Herod Antipas arrested and imprisoned John the Baptist because he was angry at John for telling him it was wrong for him to marry his brother's wife, Herodias. Herodias hated John as well. She wanted him dead, but Herod was too scared to kill him. He was afraid it might cause a riot, since John was loved by so many of the people. However, Herodias didn't care. When she threw a birthday party for her husband, she had her daughter dance for him. Herod was so pleased with the dance, he promised to give Herodias' daughter anything she wanted. Heroidas then jumped at the opportunity to persuade her daughter to ask for John the Bapist's head on a platter. Herod complied and John was behead in prison.
When the disciples found out, they got the rest of John's body and buried him. Afterwards, the disciples went and told Jesus what had happened. When Jesus heard, he withdrew by boat hoping to find a private place to grieve. However, when he landed, he saw a huge crowd waiting for him. Instead of angrily telling the people to go away, he had deep compassion on them and healed the sick.
"As soon as Jesus heard the news,
he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone.
But the crowds heard where he was headed
and followed on foot from many towns.
Jesus saw the huge crowd
as he stepped from the boat,
and he had compassion on them
and healed their sick."
John 14:13 (NLT)
In immense grief and a strong desire to be left alone, Jesus still couldn't resist having compassion on the people and ministering to the sick.
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