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Sermon
The Gospel of Matthew

So... What Are You Afraid Of?

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January 4, 2026
Matthew 14:1-12
Sam Crabtree
Pastor for Care

Fear & Anxiety

Courage & Boldness

The Person of Christ

Transcript

0:13At that time here, the Tetra heard about the fame of Jesus. And he said to his servants, this is John the Baptist. He's been raised from the dead. That's why these miraculous powers are at work in him. For he had seized John bound him and put him in prison for the sake of HEROs his brother, Philip's wife. Because John had been saying to him, it is not lawful for you to have her though he wanted to put him to death. He feared the people 'cause they held him to be a prophet. But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herods danced before the company and P pleased Herod so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

1:08And prompted by her mother, she said, gimme the head of John the Baptist here on a platter. And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl and she brought it to her mother and his disciples came and took the body and buried it and went and told Jesus. Now when Jesus heard this, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.

2:03Oh God, oh God. No wonder he withdrew. I don't wanna be like Herod on account of his fear of others does terrible things. I don't wanna be another HEROs who ruthlessly tramples others in the process of getting her own way. I don't wanna be like her sensual daughter who tries to please the wrong people in the wrong ways. I wanna be like John the Baptist who faithfully courageously speaks the truth in love without fear of man. And we see our father that your son withdrew for a while and I'm asking you now, father, do not withdraw from us now in this room. Come now this morning in this place and get glory by using this text you've given us to produce in us the kind of people you want us to be.

3:09We plead in Jesus' name, amen. As Steven mentioned in his welcome, we're resuming our sermon series through the book of Matthew, which we began over a year ago. And I start by asking, who are you afraid of? Who are we afraid of? Who am I afraid of? I'm gonna ask us again near the end of the sermon. Today's text from Matthew 14 is right smack in the middle of Matthew's 28 chapter biography of Jesus, which is written to provide a portrait of Jesus. And here in this text we have a vignette to provide a small part of that overall portrait. And though today's text tells us about John and Herod and odious, it's part of the true story about Jesus.

4:02And before we take a closer look at today's text in the 14th chapter, let's remind ourselves of who John the Baptist is by considering five testimonies about him because the significance of this morning's text hinges on and is buttressed by what is said about John elsewhere in the Bible. Because if John is insignificant, if he's just a little tiny asterisk or a footnote in history, then why would we pay much attention to this text? But oh, what does the Bible say about this? John who was beheaded? So here's testimony one, it's a story that begins six months before the miraculous conception of his second cousin Jesus, when an angel of God reveals to his parents Elizabeth and Zacharias John's identity and purpose.

4:55Luke one, there was a priest named Zechariah and he had a wife whose name was Elizabeth and they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. Don't you want to be like them? Wouldn't you like that to be said about you? Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. Now while Zechariah was serving as a priest before God, that appeared to him an angel of the Lord. And the angel said to him, do not be afraid. Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard and your wife, Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call his name John and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

5:49So at this point in this testimony about John, do we see divine appointment? This isn't just happenstance. God is at work sending a man who will be killed so that many will be delivered. Verse 18 of that first chapter. And Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this for I'm an old man and my wife has advanced in years and the angel answered him, I'm Gabriel meaning God is my strength. I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and bring you this good news. And behold, you Zechariah will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place because you did not believe my words.

6:50And I wonder if sometimes that's why I remain silent in certain contexts. Something comes up and I didn't say anything. Is it because I didn't believe and notice he's gonna be silent even though we've already read in the text that he was righteous and walked blamelessly. Apparently he wasn't perfect and Zechariah kept making signs to them and remained mute. Now skipping about 15 verses, the angel answered, Mary, behold, your Eli, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son for nothing will be impossible with God. You see sovereign activity in this story of John in those days.

7:39I'm continuing in the text, I'm just reading it to you. In those days, Mary arose and went with haste and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby John leaped in her womb. John is responsive even before he's born and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and you explained with a loud cry, blessed are you among women. Blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me for behold when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb, John leaped for joy skipping a bunch of more verses.

8:26Now the time came for Elizabeth and she bore a son John and they would've called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, no, he shall be called John. And they said to her, none of your relatives is called by this name. And they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing a tablet and wrote, his name is John, meaning God is gracious. And they all wondered and immediately Zechariah's mouth was opened and his tongue loose and he spoke blessing God and fear came on. All the neighbors and all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea and all who heard them laid up, laid them up in their hearts.

9:27Right now, are we laying them up in our hearts? There's some heart work going on right now. They laid them up in their hearts saying, what then will this child be for the hand of the Lord was with him and his father. Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying, you child speaking of John will be called the prophet of the most high for you, will go before the Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins. Anybody here need any sins forgiven a dozen of you because of the tender mercy of our God.

10:18What do we see about God in this text? He overflows with tender mercy towards sinners. I'm still reading. And the child grew and became strong in spirit and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance in Israel. That's testimony one. Here's testimony two, skipping over to Matthew chapter three in those again I'm reading to you. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. So we see he's grown up now he's not a baby anymore and he preached repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now observe again. His divine appointment for this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah.

11:05You read your Old Testament, it's talking about John now. John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey now, now observe his influence, this wild man living in the wilderness then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about Jordan were going out to him. Wow. And they were baptized by him in the river Jordan confessing their sins.

11:39Herod is not beheading. Some little local in the back waters, some unknown. John is a headliner in those days Still reading. John says, I baptize you with water for repentance, but now and observe his humility here. He who's coming after me is mightier than I who sandals I'm not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire his winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. And then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. And John would've prevented him saying, well, I need to be baptized by you and you come to me.

12:36But Jesus answered him. Let it be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. That's testimony too. Here's testimony three, jumping over to Luke. As the people were in expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all saying, I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to untie, then he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And so with many other exhortations, he preached good news to the people, but Herod the Tetra. Okay, here comes a link to today's text.

13:25Herod the Tetra who had been reproved by him, by John for Herods, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this evil thing to them all that he locked up John in prison, if we looked elsewhere in John chapter 10, the people said, John did no sign. That means he did no miracle. But everything that he said about this man, Jesus was true. He's a truth teller. Here's testimony four in the gospel of John, the first chapter, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. Why should we give consideration to some guy named John the Baptist this morning?

14:15Here's the answer that we might believe. He came to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. John was not the light but came to bear witness about the light. John bore witness about Jesus and cried out this was he of whom I said, he who comes after me, ranks before me because he was before me. You see his argument there? His rank is higher than me because he precedes me. Now you remember we read earlier that Jesus was born six months later And John says he was here before I was the next day He saw Jesus coming toward him and he said, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

15:08John is a pointer beyond himself to another. Don't miss where he's pointing. He continues and I have seen and have born witness that this is the son of God. And the next day again, John was standing with two of his disciples and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and he said, behold the lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him say this and they followed Jesus. That's what John wants to happen with John's disciples is that they become Jesus disciples.

15:46Here's testimony number five about this, John Matthew 11. As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John, what did you go out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind. What then did you go out to see a man dressed in soft clothing? Behold those who are soft clothing are in king's houses. What then did you go out to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you and more than a prophet, this is he of whom it is written by Isaiah. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you? And Jesus continues about John here saying truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist and yet the one who's least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

16:40And some of you may be wondering, well how in the world am I greater than John the Baptist given what we've just heard? Well, here's one answer to that question. You have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Later in John chapter 21 day as Jesus was teaching the people the leading priests and the elders came up to him and they demanded, by what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right? Well, let me ask you a question. First, Jesus replied, did John's authority to baptize come from heaven or was it merely human? And they talked it over among themselves. If we say it was from heaven, he'll say and ask why we didn't believe him.

17:28But if we say it's merely human, the people will stone us because they're convinced John was a prophet. That's what we heard in today's text from Matthew 14. So there we have five testimonies about John. And now having reviewed who John is, let's take all that review and wrap it into this story as we review it in Matthew 14 verse one. At that time, Herod the Tetra heard about the fame of Jesus. That is he heard about Jesus miracles and healings and so on. And he said he, Herod said to his servants, this is John the Baptist. He's been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.

18:08So John, while he lived, did not do any miracles. We've seen that in the record. But Herod thinks that since John presumably is now raised from the dead, now he has some miraculous powers. But these powers are not the workings of John. They're the workings of Jesus, their Jesus powers. And if Herod had done just a little bit of research, if he had asked around, he would've known that Jesus and his miracles were happening before Herod killed John, before John's death. So this isn't John by mistakenly thinking Jesus is really John Herod thinks too little of Jesus. Even though Herod believes in miraculous resurrection power.

18:54He doesn't think Jesus is the incarnate son of God, which is way more important than a resurrected John who will be resurrected one day. You might have the opportunity to interview him. Ever since Jesus arrived on earth, people have thought too little of him. We sought in the previous sermon in this very series in Matthew 13, they said, where did this man get this wisdom? In these mighty works they're referring to Jesus is not this, the carpenter's son is not this. His mother called Mary are not his brothers. James and Joseph and Simon and Judas are not all his sisters with us. Where then did this man get all these things and they took offense at him.

19:38They're thinking way too little of Jesus. Or in John seven, even his own brothers did not believe him. Or in Luke five and elsewhere the scribes and the Pharisees accuse him of blasphemy. And today, in our day in our culture, many consider Jesus to be a a mere teacher, but no miracle worker and certainly not the creator of everything. And some today, even foolishly believe that Jesus never existed. He's just a a mythological legend like Pecos Bill or Paul bunion. Verse three for Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herods his brother, Philip's wife. So um, Matthew is recording for us here, a flashback that Herod is having.

20:26He's thinking back about killing John. He's reporting Herod's misunderstanding about who John is and then he's recording Herod's own guilt and resultant fear. Verse four, because John had been saying to him, it is not lawful for you to have her. So John was faithful in courageously reproving. Herod, it's not lawful king, you're not the highest law Mr. King. There's a law above the king.

21:12In a manner of speaking, pastor Steven pointed out his sermon back in October. John was saying in one word, repent your wrong king. Turn around. Adam Clark said this, the best service a subject can render his prince is to lay before the prince in the plainest but most respect, respectful manner. What the law of God requires of him and what it forbids. Part of our job as citizens is to communicate in a respectful manner what the law of God requires and forbids That requires courage because faithful reproves very commonly provoke response. They're resented as we see in today's text.

22:16Herod, you don't get to make up the rules about marriage. You don't get to redefine them. Who do you think you are? Herod, you're not the king of kings. You're not the Preist court of supreme courts or the inventor of marriage. So ladies and gentlemen, we don't get to redefine what God defines, whether it's marriage or baptism or maleness and femaleness or love or good and evil.

22:52God invented them all and he defines them and gives us instructions about them. And we can seize and bind and imprison the prophet. We can shoot the messenger, we can strangle the carrier pigeon. But God's word to us remains God's word to us. Verse five. And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people because they held him to be a prophet. Herod wants, wants to put John to death simply for talking, simply for telling him the truth.

23:25Tyrants have their fears. One of their fears is the truth. Men including tyrants, fear, losing their position, their popularity, their power more than they fear being damned. The weak can fear being thought of as weak. I'm weak, but I don't want you to know it. Mark provides us with a bit more detail in chapter six. He says, and I'm reading to you again, and Herods had a grudge against him. John, this is the woman now Philip's wife who Herod has taken, has a grudge against John and wanted to put him to death but she could not for Herod feared John knowing that he was a righteous and holy man and he kept him safe.

24:25And when he heard him, that is when Herod heard John. He was greatly perplexed and yet he heard him gladly. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday, gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee, which takes us to verse six of our text, which says, but when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herods danced before the company and pleased Herod so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask and prompted by her mother, she said, give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter. Corrupt hearts are inclined more quickly to follow bad counsel into sin Than to follow good counsel to restrain sin.

25:19Now a word to mothers and others, God has made you and positioned you as a prompter. Mothers are prompters among other things. So prompt. Well, it's an opportunity prompt. Well, you are going to prompt others to cut off the head of something. But what? Cut off the head of gossip, let it die right there. Cut off the head of greed, kill it with contentment and thankfulness.

26:05Cut off the head of bitterness, kill it with mercy. Cut off the head of vengeance, kill it with kindness. Cut off the head of selfish pride and kill it with a humble realism and thankfulness to the source of every blessing. Cut off whining, kill it with a new song in your heart. We could make a longer list prompters prompt. Well to do good killing. Verse nine. And the king was sorry because of his oaths and his guests, he commanded it to be given. Herod probably implied, but he did not explicitly state that he would do anything for her that was lawful and good. And when she demanded what was otherwise, he ought to have declared that his oath was null and void.

27:05That's not what was included in his promise, but he lacked the humility to admit that he was wrong when he made such a rash promise And he sinned and invoked others to sin. The wise don't make rash promises wicked actions are not justified by wicked oaths. Well, I made a promise so I guess I gotta do it. Herod shows no repentance for putting John to death. Now I'll insert a comment here about devils and those influenced by them. The devils believe in Trumble, the Bible says, but they don't believe and repent.

27:53Repent. Don't be devilish. One 10 he sent and had John beheaded in the prison and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl and she brought it to her mother and the disciples came and took the body and buried it and they went and told Jesus. Now what should we conclude from this account? Let me give you four things. One, John's influence extends beyond his death. And so it is with each of us. John's death is not the end of his story or his influence. Death isn't the end. It's not the end of your influence and potential fruitfulness.

28:46Number two, you and I pile up regret if we don't fear the right thing. Wrong fears arise out of a defective love for God. Love that is misplaced, loving something else more than God. Listen to John 12, for they loved the glory that comes from man, more than the glory that comes from God. That's why they got sucked into these schemes and did what was evil. They feared people more than they feared God. Fear of rejection from people and the desire for approval from people are two sides of the same coin.

29:36We return to the question asked at the beginning of the sermon, what are you afraid of? Who are you afraid of? Herod who was fearful, explicitly fearful. The text says, was vulnerable to peer pressure and made excuses. I'm sorry, but you know on a kinda my oath, I guess I gotta gut cut this guy's head off. He feared that displeasure of man more than he feared the displeasure of God.

30:05Odious was controlling and she fears losing her place as queen. Her daughter sensual, easily swayed, is swayed even if somebody's gonna get killed. In contrast, John feared God. He had a profound holy fear of God, which meant he feared nobody else. When you and I fear the wrong thing, we will fear many additional things. And if we fear the right thing, we overcome the fear of the other things because he feared God. John boldly spoke God's truth. He not only confronted Herod about his adulterous marriage to Philip's wife, he confronted. We see in other texts the religious leaders calling them a brute of vipers and warning them to bear the fruit of repentance.

31:06He showed no fear of their status. Third application, third takeaway. There will be one killing or another. Either you'll put to death your pride and and its schemes, or you will kill your conscience instead of what will PE-people think if I do this, the question is, what will God think if I do this? Fourth, remember, the greatest people born of women will not escape suffering. John didn't. Jesus didn't.

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Sermon Text

Matthew 14:1-12

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