Matthew 14:3-4, Mark 6:17-18, Luke 3:19-20, (The imprisonment of John)

Rachel Workman:

Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
3 For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife Herodias (the former wife of Herod’s brother Philip). 4 John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry her.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of a riot, because all the people believed John was a prophet.	17 For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but Herod had married her. 18 John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.” What I took from today's reading is sometimes doing the right thing brings us the wrong circumstances. I need to keep that in mind as I serve God. There are times I question God because things don't turn out the way I had hoped. In fact they get worse. Things may appear to be unfair to me but did prison seem fair to John?	19 John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee,[f] for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. 20 So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.

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John Burnett:  The World is addicted to sin like Herod was and it does not like to hear about the consequences.  John taught repentance and was not afraid to call people out when it came to sin.  With our government training our military to consider evangelical Christians as terrorists along the lines of Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, and Al Qaida, I can foresee imprisonment, like John’s, happening to believers who speak up.  The supreme court just denied to hear a case which gives the president the right to indefinitely detain anyone who he deems as a threat to the government.  This includes anyone who does not agree with his agenda of gay marriage, abortion, and redistribution of wealth and completely circumvents the First Amendment of the Constitution.   When the time comes and if you are born again, the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say and the strength to say them, just like he did for John. 

This passage stirred up mixed emotions of anger and anticipation but I think it is important that we keep watch and realize that this type of persecution is a sign that Jesus’s return is imminent.  I look forward to his return like it is Christmas morning.  Come quickly Lord Jesus.

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Krista Cook:  - what I get out of this reading is how willing are we to point out sins we see - no matter the consequences?  John was bold in how he lived his life.

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Mike Grimm:  Matthew 14:3-4

³ For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife Herodias (the former wife of Herod’s brother Philip). ⁴ John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry her.”

Mark 6:17-18

¹⁷ For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but Herod had married her. ¹⁸ John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.”

Luke 3:19-20

¹⁹ John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. ²⁰ So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.

Two of Herod’s sons were Herod Philip and Herod Antipas. Herod Philip married a woman called Herodias. When Herod Antipas visited his brother, he wanted Herodias for a wife for himself. So Herod Antipas divorced his own wife, and married Herodias. She, of course, had to divorce Herod Philip first. The Jewish law does not permit such behavior (Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21). John the Baptist said this was wrong. When he did this, he made Herodias very angry. So Herod Antipas ordered John's arrest.

Apparently Herod Antipas had an issue with John the Baptist telling him that he had sinned…again. As Christians the day will come when we will be persecuted for our Christian beliefs. It’s already happening all over the world with death usually being the end result in the muslim nations. Prison is usually the norm in the communist regions of the world, so we have it pretty easy in the US. Will this allow us to become complacent?