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 39th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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