What is the context?
Reports about Jesus reach Herod, who thinks John the Baptist has risen from the dead. Matthew then looks back to explain what happened to John. The story follows the rejection of Jesus in His hometown and shows the danger facing a prophet who speaks unwelcome truth.
John had challenged Herod's marriage to his brother's wife, Herodias. Herod imprisoned him and wanted him dead, but feared the people who regarded John as a prophet. At a birthday celebration, Herod's pleasure in Herodias's daughter's dancing leads him to make a sweeping promise under oath.
Her mother prompts the girl to ask for John's head. Herod is grieved, yet gives the order because of his oaths and his guests. His concern about what others will think ends in an innocent man's death. John's disciples bury him and bring the news to Jesus.
The Jewish historian Josephus, Antiquities 18.5.2, also reports that Herod had John imprisoned and killed. Josephus emphasizes Herod's fear of John's influence over the crowds. Matthew tells the story through John's rebuke of the marriage and the fatal promise at the banquet. The accounts give different emphases rather than identical explanations.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly read this as the death of a faithful prophet and a warning about wrongdoing driven by fear, pride, and a reckless promise. Wesley's note on Matthew 14:9 stresses that keeping a wrongful oath does not make the killing right. The US Catholic bishops' note on 14:1–12 also connects John's death with the suffering Jesus will face.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Jesus Himself makes the connection between John's treatment and His own coming suffering. In Matthew 17:10–13, He says that people failed to recognize the Elijah who had come and did as they wished to him; the disciples understand that He means John. Jesus then says the Son of Man will suffer at their hands as well.
John's role in preparing the way therefore includes rejection as well as proclamation. His death does not mean God's promised work has stopped. It prepares the reader for the Messiah's own suffering, while leaving the cruelty of those responsible fully in view.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.