ISB ~ Luke 7 v24

A reed shaken:At one level, Jesus is speaking of the familiar reed plant that grew plentifully in the Jordan valley; on another, he is making a riddle-like comparison between a wavering reed and the immediately following image of a king living in luxury (7:25). These images come together in Herod Antipas, the chief opponent of John the Baptist. Not only was Antipas a tetrarch (ruler) who resided in the royal palaces at Tiberias, his capital city beside the Sea of Galilee, but he also commemorated the founding of Tiberias by minting coins stamped with the emblem of a reed. The contrast implied by Jesus’ questions is stark: John is an uncompromising leader and even more than a prophet, while Antipas is an accommodating leader, whose weakness of character makes him less than a king.