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Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised,” while others said, “He is Elijah,” or “He is the prophet.”
But when the ruler of Galilee, Herod, heard of Jesus’ miracles, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised!” Herod thought John—whom he killed—returned. Perhaps Herod believed John’s return meant he would retribute vengeance upon him.
How did John die?
Herod’s daughter-in-law, Herodias, danced in front of Herod at his birthday party. Her dance compelled him to offer her anything she wanted. “I want John’s head on a plate,” she said.
He complied.
Herod originally imprisoned John for speaking against him. But he did not kill John because he believed God was with him. The young Herodias’ rhythms swayed Herod’s inclinations.
This passage contains an important note about Jesus’ resurrection due to what is missing in the people’s claim about John’s identity.
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Interestingly, the people who believed God raised John did not claim him as their Christ. They claimed him to be only Elijah or some other prophet from God.
The Jews during Jesus’ period longed for God to send the Christ to restore God’s blessing upon their city, Jerusalem, and to extirpate their enemies—like the Romans.
People did not expect the Christ to die and resurrect from the dead. We can see this in their response to the idea that John came back to life.
They did not claim John to be the resurrected Christ because they did not anticipate a Christ who needed resurrection.
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Herod and others believed God raised John from the dead before they realized it was Jesus.
Even though God did something like this before when Elijah raised the Shunammite widow’s son, they did not think God consistently raised the dead.
Again—when they believed God raised John from the dead, they did not claim him to be the Christ.
But when Jesus resurrected, his followers preached that he is the Christ whom God has sent. And some did not believe even when Jesus showed his resurrected self to hundreds of people.
This is relevant because it indicates that the first century Christians did not claim that Jesus resurrected in order to prove him to be the kind of Christ for which they’ve all been waiting.
Most Jews did not expect God to raise his Christ from the dead before Jesus resurrected. We see this in the reaction of the people who believed God raised John.
So Christians would not have made up the idea that God resurrected to prove that he is from God. Fabricating that Jesus rose from the dead would not have helped them prove that he is the Jewish Christ.
They not only explained to people that Jesus resurrected, but also how his resurrection correlates with his identity as the Christ.
Perhaps, then, early Jesus followers preached Jesus’ resurrection not merely to prove that he is the Christ, but because it actually happened.