The tale of John the Baptist shows the cost of discipleship that may sometimes be asked. John faithfully preached the word of God, this included telling authority figures when they were acting against God's word. Because he did this he ended up in prison, and then paid with his life. So we see here how one man acted with integrity throughout, and this does not always lead to a reward in this life.
Next there is Herod. He displays many emotions and attitudes. First was fear. He knew that killing John the Baptist was wrong, he knew his sexual affairs were wrong. Killing John did not get rid of the fear, so when Jesus was around he feared that John had come back to life to haunt him.
Herod also feared the people, which is why he had not killed John sooner than he did. In fact he only killed John when it he would lose face if he did not, after having made a stupid promise to the daughter of Herodias.
Technically Herod had power, but in reality he was at the mercy of all sorts of forces.
We need to be people of integrity, but need to be aware that there could be a price involved.
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