Read Matthew 14.1-12
Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison. (Matthew 14.9-10)
WHO REALLY LOST THEIR HEAD?
“I just want to know that I can trust you,” said one thief to another. Some standards of morality just don’t make any sense, do they? When we look at Herod’s life, we enter the state of moral confusion. Herod is willing to commit adultery with his brother’s wife, live in debauchery, and murder John the Baptist. But when it comes to breaking an oath, oh no, he wouldn’t do that. His moral compass was spinning out of control. He had lost his head well before John lost his. His problem was not the absence of a personal moral code. His problem was that his moral code was personal. In order to maintain any real objectivity in our moral standards, they must come from Jesus. He is our consistency. Otherwise, we will be left to the whims of our opinions to guide our sense of rightness.
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