He is not a prophet like any of the prophets...he must be John the Baptist come back to life. Herod heard of Jesus' fame, and shivers ran down his spine. What he was hearing about Jesus reminded him of John the Baptist, his old nemesis. He saw Jesus as surpassing the earlier prophets and likened him to John the Baptist. What was it that Jesus was doing that made Herod to see John the Baptist in him (Jesus)? The Baptist came preaching the imminence of the Kingdom of God and called the people to repentance (cf. Matthew 3:1-2). His preaching had effect on his hearers, for many flocked the river Jordan to be baptized by him and to confess their sins (cf. Matthew 3:5-6). This effect must have been brought by John's style of preaching. The Baptist neither preached a blanket repentance of sins nor a general action plan. He pointed out each individual's particular sin and prescribed a matching penance (cf. Luke 3:1--14). This is how the Baptist got to cross paths with Herod. When Jesus emerged on the scene, he picked up from where the Baptist had left. He too came preaching the imminence of the kingdom and called on the people to repentance for the forgiveness of sins (cf. Mark 1:14-15). Jesus' ministry also touched the people on a personal level, and just like the Baptist, he too gathered people around him. And it is herein where the concern of Herod lay. He had never met Jesus, but he had heard of the crowds that thronged the places where Jesus pitched his tent. Jesus was yet to attack him personally, but Herod was getting scared that the crowd which Jesus was drawing might turn out to be revolutionary. The Baptist wanted to rid him of his wife (whom he had snatched from his brother); Jesus wanted to take the kingdom away from him. He couldn’t bear such a thought. Like Herod, we too should be asking questions about Jesus. Like Herod, we too should be afire with our desire to see Jesus. However, unlike Herod, our questions about Jesus should not be fueled by fear but rather by desire to want to be like him. Unlike Herod, our desire to see Jesus should be driven by our need to dwell in his life-giving presence. May what we have heard about him, coupled with what we have experienced ourselves, make us proclaim him not just as a prophet of God but most importantly as the Son of God.