Skeletons in the Closet

King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!” For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered. At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Herod Antipas, as we probably know, was the ruler of Galilee and Perea during the time when Jesus walked upon this earth. Despite his accomplishments — he was a builder in the tradition of his father — he is remembered for the murder of John the Baptist. What made the murder terrible was that he killed the only light in his dark life because of cowardice. He had given his word to a dancing girl that he would give her anything she asked for. When she asked for the head of John the Baptist, he didn’t want to shame himself in front of his guests, so he had him killed. 

Herod thought that was the end of it, but there is such a thing as a guilty conscience, and literature is replete with stories about how these can haunt us. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a wonderful example of one such story. After killing her husband’s rival to the throne, Lady Macbeth begins sleepwalking, rubbing her hands for hours lamenting: “Will these hands never be clean?” But we don’t need stories to tell us how terrible a guilty conscience can be, do we? Anybody who has done something they know they shouldn’t have done knows what guilt feels like. 

In order to survive socially, we hide these things from sight, hoping nobody will ever discover them. It's like hiding dead bodies in the closet. Time passes, and the bodies might rot, but the skeletons remain. And these skeletons have an unpleasant habit of popping out of the closets at the most innoppurtune moments, mocking us with their malevolent grins as they point a bony finger at us saying, “Gotcha”. This is what happened to Herod Antipas when people began saying that John the Baptist had reincarnated as Jesus of Nazareth. He thought the skeleton was out the closet and out to get him. 

Unfortunately, he didn’t realize that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah who was not there to get him but to save him. He wasn’t there to point an accusing finger, but to vaporize the pointing finger. All he had to do was repent and be baptized. If only he had realized this, his life would have had a different ending. Hopefully, we realize that we don’t need to fear the skeletons in our closet because Jesus can clean them out should we allow him to. As Scripture declares: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

So, let us give Jesus the key to our closets and be free.