Mark 6:20 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

For Herod feared John, &c.— For Herod, knowing John to be a just and holy man, stood in awe of him, and protected him: he even did many things by his advice, and heard him with pleasure. Heylin. For Herod reverenced John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man; and he heard him with attention and pleasure, and did many things. Doddridge. No stronger proof can be desired of that great veneration which Herod had conceived of John, than his being pleased with, and listening to, the advice of one, in a station oflife so very far below him. And how universal this authority of the Baptist was with the people, is evident from the conduct of the priests, who, some time after his death, were afraid the people would have stoned them, should they have ventured to say he was an impostor, Luke 20:6. Josephus likewise makes honourable mention of him, Antiq. lib. xviii, 100: 5 as one who taught the people the necessity of virtue and true holiness; and adds, that his influence over them was so great, that Herod himself was fearful of him lest he should excite a revolt, and therefore confined him. Possessed of such credit, both with the prince and the people, what conduct would the secret associate of a pretended Messiah at this time have pursued? Jesus, who assumed the character of Messiah himself, had not appeared so long on the public stage; his credit remained yet to be established; and upon his success, at least, must the event of their joint undertaking unavoidably depend. The crafty forerunner, therefore, would now, more than ever, have employed all his art to keep up that influence which he had already acquired; at once cunningly instilling into the people such notions as were best calculated to serve his secret designs, andpractising every artifice upon Herod, to preserve his protection and kindness uninterrupted. The more popular he was, the more cautious he would certainly have been of incurring Herod's jealousy or displeasure, for fear of blasting at once all their preconcerted designs, when they were at length in so fair a way for success. But how opposite to all this was the conduct of John the Baptist! At this critical point of time, in his own peculiar station, when both his own and his confederate's interest absolutely required him to act in the manner just described; he even proceeded to reprove Herod himself for the wickedness of his life, and charged him with the unlawfulness of his most darling pleasures in so particular an instance,—his marriage with Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,—that he could expect nothingless in return, from Herod's violence of temper, and Herodias's influence, than imprisonment and death. Andaccordingly we find, that Herod immediately imprisoned John on account of Herodias; and Herodias, as it was natural to expect she would, soon after accomplished his death. An impostor, in John's particular situation, could not but have reflected at the first thought of so dangerous a step as that which occasioned the Baptist's death, that it was not his own immediate assistance only of which his associate would be deprived by his destruction, though this alone would have been sufficient to prevent him from adopting it; but he would besides have considered, that his own imprisonment and death would probably strike such a panic into the people, however zealous they had before been in his favour,as would restrain them from listening afterwards to Jesus, or paying the same regard which they might have done to his pretensions. Nay, nothing was more probable than that John's public ministry beingput to so ignominious an end, would even destroy that good opinion of John himself, which they had hitherto entertained, and induce them to believe, that, notwithstanding his fair outside, he could be no better than an impostor; for by what arguments could John think it was possible that the Jews could persuade themselves, that he was really sent to be the divine forerunner of this triumphant Messiah, when they should have seen him seized by Herod's order, imprisoned, and put to death? Beside therefore John's regard to his own success, his liberty, and even his life itself, which no impostor can be thought desirous of exposing to certain destruction for no reason; his connection with Jesus, if they were deceivers, and the necessary dependance of both upon the mutual success and assistance of each other, must unquestionably have restrained John from provoking, at this time, the inveterate hatred of Herodias, and drawing on himself Herod's violent suspicion and displeasure. So that the remarkable behaviour of John in this important particular, and at so critical a conjuncture, affords us one of the strongest presumptive proofs imaginable, that neither he nor Jesus could possibly be deceivers. See Bell's "Inquiry into the Divine Missions," &c. p. 283.