And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.
This part of Luke 9 shows that healing and preaching are connected and not to be separated, with preaching, teaching, and healing all blended together as the work given to God's people to do. It also carries a call to the individual himself to take up his cross and follow Christ.
Herod's slow attention to Jesus is explained by the general disregard for religion among people of high rank and their resulting ignorance of religious events. He had not known Jesus before and had never met him, although Jesus had lived in Galilee for about thirty years, while John had only recently been put to death. After hearing reports of Jesus' mighty works, Herod was troubled, confused, and terrified about Jesus' identity, acknowledging that he had beheaded John and asking who this was of whom he heard such things.
He thought John had risen from the dead with greater power to condemn sin, so that mighty works showed themselves in Jesus, and he lived tormented by a guilty conscience in fear and trembling at punishment for his crime as a stain he could not remove. He had known John to be a true prophet, had felt remorse and trembled with horror at the request for John's head, and had very nearly become John's disciple, yet at the point of decision he rejected the truth, yielded to Satan, and put to death one he knew to be a true prophet. His earlier fear that John had risen gave way as his conscience and moral sense grew dull through continued wrongdoing and a licentious life until his sins seemed trifles, leaving a hardened heart.
He had long desired to see Jesus and witness his marvelous power from curiosity, and he was glad and pleased to have Jesus brought as a prisoner because he expected to satisfy himself and to force Jesus to work a miracle as the price of saving his life. Jesus would not gratify Herod's curiosity for show, so he answered nothing to Herod's many questions and did not fear Herod's power, since his divine and miraculous power was to be exercised for the salvation of others and not in his own behalf. His course shows that those once convicted by truth who turn from light to darkness become capable of the worst crimes.
This part of Luke 9 shows that healing and preaching are connected and not to be separated, with preaching, teaching, and healing all blended together as the work given to God's people to do. It also carries a call to the individual himself to take up his cross and follow Christ.
Herod's slow attention to Jesus is explained by the general disregard for religion among people of high rank and their resulting ignorance of religious events. He had not known Jesus before and had never met him, although Jesus had lived in Galilee for about thirty years, while John had only recently been put to death. After hearing reports of Jesus' mighty works, Herod was troubled, confused, and terrified about Jesus' identity, acknowledging that he had beheaded John and asking who this was of whom he heard such things.
He thought John had risen from the dead with greater power to condemn sin, so that mighty works showed themselves in Jesus, and he lived tormented by a guilty conscience in fear and trembling at punishment for his crime as a stain he could not remove. He had known John to be a true prophet, had felt remorse and trembled with horror at the request for John's head, and had very nearly become John's disciple, yet at the point of decision he rejected the truth, yielded to Satan, and put to death one he knew to be a true prophet. His earlier fear that John had risen gave way as his conscience and moral sense grew dull through continued wrongdoing and a licentious life until his sins seemed trifles, leaving a hardened heart.
He had long desired to see Jesus and witness his marvelous power from curiosity, and he was glad and pleased to have Jesus brought as a prisoner because he expected to satisfy himself and to force Jesus to work a miracle as the price of saving his life. Jesus would not gratify Herod's curiosity for show, so he answered nothing to Herod's many questions and did not fear Herod's power, since his divine and miraculous power was to be exercised for the salvation of others and not in his own behalf. His course shows that those once convicted by truth who turn from light to darkness become capable of the worst crimes.