Come & See: Life Lessons From Women In the New Testament Sample

Come & See: Herodias’ Offense

With a name that includes the name “Herod”, Herodias was already off to a bad start.

Herodias was married to, you guessed it, King Herod. From today’s scripture reading, we see that John the Baptist had informed Herod of God’s displeasure with their current family arrangement. Even though it bothered Herod that John called him out like that, he still held John in high regard.

Well, Herodias did not share in that sentiment and was ready to take care of Herod’s offense herself. She worked out a plan and recruited another member of the family, her daughter.

Her daughter was able to manipulate King Herod to the point of promising to give her anything she asked for. She went to her mother to find out what she should say.

This was the chance Herodias had been waiting for. She wanted the head of John the Baptist. Her daughter conveyed the request, and Herod had to oblige her.

An offense led to a grudge, ended in revenge and ultimately death.

Pastor Steven Furtick said it like this, “Offense is an event but offended is a decision.” Herodias chose to be offended. How should we respond instead?

• Look at yourself. Sometimes, the offense has nothing to do with who the offender is or even what was done. Instead, it could have everything to do with us. Check your heart. The condition of our heart will impact our sight.
• Look at the other person.On the flip side, the offense may have nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. You’ve probably heard the saying, “Hurt people hurt people.” As challenging as this may be, Jesus modeled this, even at the point of His greatest suffering, the cross. He asked God to forgive the people who had done this, “for they know not what they do”.
• Look closely at the situation. In the book, The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Conflict by Ken Sande , he offers some guidelines: “Is the offense dishonoring God? Has it permanently damaged a relationship? Is it hurting other people? Is it hurting the offender himself?” If you can answer no to those questions, this may be an opportunity to “overlook the offense”.

~Anu