The failure of Herod Antipas lies in his inability to recognise the long-awaited Messiah in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. His execution of John the Baptist over a rash promise made to his step daughter would forever taint his reign as the Roman-appointed tetrarch (ruler of a quarter) of Galilee and Perea.

The lesson gleaned from the Gospel today is that egoistic power is blinding and ultimately self-destructive. Antipas' power came not from the God of his ancestors, but from the human Roman empire who conquered Israel. So focused was he on his self-perceived grandeur that he could not stomach the truth. Abetted by the equally conniving Herodias, it led him to arrest John the Baptist when the latter accused him of moral failure. What made it tragic was that he actually liked listening to John the Baptist and for a while, protected John from the murderous intentions of his wife. By executing the Baptist, Antipas thought he could bury the truth. But now the Truth is personified in the actions, words and presence of Jesus whom Herod has been hearing about, leaving him greatly perplexed and confused. In 39 AD, he was accused of plotting against Rome, stripped of his lands, and banished by Caligula to Gaul (modern France), where he died in poverty.