At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded John as a prophet.
But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. And after being prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.”
And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and his dinner guests. He sent word and had John beheaded in the prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.
John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.
Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself....
Matthew 14:1-13
When John the Baptist was killed, Jesus took time to grieve his death. This demonstrates to us Jesus' humanness.
This also is an example to us that people need to have time to grieve the loss of a loved one. We as Christians sometimes short change the importance of this because "Hey, they are in a better place." We may be critical of people who we perceive as taking too long to process the death of a loved one. For some the grief process may be a few days, for others it may be years, but we need to respect their sorrow and allow them to grieve in peace without criticism or pushing them to "get over it,"
When we comfort those who are grieving we share the love that God has for everyone.
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