Reflective Bible Study

The event we are focusing in on is really a side-note in several of the gospels. This side-note covers what ultimately happened to John the Baptist, and while this is a sad event in several ways, there are some key things we can learn from this event.

Probably one of the biggest things we can learn is from Herod’s mistake. While setting up what actually happened, we read the following about Herod and his thoughts towards John the Baptist: “Herod himself had ordered his soldiers to arrest John and put him in prison in order to please his wife, Herodias. She had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother, but then Herod had married her. John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to be married to your brother’s wife.” So Herodias hated John and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t, because Herod was afraid of John and protected him. He knew John was a good and holy man. Also, though John’s preaching always bothered him, he enjoyed listening to John.” (v. 17-20)

So we have a husband and wife divided over whether this popular preacher should be allowed to live, and now we have the background information needed to move into the event that changed everything.

Herod had a birthday party and Herodias’ daughter comes in and dances for Herod and his guests. The dance is so well received that Herod gives the girl a blank check for anything up to half his kingdom. The girl consults with her mother, leading to the ultimate request of John the Baptist’s head being given on a platter.

We then read Herod’s reaction: “Although the king was very sad, he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard it. So he did not want to refuse what she asked.” (v. 26)

The big thing we can learn from Herod’s big mistake is this: Be careful what you promise. You may end up being held to your word against your wishes. Herod’s reputation was on the line, and while he kept his promise, if he had known what the request would have been, chances are he would have framed his promise differently.

In Luke’s gospel, during Jesus’ questioning on the night He is arrested, we learn that Jesus makes a very interesting statement. This statement helps us understand why several of the other gospels have Jesus simply staying silent during most of this questioning and accusing.

In response to the leaders asking Jesus whether He is the Messiah, Jesus opens His response by saying, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. And if I ask you, you won’t answer.” (v. 67b-68)

With these words, Jesus basically tells everyone present that they are all closed-minded, and that their questioning is not to determine guilt or innocence, but to dig for evidence worthy of death. They are not calling Jesus in to ask Him questions about whether He is the Messiah, or questions that would lead to any of them placing their faith and trust in Him.

This questioning had only one purpose, and that was to prove Jesus had sin, and therefore was worthy of death – and this goal closed the minds of everyone present to even being open to the idea that Jesus was the Messiah God had promised long ago.

Jesus knew an important truth about human nature, and in His response here, we can learn this truth for ourselves as well: A mind that is already made up cannot be reasoned with. Only new evidence that is received in an open-minded way can break through an “almost-closed” mind. Jesus shares a prediction that would present new evidence to these leaders, but when the time Jesus predicts comes, it will be too late for any of them to change their minds about Him.

I am always fascinated by Jesus and how He interacted with people. In this event, Jesus is on the way to perform a miracle, which in itself is interesting, because all He needed to do was say the word and Jairus’ daughter would be healed.

But perhaps making the trip to personally visit the dying girl was intentional – perhaps not as much about the girl herself, but about providing the woman our passage focuses in on an opportunity to be healed.

This woman sneaks up and touches the edge of Jesus’ garment and in that instant, she knows she has been healed, but before she is able to get away, Jesus stopped everything He was doing to shine the spotlight on what happened.

Had Jesus simply continued on His mission to help the girl, this miracle would have never been recorded, and it would have gone down in history as “The Secret Miracle”.

Why would Jesus push pause on His mission to help a little girl in order to shine the spotlight on a miracle that wanted to remain secret?

I think because Jesus wanted to direct the crowd to pay attention to a teaching moment. It would have been so easy to keep going and then make a point to find the woman later. But if that would have been Jesus’ choice, the significance of what happened wouldn’t be so impactful.

This is because for Jesus, He wants to help draw our attention onto miracles that God has done, and onto individuals who have extraordinary faith. Jesus was incredibly aware of what was happening around Him and this woman was healed because of her great faith. Regardless of where Jesus was headed or what He was about to do, Jesus pauses His mission because He wants us to pay attention to this event.

Probably one of the most amazing concepts presented in any of the gospels is what we can learn from this unassuming, five verse passage that is only found in Matthew. In this event, the guards who had witnessed Jesus’ resurrection were bribed by the religious leaders to spread a rumor regarding Jesus’ missing body.

The incredibly amazing part of this event is not found in a key word or phrase in the passage itself, but when looking at the culture of that time.

Firstly, it would be crazy to actually believe a group of eleven or so regular guys with no combat training to overthrow a group of soldiers. The details of what would need to happen for the disciples to sneak in, roll the large stone away without making any noise, and escape with the body while the guards slept is almost more unbelievable. Any slipup, and there is almost no way for them to overpower the group of soldiers if they woke them up.

The rumor includes pretty much a zero chance of error, and from what we know of the disciples, being error free wasn’t their strong point.

But even more amazing is that the ones to prompt the disciples to what had happened were women, whose thoughts and ideas were widely discounted by the men in that time period. However, some of the disciples believed the women enough to go check out the tomb and see for themselves. This is a profound idea, but when we place it alongside the testimony that the guards actually give to the chief priests and religious leaders who had hired them, there is almost no comparison in that time period.

The religious leaders and elders received some of the most credible eye-witness accounts about what happened on resurrection morning, and they chose to try and hide it. This simple act reveals how far they had closed their minds to Jesus as the Messiah. This also shows how human nature and prejudice can blind people who are not open to accepting the truth.

The disciples believed and spread a wildly unbelievable progression of events, where women were the first to know among their group. But in Matthew, we learn that the guards present at the tomb were the only true eyewitnesses to what happened, and there was no reason for the religious leaders to invalidate the guards testimony except for their own prejudice against Jesus.

This emphasizes the idea even the strongest evidence possible will not open a firmly closed mind. If the religious leaders ignored the guards, they really were rejecting the greatest sign God could give to validate Jesus as His Chosen One – the Messiah that they were hoping and waiting for.