Luke 9:9

‘And Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this, about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.’

It is not surprising that the rumours struck Herod’s conscience. The statement is partly Luke’s way of letting us know how John died without taking the attention off Jesus. But it also indicates that now Jesus Himself is in danger. Herod was clearly worried. And rightly so. The king was still subject to his conscience. The other Gospels tell us that in the end he was persuaded that it must be John who had risen from the dead (Mark 6:16). Such is the tyranny of conscience. In fact he probably argued himself in and out of such a position as he fought with his conscience, sometimes believing it and emphatically stating it, and sometimes managing to dismiss the idea out of hand. Fighting with our consciences is something that we are all familiar with at times. We must remember here that the group had a means of obtaining information about what was happening at court through Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward.

‘Sought to see Him.’ This must be seen as ominous. It can be compared with how Jesus’ family had also sought Him out for the wrong purposes. Had Herod wanted to see Him out of interest he would have had no difficulty, for up to this point Jesus had hardly kept Himself hidden. It therefore suggests that Herod’s aim was belligerent, and this is later confirmed in Luke 13:31, which is in turn directly connected with His death in Jerusalem. This explains why Jesus now moves out of Herod’s territory into the territory of Herod Philip, north of the Sea of Galilee (Luke 9:10). And it also accounts for Jesus now making clear to His Apostles that He is here to suffer and die (Luke 9:22), and why He also makes clear to the following crowds that to follow Him could lead to martyrdom (Luke 9:23-26). And why He then sets His face towards Jerusalem because it is time for Him to be received up (Luke 9:51).

So we know from this why it was that Jesus moved northward. He must not perish outside Jerusalem (see Luke 13:31) but the time was not yet. We are not told what steps Herod took in order to see the fulfilment of his wish, but it would be granted to him in the end, when God’s time was ripe (Luke 23:8).