Under This Threat Jesus Withdrew

Matthew 4:12-13
(12) When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. (13) Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—

We wrongfully expect that when a believer is confronted by a threat they should fight back. Jesus did not fight back. We wrongfully think that those who don’t fight back are cowards and have compromised faith. Jesus was not a coward and did not compromise the faith, yet He didn’t fight in this case. Under this threat, Jesus withdrew!

Not every threat deserves a confrontation. Threats are not the same and responses are not the same. Evaluate the threat and arrive at the best response possible. Confronting threats in a dramatic public manner may seem heroic but can prove to be foolish. Some threats are best handled by you retreating. Under this threat, Jesus withdrew!

John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins. John preached to prepare people for the coming of Christ the Messiah. John actually preached the same message that Jesus came to preach, Matthew 3:1-2 and Matthew 4:17. Therefore a threat to John was a very personal threat to Jesus. How did Jesus handle that threat?

Herod was all over the news. Herod had a scandal in his palace. Herod had taken his brother’s wife and married her. This was not acceptable even among pagans. Yet there was no one who could condemn Herod’s act. There was a genuine fear that condemning Herod would be a risky thing. Religious leaders of that time acted in false wisdom by being silent about the evil that was going on at the throne. They were guided more by fear than pretended wisdom. How can evil prevail, everyone is whispering in disgust and preachers are silent in pretended wisdom?

The silent and wise were actually conmen in ministry. The reason they were and are silent is that they have nothing to say. God has not given them anything to say. Even if you know what to say, if God hasn’t appointed you, you won’t say it or you won’t say it properly. The fear of Herod’s throne over speaking the truth was a clear testimony that the religious leaders had no favor from God, they were acting on their own for their self-interest.

Luke 3:19-20
(19) But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, (20) Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

John the Baptist did what everyone dreaded to do. John condemned Herod for his scandal of marrying the brother’s wife. John also condemned the many other evil deeds by Herod. What everyone had feared happened, John was locked up in prison by Herod. When John was locked up, those who thought themselves wise by being silent as evil prevailed, must have felt that their wisdom by silence had paid. They must have gone around repeating to whoever cared to hear that it is safe to always be silent as evil prevails. They seemed wise but heaven considered them fools. They seemed wise but they had earned a rejection by God. For they jeopardized the truth for personal well-being.

Our main text today tells us that when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He withdrew. The threat to John was a threat to Jesus. Harm to John was harm to a relative and age mate of Jesus. Jesus responded to this threat by withdrawing from public life for some time. Under this threat, Jesus withdrew!

First Jesus withdrew because He was affected by the arrest and imprisonment of His cousin. A cousin He shared a birth story with. Jesus withdrew to process the shock. Jesus withdrew because healing and handling of such situations did not require bravado but a retreat. A show of bravery may be applauded but it doesn’t heal the affected person. When wounded emotionally, process the pain, cry and mourn where you must and you will heal faster than hiding it. Jesus withdrew to process His pain. It was obvious to everyone that Jesus was in emotional pain, that is why it’s written in the Bible. Do not be ashamed when it is obvious to everyone that you are processing pain. Under this threat, Jesus withdrew!

Secondly, Jesus withdrew because it was not His time to be arrested and die. He still had a mission to accomplish. The mission was more important than a contest with Herod. It was better to be seen as a loser in a contest with Herod than to jeopardize the mission to save humanity. Under certain threats, you withdraw because what is at stake is greater than victory in the present crisis. In simple terms, choose your battles. Jesus chose His battle and let Herod win this one. Jesus withdrew because there were many more important things to allow to happen than to fight Herod. Therefore, what was threatened was Jesus’ mission. It seemed like His life was threatened but in actual sense, it was His mission that was threatened. Under this threat, Jesus withdrew!

May God save us from cowardice that masquerades as silence when we should speak. May God grant us wisdom to know which threats to confront and which ones to withdraw from, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

1. Rei Kesis YouTube Channel (subscribe, click on the notification, and share) –http://youtube.com/reikesis
2. Rei Kesis books on Amazon (Amazon will sell and deliver anywhere in the world. For those in Kenya you can buy from any ABC close to you. ABC is Adventist Book Center) –https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rei+kesis&ref=nb_sb_noss
3. Rei Kesis daily blog –https://reikesis.com/