THE beginning of chapter 14 of Matthew begins with an account of the illegal execution of John the Baptist. We all know the story which is recorded here in these verses. Herod carried away by the dancing of the daughter of Herodias, with whom he was having an adulterous relationship, makes a rash promise to give to the girl whatever she asks. Led by her mother this daughter of Herodias asks for the execution of John, and although Herod was afraid to put John to death, he was more afraid of the opinion of those present when he made his rash promises, and orders the death of John.

This is a tragic story but there is much to learn from it. The first lesson is that to be faithful to God in this world brings down on God's servants the hate and malice of the world. The New Testament teaches us that Christians who are faithful to God must expect to be persecuted, and this may mean death for many. History has plenty of examples of this, and the death of John the Baptist is one prominent one. John was faithful in rebuking Herod's sin in his relationship with his brother's wife, and in the end it cost him his life. Herodias hated him. Herod hated him for his rebuke, and in the end he was killed for his faithfulness. It is a fact that fear of the world and others causes all of us who believe in Jesus to be cowards from time to time, and to fail to stand up for Jesus, and preach and witness to his truth. How we should repent and seek Christ's forgiveness when fear of the world causes us to be cowards, and pray for his grace and strength to do better in the future. The case of Peter is one example of this fear, when he denied his Lord, while Jesus was giving his life for him. Let us take comfort in the gracious and loving way Jesus dealt with him, and raised him up.

Next we can learn the pain and misery of a guilty conscience. We are told that Herod thought Jesus was John raised from the dead, and come to haunt him. Sin, while we are in this world, will still haunt us if we do not repent and turn from the sin. Even if we deny our conscience, and it becomes muted, yet the life of sin is not a happy one. Position and wealth may be gained in this world, but it comes at a cost, and people who pursue this way find their sin comes back to haunt them. We have examples of this amongst the politicians of our day. What is most certainly true is that sin unrepented of will bring downfall and death at the last, and everlasting torment. As far as a believer is concerned, this should teach us to keep short accounts with God, and repent quickly, otherwise our whole life will become a burden and a pain.

The next lesson is that sin which is unrepented of, and not put away, will inevitably mean that more sin will follow. Herod committed the sin of stealing his brother's wife. He could not and would not give her up, and so further sins followed in order to live with the consequences of the first sin. So we find hate constantly filling Herod's heart, and because of this he had murder in his heart towards John (5), though fear keeps him from committing himself to actual murder. However he committed murder in his heart before he actual carried out the deed, and so sin multiplied in his life. His retention of his sin made him unhappy, and burdened his conscience, and so he continued to sin by rejecting this correction. In the end his sin with Herodias led him to be trapped into committing murder, and Herodias was the instigator of his final fall. How we as Christians should never dally with sin, and if we do sin then we must quickly repent and turn to Jesus both for cleansing and grace.

Lastly, let us learn the danger of neglecting to mortify our corrupt and evil affections. Even though we are born anew by faith in Christ, and have a new nature which is created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness, yet our corrupt flesh is not changed, and unless we mortify the evil desires of the flesh, these affections will be our downfall, and our shame. Paul tells us we must mortify our corrupt affections. We have this taught in Romans 6, and in Romans 8 and in other of his letters.

We can't be rid of the flesh while still in this life, and this is why Paul mourned over this plague within him in the last part of Romans 7, and looked forward to the time when the victory would be won, when through Christ and eternal life in him the time will come when at physical death we shall be free from this corrupt flesh for ever. Paul looks forward to this and longs for it when he says "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord."

In this earthly life, if we can't be rid of our sinful flesh, but we can mortify its evil and corrupt affections. The way the New Testament leads us to do this is not by facing these affections and seeking to kill them in our own strength, but rather by the compulsive power of a new affection. We turn away from the flesh and live in the desires of our new nature. We look to Christ, and as we turn to Jesus the things of this earth will grow strangely dim. We should immediately respond to all the movings of the Holy Spirit to seek Christ in his word, and seek the company of God's people. We mortify our corrupt affections by avoiding those things, however innocent they may be, which we know excites our corrupt affections.