What Jesus Did! 'Peer Fear' — Matthew 14:1-5

We sometimes talk about peer pressure and its power over teenagers. But if we look at ourselves, I think we'll find that adults are at least as vulnerable to peer pressure as teenagers. Just look at how we fall into line with fashion clothing, cologne, cars, neighborhoods, political opinions, morals, and hairstyles. Even our leaders seem to check which way the wind is blowing and gather the latest poll data before they will announce their opinions on any given subject. Today's verses reveal Herod's fear and weakness. He is afraid John is risen. He was afraid of John because of his adulterous relationship with his brother's wife —an incestuous relationship according to the Jewish law — and John's willingness to speak the truth. He was afraid to kill John because of the people's fascination with John. (As Matthew 14:6-12 shows, he had John killed in spite of his fear.) Herod is not a statesman ruler; he's a vulnerable reactor to political winds. We, too, forfeit our right to be called people of integrity if we cave in to the pressure of those around us and abdicate our values, principles, and beliefs to avoid scrutiny. No matter what accomplishments we may have, they are worthless because they are never enough if we fear losing recognition for them, losing the support of others, or losing the notoriety of our achievement. As Jesus disciples, recognition that nothing can separate from God's love and that he gave his only Son to adopt us into his family (Romans 8:15-17, 38-39; John 3:16-17) should be more than enough to validate our value to God and dispel any tendency toward fear.