Neville Goddard on Matthew 14:3-5 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Matthew 14 in context

Scripture Focus

3For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.

4For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.

5And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

Matthew 14:3-5

Biblical Context

Herod imprisons John because of Herodias; John speaks the unlawful nature of the marriage; Herod fears the crowd and keeps John alive for now.

Neville's Inner Vision

In the inner scripture, Herod represents the ego fearing public opinion and clinging to appearances. John embodies the prophet within you who speaks the law of your being, declaring what is lawful in consciousness. When the outer world would kill the truth, the inner prophet remains because the I AM cannot be imprisoned by appearances. The crowd reflects social opinion that you give power to, and its force wanes when you identify with the inner vision. The scene is not a historical incident but a allegory of your own state of awareness: you can be bound by fear and appearances, or you can be free by aligning with the inner law. Your task is to revise this scene by asserting that you already stand under the authority of divine law, that you are lawful and free, and that no external condition can override your truth. As you hold this inner decree, the external narrative loses its power to imprison you.

Practice This Now

Sit quietly and imagine the inner John stepping forward to address the egoic Herod, declaring the true law of your being. Then revise your sense of constraint by affirming I am the I AM, free now, and feel that freedom with your whole being.