But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him as to Herodias, the wife of his brother, and as to all the wicked things which Herod had done,
John's preaching ends with a confrontation, not a crowd. The last man he faces is the ruler of the region, and the charge covers a marriage and a whole record of evil. Luke places the scene before he has even told us of Jesus' baptism. That raises two questions. What did John accuse Herod of? And why does Luke report the arrest here?
The events did not happen in this order. Writers point out that John was still free when he baptised Jesus. So the arrest came later than the baptism Luke records next.
This chapter shows that the order in Luke's Gospel is not by time but by moral theme. The event of verses 21-22 took place before the event of verses 19 and 20, yet Luke records it after. John had certainly not been put in prison at the time when he baptized the Lord.
The order is not careless. It is deliberate. Luke finishes with one man so he can turn all attention to another.
He shows that John had preached and urged moral truth. Then he sets him aside, putting him out of the scene, so as to bring Christ in. In actual history, Herod the tetrarch did not imprison John at that point; that happened long after.
The reproof was not vague. It named one marriage, and behind that sin stood many more.
John reproved the king for the many well-known evils he had committed. But perhaps his blackest crime was to marry his brother Philip's wife. The fearless prophet did not shrink from denouncing this incestuous adulterer to his face, even though the man sat on a throne. He condemned him by the laws of God and man (Lev. 18:16; Lev. 20:21). "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife" summed up his charge. The king's guilt was three times over great. Herod's own wife was alive. The husband of Herodias was alive. And Herod and Herodias were uncle and niece.
John had already spoken to the lowest ranks of society. Now the same voice reaches the throne, and John pays for it.
Luke's aim is to give a full picture of John. So he does not stick to mere time, any more than Matthew does. Whatever adds to the moral description is Luke's province. John was faithful not only to the lower classes, but also to the highest. His testimony to Christ was decisive. He made nothing of his own glory, so as to exalt the Lord. And he suffered for it too: he was shut up in prison because of righteousness.
Herod knew what kind of man he was silencing. That did not stop him.
John came in the way of righteousness (Matt. 21:32), and he kept in it to the end. Herod knew him to be a righteous and holy man (Mark 6:20). But the testimony of the faithful, instead of improving the world, condemns it, and that is what the world cannot bear. This story shows in a frightening way the character of Herod fighting against the truth. The lust of the flesh was at work in the heart of this man; and to satisfy it he is led into wickedness and pollution. The sinner cannot stop sinning even when something holds him back; he goes on in his sin by getting rid of the witness who condemns him.
John went ahead of Christ as His forerunner. Writers note that he went ahead in more than preaching.
John was truly the forerunner of the Messiah, the righteous Servant of Jehovah, right to the last act of his public testimony. He bore witness to the Anointed Sufferer in the prison just as much as in the wilderness. Both he and his Master were cut off in the middle of their days. Peter and others followed the Lord to a martyr's end, but John had the unique privilege of going just before Him.
- Placed, not dated. Luke reports the arrest out of order; John was still free when he baptised Jesus. The Gospel groups events by meaning, not by calendar.
- Cleared for Christ. Luke puts John out of the scene to bring Christ in. The messenger steps back as the One he announced steps forward.
- Named, not hinted. The charge was exact: an unlawful marriage to his brother's wife, and every other evil Herod had done. John said it to his face.
- Faithful upward too. John spoke the same truth to the highest man in the land as to the lowest. Prison was the price of that righteousness.
- First through the door. Herod could not give up his sin, so he removed the witness. So the forerunner went ahead of his Master into suffering as well as preaching.
added this also to all [the rest], that he shut up John in prison.
John's public ministry ends with a locked door, not with a crowd at the Jordan. Luke reports it before Jesus comes on the scene. Two questions rise from the verse. Why does Luke place the arrest here? And what drives a man to silence a preacher instead of hearing him?
Luke sets the arrest down at this point, though the event itself came much later. Commentators read the placement as deliberate.
It is remarkable that this account appears here, since John's imprisonment did not happen at that time at all. Why, then, is it mentioned in this connection? Because Luke always has a moral purpose in view, and presents things as they suit that purpose. So he often ignores the mere order of time. He takes the events and circumstances and groups them together with a moral aim in mind... Luke introduces it here because he wants to put John aside so he can bring in Jesus.
So Luke closes John's story, and the story of the One he announced can begin.
John named the king's sin to his face.
John reproved the king for the many notorious evils he had committed. But perhaps his blackest crime was to marry his brother Philip's wife. The fearless prophet did not shrink from denouncing the incestuous adulterer to his face, though he sat on a throne. He condemned him by the laws of God and man (Lev. 18:16; Lev. 20:21). "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife" summed up his charge. The king's guilt was three times as great. Herod's own wife was alive. The husband of Herodias was alive. And Herod and Herodias were uncle and niece. But there was no repentance. Herod hardened his heart and added this to all the rest, shutting John up in prison. He would have done worse, but when he wanted to put him to death he feared the crowd, because they counted John a prophet (Matt. 14:5).
Herod's sin did not stop with the marriage. One writer traces how desire moves on to violence.
But the testimony of the faithful, instead of improving the world, condemns it, and this is what the world cannot bear... The lust of the flesh was at work in this man's heart. The drive to satisfy it leads him into wickedness and pollution. The sinner cannot give up sinning, even under restraint. He goes on in his sin by getting rid of the witness who condemns him... Corruption always leads on to violence. At first that violence stays within bounds. Then it opens the door to murderous thoughts.
John's boldness before a king was of a piece with the rest of his work.
John was faithful not only to the lower classes, but also to the highest. His testimony to Christ was decisive. He made nothing of his own glory, so as to exalt the Lord. And he suffered for it too. He was shut up in prison for righteousness.
Herod's problem was not that he hated John's preaching.
Herod feared John, whom he knew to be of a just and holy character. When John spoke to him, he did many things. No doubt he was trying to soothe his conscience by outward acts of merit, while the truth never reached his heart. Yet he enjoyed listening to John. It is one thing to recognise truth. It is quite another to let it take hold of the heart.
What happened to John happened afterwards to the One he pointed to.
This is a clear reference to John the Baptist. God sent him to bear witness of the True Light and to prepare a way for the Messiah. Men killed him while he was still testifying. The Messiah too came, and men killed Him while He was still testifying. Master and servant, they were both cut off by wicked hands.
The prison at the end of John's ministry is not an isolated tragedy.
John had been faithful in carrying out his God-given ministry. He confronted the tyrant openly about his evil doing, and a dungeon becomes his lot. How often this has happened down the years. How many faithful servants the world has hated and persecuted in the same way. The world does not receive the truth, but hates it.
- Placement — Luke groups events by moral meaning, not by date. He sets John aside here to bring Jesus in.
- Charge — John reproved a king to his face for taking his brother's wife, condemning him by the laws of God and man.
- Escalation — the man who will not stop sinning silences the witness against him. Corruption hardens into violence.
- Faithfulness — John spoke to the lowest and the highest alike, and went to prison for righteousness.
- Pattern — the messenger suffers first, the Messiah after him. Wicked hands cut off them both, and faithful servants have met the same ever since.