Fear of The Lord

2 August 2025  Matthew 14:1-12

“Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people, for they regarded him as a prophet.” Matthew 14:5

If Herod had really feared the people, he would have let John the Baptist go.

The fact is that he didn’t fear the people. He feared his wife and his guests. He killed John the Baptist for them.

Herod was in a jam and he knew it. You didn’t have to be much of a Jew to know that adultery was off-limits, and he had certainly, brazenly committed adultery – he had seduced his brother’s wife, divorced his own wife, and married the “other woman.” He did this out in the open, in front of everybody. He didn’t care what the people thought, he didn’t care what the people’s prophet thought. He did care what the king of the kingdom next door thought, because that was Aretas IV, his former father-in-law, who was plenty annoyed that Herod had dishonored his daughter, and thereby dishonored him, and he had the means to cause Herod a great deal of trouble. Herod knew that his birthday party was not the time for him to look like a weakling, like he was scared of anyone. If King Aretas was going to cause trouble, he would need the help of many of the guests at his party, the movers and shakers of his little kingdom of Galilee and Peraea. So, when Salome asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter in return for a pleasing dance, Herod may have thought that this was a pretty gruesome spectacle for a high-class party, but he didn’t hesitate.

Herod didn’t fear the people. He didn’t fear John the Baptist. He feared his wife and his guests.

According to all available studies and statistics, the happiest people in America, the people who have the happiest marriages, the best relationships with their children and neighbors, who have the best health, who are most generous with their time, talent, and treasure, are people of deep religious faith. Conversely, the people who are least happy, who have the fewest positive relationships, the most unreliable sense of meaning and purpose, are those who have less or no religious affiliation. Religious people, it turns out, have a strong sense of belonging and stable support systems over time. They have a clear sense of meaning and purpose, guided by the desire for Christ and heaven, which makes them far less likely to participate in behaviors that undermine health and happiness. In short, they know who and what can cause them trouble, and they avoid them. They know who and what is good for them, and the community around them, what is good for all eternity, and they pursue them.

Herod didn’t fear the people. He didn’t fear John the Baptist. He feared his wife and his guests. It turns out that he was wrong about all of that. Aretas IV did, in the end, cause Herod Antipas deep trouble. He attacked Galilee and Peraea, and overwhelmed the forces of Herod. Herod asked Rome for help, which he got, but in the end, he was so distrusted by the Romans that he was exiled to Gaul where he died, reasonably comfortable and totally forgotten. St. John the Baptist, however, is revered all over the world to this day, and is honored in heaven.

Herod didn’t fear the people. He didn’t fear John the Baptist. He feared his wife and his guests. He killed John the Baptist for them. He didn’t understand the first thing about happiness: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).