This short passage about Herod's state of mind is sandwiched between the sending of the Twelve and their return. Suddenly, the whole ministry of Jesus is placed under the shadow of death.
The Gospel of Luke does not include a narration of the death of the Baptist at the hand of Herod. But it is the only Gospel that shows Herod's open hostility to Jesus (see 13:31;23:11-12).
In Matthew (14:1-2), the powers that Jesus was displaying leads Herod to think that he is the Baptist come to life. In Luke, modifying Mark (6:14), rumour identifies Jesus with a resurrected John the Baptist, with Elijah and "one of the great prophets." To the last two, Luke has been preparing his readers since the episode of the raising of the widow's son. Later, the disciples will repeat these rumours when Jesus asks them what people say of himself (9:19).
Herod's interest in Jesus is unlike the interest that other people have shown to Jesus. "He hoped to see him perform some miracle (23:
," writes Luke. When he finally meets Jesus, he is confronted by His silence. It was then that he became friends with a long time enemy: the man who will hand Jesus over to the mob, Pilate (23:12).
This short passage foreshadows the hostility that will meet Jesus and his disciples. It is a hostility that will continue on even after the Lord's ascension (see Acts 4:27, 12:1, 12:6,11, 19.20.21; 13:1). Placed between the accounts of the sending of the Twelve and their return, Luke prepares the reader for the Peter's confession (as an answer to Herod's "who is this" (v.9)), and Jesus' first declaration about the Messiah who is to suffer.(9:18-27).
