"At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities."
When Herod heard of the miracles Jesus had performed, he first thought John the Baptist had come back from the dead.
This lesson relates how, prior to hearing about Jesus, Herod, being overcome by lust, had had John the Baptist be-headed because of a whimsical request from Salome, his brother's daughter.
This text also demonstrates how easily human lust can cause totally irrational behavior. Herod knew that John the baptist was a prophet of God. He knew that the Jewish people held John in very high esteem. He knew also that if and when he had John killed, the Jewish people would probably rise up in anger causing all manner of political problems for him, yet knowing all this, he had John killed to fulfill a silly promise he had made simply out of lust for his own niece.~
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