Herod was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse his daughter. Mark 6:26
Now that is a familiar feeling. A father never wants to disappoint his daughter. As true for Herod as it is for me.
Sometimes, this is perfectly harmless. “Can I borrow the car daddy?” “Can I have 20 dollars Daddy?” And sometimes… it ends up with John the Baptist’s head on a platter!
What is at play here for Herod is the same thing that often is at play for us - saying no to his daughter and refusing the kill John the Baptist does not just mean disappointing his child.
It also means acknowledging in front of all those people that he is not King. That there is some bigger power out there that Herod does not understand that he is terrified and amazed by.
Ultimately, when asked to make the decision, Herod prefers to remain a small king rather than listen for the voice of the True King.
The question is why. Why does Herod not want to give up some of his power. We think sometimes these kind of decisions are made from a place of strength but it really comes from a place of deep weakness. Herod’s daughter tricked him, his wife betrayed him, the only person he knows WON’T lie to him is the man he is asked to kill. But he has to kill him or else he acknowledges how weak his reign is, how little power he has.
Have you ever made a decision like this. Held out angrily trying to retain some power or authority you never really had? Tried to control the world around you even though Jesus was right there saying “you need help friend.”?
Few of us will be asked to serve up physical heads on physical platters - but many of us deal with the temptation of double crossing, tricking or proverbially stabbing a friend in the back to hold on to a little bit of power, even as we know, WE KNOW, we don’t actually have any power - we are just too scared to say so.
Herod killed John the Baptist only to have Jesus show up next. What power are you willing to crucify a friend for? And how can you let that go and give it up to Christ?