Luke 9:7-11
Let us mark, in this passage, the power of a bad conscience. We are told that “when Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by our Lord, he was perplexed.” He said, “John have I beheaded, but who is this?” Great and powerful as Herod was, the tidings of our Lord’s ministry called his sins to remembrance, and disturbed him even in his royal palace. Surrounded as he was by everything which is considered to make life enjoyable, the report of another preacher of righteousness filled him with alarm. The recollection of his own wickedness in killing John the Baptist flashed on his mind. He knew he had done wrong. He felt guilty, self-condemned, and self-dissatisfied. Faithful and true is that saying of Solomon’s, “The way of transgressors is hard.” (Prov. 13:15) Herod’s sin had found him out. The prison and the sword had silenced John the Baptist’s tongue, but they could not silence the voice of Herod’s inward man. God’s truth can neither be silenced, nor bound, nor killed.