Matthew 14: 1- 12 John the Baptist Beheaded
Part Two of the Read Scripture Video picks up with today’s reading.
This is more an historical element of the story and not a teaching of Jesus.
What do we know about John? His father was a High Priest, which means that John should have been part of the temple priesthood, instead he was a prophet wandering the wilderness, baptizing people.
Long before he called Herod out for his sins, he had rejected what was going in Jerusalem. Herod was not a legitimate king and the priests were more interested in power than leading people to God.
Perhaps he started out trying to be a reformer – I don’t think we’ll ever know. We are often are called to speak truth to power, but it rarely ends well in this world. We should do it anyway.
Journey Through Scripture 