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by Sandy Shaw
We are in Matthew Chapter 14 and we have been reading the various aspects of this complex passage about John and Jesus Christ and King Herod and his wife Herodias. It is not the passage we might choose as our favourite one on which to preach and teach, but we must be faithful to the whole of the Word of God. People need to be taught and informed from every part of the Word of God.
Share this and preach this and teach this and let these truths from the Word of God be proclaimed and published abroad, because people do need to know the truth and it is our task and responsibility to inform them.
What people do with the truth, and how they react and respond, is then up to them!
Mark informs us that Herodias nursed a grudge against John the Baptist and waited for that moment to kill him and silence him.
She was an excellent nurse in the worst sense!
She waited and hated until the opportune moment.
Her being was filled with ranker, and hatred, and destruction.
In other parts of the New Testament we are told never to hold onto any grudges and never to harbour any grievances.
Forgive. If you have anything against anyone, forgive them. This is what inclusiveness should mean in the life of the disciple of Jesus Christ.
Herodias also had a sinister influence over her daughter. You do not just contain or retain that damage within your own being. You influence others. We splash others in all kinds of ways. You cannot place a wall around yourself and say that your attitude will not affect or influence anyone else. Life does not work that way and not even the Christian Life.
Salome was caught up and was almost a victim, who had been prompted by her mother.
“What shall I ask?” we read in Mark.
The mother of John the Baptist put the Word of God on the lips of her son and placed them into his heart – yes, as well as Almighty God. The mother of Salome placed words of death upon her daughter’s lips.
We know that there is a price to pay for faithfulness to the Word of God, and it can be a high price at times.
It is better to die faithful to God, than live with the consequences of disobedience.
When the Word of God is neglected and ignored, it hardens the heart and weakens the will.
In this passage Herod is such a strong weak man!
It is never enough to ‘enjoy’ God’s Word, or be intrigued by it, or just simply curious.
Obeying it is what matters.
What we do with God’s Word, and God’s words to us, will not only affect our own lives, but will influence and touch others in all kinds of various ways.
When the news of this tragic incident got around, Jesus continued to minister and Jesus continued to move, and be moved with compassion.
There is our example when we are confronted with death or disaster or tragedy.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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