SWEETER THAN HONEY

Mattthew 14

John the Baptist has gripped my heart. We’ve talked about him in Sunday School and I’ve read about him for years, but this time I have been struck by his single-mindedness, his boldness, and his mission. I want to be like him.

John was amazing. Before he was even born, he was appointed by God to be the forerunner of the Messiah. After growing up in the wilderness, he appeared on the scene a few months before Jesus began His ministry and began calling people to repent (to turn from their sin to a Savior, Who was coming).

Then John confronted Herod Antipas. The ruler had left his own wife to take his half-brothers’s wife, Herodias. John called Herod’s sin a sin. And Herodias hated him for it. She talked Herod into throwing John in jail, and he sat in a horrid dungeon until Herod Antipas threw himself a big birthday bash.

John’s time in prison was longer than his ministry. That unnerves me. It’s not the way you would expect a life surrendered to the Lord to work out. I often stumble over expectations, but John did not.

At the birthday bash, Herod Antipas used Herodias’ daughter for the entertainment. He was so “pleased” by her that he told the girl she could have whatever she wanted. That’s when Herodias got her wish. She whispered in her daughter’s ear: ask for the head of John the Baptist.

Confronting the ruler cost John his life. But this morning, while reading My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, I was struck by a new image of John. It’s easy to think of him as harsh and tough (he ate locusts and wild honey, for crying out loud!). But I have a newfound understanding of his tenderness.

What would motivate someone to point a finger at the sin of a ruler who could, with one shake of his own finger, order his head on a platter? If John were thinking of himself, he would have backed off. But he didn’t. He went back again and again. Not to make a point. To change a heart.

That’s what separates most of us from John. We’re willing to stand for Truth as long as we can make a point and as long as there’s a chance we’ll win. As long as it doesn’t cost us anything. Like a relationship. Or our reputation. Or our pride.

But for John, what mattered most was the heart of Herod. He knew if Herod did not recognize his sin, He would never recognize his need for a Savior. Without repentance, there is no redemption.

That’s where I want to be most like John. Motivated by love. Willing to lay down my life not for a mission, but for a heart in need of Jesus.