“For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother, Philip’s wife, because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
– Matthew 14:3–4
So this is Matthew recounting what happened with John the Baptist, and specifically how John the Baptist ended up being beheaded because he confronted Herod with the word of God, saying his marriage was unlawful.
Matthew 14:3–4 Narrates how John the Baptists pays the ultimate price for his faithfulness
And needless to say, this was bold and costly. It ended up costing John his life to stand on God’s word and to apply it in the world around him. And in this way, this story is a clear reminder to you and me, to every follower of Jesus in any age, that if we stand on God’s word and apply it faithfully in the world around us, it will require boldness and it will entail a cost.
And John the Baptist’s example beckons us to ask in our lives, are we boldly standing on God’s word and applying it in the world around us regardless of what cost may come to us?
Matthew 14:3–4 Shows us we have to boldy accept the price faithfulness entails
I’m not sure how specifically this applies to your life and your work and your school and your relationships, but I want to encourage you today to hold fast to God’s word and to faithfully apply it and share it in the world around you. And don’t be surprised when that costs you.
So God, we pray for boldness, for confidence in your word, in your truth, and we pray that you’d help us to stake our lives on it. Help us not to shirk back when it is costly for us to believe your word, speak your word, apply your word, obey your word. God, we pray that you’d help us to follow the example of John the Baptist here in Matthew 14, and to faithfully obey and proclaim your word, even when it’s costly, even when it costs our lives.
Praying for the Fulani People
Oh God, even as we pray today for unreached people, specifically the Fulani people who are spread out across West Africa, millions upon millions of them, almost all Muslim, very few followers of Jesus. God, we know that following Jesus in West Africa over recent years has been extremely costly, that many of our brothers and sisters have died, have experienced extreme evil and wickedness and suffering as a result of their faith. That there are many who are still struggling even now, who have lost family members, who have experienced significant trauma in their lives.
God, we pray for your strength for them, your help for them, and we pray that you would help them to continue to hold fast your word with boldness. We pray for the strength of your church in West Africa, and we pray for the spread of the gospel as people boldly share your word and proclaim your word and stand on your word.
God, pray that you would help us to do the same where we live, wherever we are in whatever challenges we face in this world. God, help us to boldly trust your word and proclaim your Word and obey your word. Your word is our life. It’s worth our life. So help us, we pray, to live accordingly today and tomorrow and every day. In Jesus’ name, we pray this according to Matthew 14:3–4. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
