Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word, Vol. 2 by Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis

Author:Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis [Leiva-Merikakis, Erasmo]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Religion, Catholicism, Bible Commentary, Christianity
ISBN: 9780898709766
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Published: 2010-03-30T04:00:00+00:00

19. LUST FEARS RESURRECTION

Martyrdom of John the Baptist (14:1-12)

14:1 ἤϰουσεν ῾Ηϱῴδης ὁ τετϱαάϱχης τὴν ἀϰοὴν ᾽Ιησοῦ

Herod the tetrarch heard of Jesus’ fame

MATTHEW REGULARLY catalogues instances of Jesus’ rejection by various contemporaries. In the present case it is interesting to note that Jesus offhand dismissal by Herod Antipas, ruler over Galilee and Perea, comes immediately after Jesus rejection by his own townsfolk, which itself followed the Pharisees indignant reactions to him in 12:2, 14, 24. It is as if Matthew were unfurling for us the full gamut of possible negative reactions to Jesus, in order that somewhere within it we may find our own particular mode of rejection of God’s Son in our lives.

Each group rejects Jesus out of its specific professional concerns, which thus become obstacles for the recognition of him as Messiah. Teachers want to be recognized for their infallible scholarship. Priests want to be admired as holy and justified. Crowds want to be lifted up out of their anonymity and banality. Rulers fear for their own power. And so on.

In this panorama of rejection we see two very different elements: ordinary townsfolk, on the one hand, and their ruler, on the other, all rejecting Jesus from their own unique perspective, all manifesting exactly the spiritual ailment that makes it impossible for them to see with clear eyes. Whether we accept Jesus with faith or reject him with contempt, our choice is going to reflect our particular situation, problems, and most burning desires.

What is the relevance of Herod Antipas’ being called a “tetrarch” by the text? A “tetrarch” is something like a “quarter-king”. This Herod was one of the three sons of Herod the Great, the ruler who at the beginning of the Gospel had ordered the slaughter of the Innocents in Jesus’ stead. Because one of the sons, Archelaus, had received half his father’s kingdom at the latter’s death, the other two sons inherited only one-quarter each. In other words, Herod Antipas, even by worldly standards, really did not amount to very much of a king, and therefore his massive fear of both Jesus fame and John the Baptist’s moral authority in the end makes us see him as a lustful, power-hungry, self-important little assassin, whose utter shabbiness excellently symbolizes the grotesque banality of evil and sin.

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