Study 15

The cost of true Christian discipleship

God has given every person a conscience - however evil they may be. Herod was so scared about what he had done his conscience tortured him. He even believed that Jesus was John the Baptist whom he had beheaded!

Fear God and not man

John had feared God and not man. He had told the king quite plainly that he had taken his brother's wife and thereby had broken God's law (see Exodus 20:14). But in the process he had offended Herodias.

Herod knew that John was a holy and righteous man - two things that he clearly was not. His preaching puzzled him (verse 20) - was he going to repent? No, not at all. How sad that he never applied what was preached to himself!

Slaves to sin

He clearly never intended to have John executed but he was caught in a trap. He was concerned about his reputation and his promises and he did not want to give up Herodias. And so John is beheaded.

Herod may have been king but he was not in control (verse 17). The bible describes the person who sins as a slave to sin:

"...you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness" (Romans 6:16).

Cost of following Jesus

It seems unfair and sad that a man who worked so hard for the kingdom of God should be treated in this way but the cost of following and preaching Christ can be very costly. This is still true in some countries today.

The bible shows, however, that John would be rewarded by God for his faithfulness. His sufferings are not worth comparing "with the glory" that , will "be revealed" and will achieve for him "an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (Romans 8:18 and 2 Corinthians 4:17).

John was taken to a place where he is today. A place where there is no more sickness or sorrow, sin or death and where God wipes away every tear - a real place which is far better than this world.

But the demands of true discipleship are great.

Time to think

What benefits are there to being a Christian?
Are you willing to bear the cost of being a Christian?