Matthew 14:1 says, At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,  The fame of Jesus reached Herod the tetarch.  As the ruler, Herod would have been interested about anyone he might have seen as a threat to his rule.  People today may feel that their position in the world is threatened if they accept the truth of the gospel.  Verse two says, And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.  Herod thought that Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead.  John the Baptist did not have this power, though Herod evidently did not know that.  Verse three states, For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife.  Herod had John the Baptist imprisoned at the request of Herodias, his sister-in-law.  Verse four adds, For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.  Herod had imprisoned John the Baptist because he had pointed out Herod's sinful relationship with Herodias, at her request.  Some people today attempt to arrest, or at least discredit, those who speak out against their sins.  Verse five declares, And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.  Herod would have put John the Baptist to death, had he not feared the multitudes who followed him.  It would be nice if we, as Christians, had that same power over the rulers of the world today, but we never will.  Verse six says, But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.  On Herod's birthday, Herodias' daughter danced for him and he was pleased by it.  There may be things today that please us, but at the same time lead us away from God.  If so, instead of enjoying them, we must turn away from them and turn toward God.  Verse seven states, Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.  Herod made a promise without really considering the outcome.  He was bound by his word as the ruler.  We cannot afford to make binding promises simply because something pleases us.  We must consider how our promise will affect our relationship with God.  Verse eight declares, And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.  At the instructions of her mother, the daughter of Herodias asked for the head of John the Baptist on a server.  Herod had been admonished by John the Baptist because of his relationship with Herodias, and this was her chance at revenge.  Evidently, John the Baptist being in prison was not enough for her, possibly because he could still speak out against the relationship.  Some people today are not satisfied until those who proclaim the word of God are completely silenced.  Verse nine states, And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.  Herod regretted his promise, but because he was bound by his oath, he ordered that it be carried out.  Before we make promises to anyone, no matter how much we like them, we must consider the consequences.  Herod allowed his promise to overcome what he knew was wrong.  Being sorry for what we are going to do and yet still doing it is not enough.  Verse ten says, And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.  Herod was true to his word, which might be an admirable quality, if it were not for the fact that he was doing something very wrong.  Being a person of our word is not a good thing when our word is wrong.  Verse eleven says, And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.  I believe that we can say that neither the daughter nor Herodias had any real desire for the head.  Herodias simply wanted John the Baptist dead, but she really freed him from all prison walls when she was able to get him killed.  Whatever happens to us in this life, death frees us from all problems and pain.  Verse twelve states, And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.  The disciples of John the Baptist took his body and buried it, and then went and told Jesus what happened.  When something bad happens to someone we love, all we can do is look to Jesus for guidance and comfort.  The disciples of John the Baptist may have thought that Jesus would take action against Herod, but they had to simply be satisfied with telling Him what happened.  We can never dictate how God should react in any situation, but must be satisfied with simply bringing our concerns to Him and accept His answer.  Verse thirteen states, When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.  On hearing the news, Jesus withdrew by ship to a desert place apart from the people, yet they followed Him by foot out of the cities.  Jesus withdrawing may not have been the action the people expected, but they were following Him.  When we follow Jesus, and something happens that we think He should take action on, our best reaction when we share our concerns with Him is to simply keep following Him.