Matthew 14:5

Matthew 14:5: “And when he would have put [John the Baptist] to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.”

This whole story about the death of John the Baptist is a really terrible one. The amount of sin and depravity in this story is appalling. Herod should not have been sleeping with his brother’s wife. John the Baptist was right to condemn this terrible sin – and Herod should not have put John the Baptist in prison for preaching the truth. (John the Baptist truly was a prophet; in fact, Jesus said that of those born among women, he was the greatest. Imprisoning God’s prophets for preaching God’s Word is a terrible sin.) As if all that were not enough, Herod shouldn’t have had a 12-year-old girl dancing for his entertainment, and he shouldn’t have beheaded John to please the girl’s mother. (The girl’s mother also should not have asked for John to be executed, and the girl should not have gone along with it.) The amount of sin and wickedness that went on here is pretty staggering.

The reason people so often do such terrible things is because they feel like they can get away with it. They don’t see any immediate consequences, so they assume that means there will never be consequences of any kind – but they are sorely mistaken. God judges us in the next life, not in this one. The day will come when all will be brought before God and will be forced to give an account for the way they lived their life. On that day, those whose sins are not covered by the blood of Christ will be cast into the Lake of Fire, where they will be burned alive day and night, forever and ever. The consequences will last for all of eternity.

You might compare it to going to eat at a fine restaurant. During the course of the meal you can order whatever you want off the menu, and they will keep on bringing you food. You can order appetizers, main courses, desserts, drinks – whatever you want. Only when the meal is over are you presented with the bill that you must pay.

That is what life is like. During this life you can do great good, or great evil. You can repent of your sins and run to Christ for mercy and forgiveness, or you can reject Him. You can listen to those who preach the gospel, or you can kill them. However, once your life is over – once you have died, or the Lord has returned in person to judge the world – you will be presented with the bill for what you have done. If your sins are covered by the blood of Christ, then you are forgiven and will enter into the joys of eternity. If they are not, then you will be tormented forever.

The wicked do not get away with anything. They just haven’t been billed yet – but the bill is coming. The only way to escape it is through repentance and faith in Christ.