Mark 6:16

But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded; he is risen from the dead.

Where there is no fear of God, superstition reigns supreme. Herod's conscience was bothering him for a crime which had been committed some time before. Hearing of the mighty deeds of Jesus, as His name and fame spread throughout the country, Herod advanced the theory that John the Baptist had arisen from the dead and because of that fact supernatural powers were being manifested in him; the fear of ghosts and haunts coming to the foreground. Others believed that Elijah, who had always been vested with special powers, and whose return was definitely looked for by a great many Jews, in a misunderstanding of Malachi 4:5, was represented in the person of Jesus. Still others thought that the Lord was a prophet like one of the prophets of old, that also had gone about in the country of the Jews, preaching and performing miracles. But though Herod may have heard the opinions of the others through his courtiers, he clung to his statement: Him whom I beheaded, John, it is; he is risen. The torment of a bad conscience, of a guilty heart, is worse than any torture that might be devised by man. It causes people to suspect where there is no ground for suspicion, and puts ghosts before the eyes of men where there is no reason for fear. Herod had reasons for trembling.