Once Again, Who Is Jesus? - Mark 6:14-29

 

Mark 6:14-29 NIV

¹⁴ King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

¹⁵ Others said, “He is Elijah.”

And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”

¹⁶ But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, ²⁰ because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

²¹ Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³ And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

 

²⁵ At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

²⁶ The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸ and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. ²⁹ On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Once Again, Who Is Jesus?

Wow! What a scripture reading! Gross, yet fascinating. Almost like a horror movie, with a little bit of Soap Opera involved. How can there be a message in all of this?

Okay… so here’s this layman’s cut at it. May my message always Point to Jesus.

Once again it seems there are two messages here. And they are out of order if you go by a time line. The second part of this passage, verses 17-29, happens before the first part of this passage, verses 14-16.

The whole thing starts with the question… Who is Jesus? I think, for this message, I’m going to conclude with this question.

Let’s begin with the “Soap Opera” part. And, I must admit, my research left me confused and unsure if what I was reading in the study resources were even correct. So, I’ll spill the beans as I got them spilled to me.

These relatives of Herod are confusing. They remind me of a family with incest!

One source revealed that Herod married his niece, the former wife of his half-brother, Philip. I don’t even understand this statement myself, so I’m not sure it’s accurate. All I can say is that it seems weird to me.

Another source explained things this way… Herodias, we’ll get to her later, was Herod’s half-brother’s wife. Well, Herod married his brother’s wife. And John the Baptist, told Herod that this act of marriage was unlawful. Sources sent me to Leviticus 18:16 and Leviticus 20:21, as the basis for John the Baptist’s message to Herod.

Leviticus 18:16 NIV

¹⁶ “‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.

Leviticus 20:21 NIV

²¹ “‘If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.

So… Herodias didn’t care at all for John the Baptist. After all John the Baptist told Herod that the marriage wasn’t right. And… On top of all this, Herod had some respect for John the Baptist and even feared John the Baptist, and protected him.

For John the Baptist, there is great risk in confronting power with honest truth. The truth that Herod’s marriage to Herodias was not right. This confrontation could possibly ignite anger and violence in Herod or Herodias.

John the Baptist was honest and courageous to speak truth to Herod. John was standing up to Herod to proclaim a wrong that Herod had committed in marrying Herodias. For John the Baptist, if it’s wrong, say so. Saying so, to the ruler of Galilee takes nerve and faith.

It makes me recall how Nathan stood up to King David to tell him that his affair with Bathsheba and the death of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, was sinful and wrong. This stuff takes courage and faith, especially when you are confronting a ruler and political power. It most certainly takes nerve and faith. There’s a life lesson in this for all of us. Sometimes there are times when you need, you must, use your God given mouth to declare a truth. It just may be the only loving thing to do for someone else.

You can even go back to the book of Eshter in chapter 5 and see how she stood before the King to right a wrong that had taken place with a decree to persecute the Jews. I encourage you to go there and read a little bit about how Esther was a courageous woman of faith, much like John the Baptist was in this passage of Mark.

Herod was kind of like Pilate was to Jesus. John the Baptist and Jesus, die due to the misuse of political power. In some weird way, I can’t help but think of how John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus. Both died while bringing Truth.

Anyway, it’s easy to imagine the very human reaction of Herodias to this accusation that John the Baptist laid on Herod. Don’t be so smug to think that perhaps, you or I would not react in this same way. How’s that? Well Herodias’ reaction was to hold John the Baptist in contempt with a grudge, anger, even violence. Herodias hated John the Baptist for what he told Herod!

Jesus even stands before Herod later on in his life. And Jesus was silent…

Luke 23:7-11 NIV

⁷ When he (Pilate) learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. ⁹ He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.

So, it seems to me, that there is a time to speak and a time to shut up. And as disciples we need to discern God’s will for us. When do we speak and when do we remain silent.

We need to confront the ills and evils of this fallen world, along with John the Baptist and with Christ. And know this, you may die in this confrontation. People get mad when they are confronted with truth.

So, let’s go on with this Soap Opera, Horror movie.

Herod holds a birthday party for himself, and he gets drunk. To me this is another one of those weird parts.  Herodias daughter, dances. I guess this is Herod’s niece? I’m not sure about that, but it makes sense to me. If not, it would be his daughter.

Anyway, the dance is pleasing, to Herod and I suppose all the guys there. And Herod offers up to half his kingdom as a reward for such a great dance.

Here’s the thing. Herod really didn’t have a kingdom to divide. Herod wasn’t even the king. Herod was a tetrarch, which is a fancy name for a petty ruler of Galilee. It wasn’t even in Herod’s power to give any of Galilee away in the first place. What a blowhard Herod was!

So… Herodias daughter runs to mommy. What should I do with this offer from Herod?

And…

Herodias destroys another life. She destroys the life of not only John the Baptist, but the life of her daughter as well. Why? Because Herodias was a selfish, violent, grudge holding angry opponent of John the Baptist. Mom didn’t care for her daughter, only for her selfish need for revenge.

So, on the wishes of Herodias, her daughter tells Herod that she wants the head of John the Baptist brought to the party on a platter.  Notice how the daughter asks for John’s head on a platter and brought right now. It’s one of those odd details. Not sure if it means anything.

So, next we see how the pride of Herod gets in the way. Herod doesn’t have the guts to say no. Instead, he saves face in front of the party crowd. Why didn’t Herod look up to God for direction? I think it was that Herod held his pride higher than he held any sense of right or wrong or direction that God may have given him. It’s all disgusting!

There are some lessons to learn here. How many times in my life have I, myself, lacked courage in the face of power? How many times in my life have I been too prideful to back down and look to God for direction? How many times have I let selfishness get in my way and walk with God? All of this destroys lives and life.

There are times to pause and look to God. There are times to speak out in truth. There are times to shut up. And almost all of the time, when I sin, I’m the one that gets in the way of God’s.  So, what are we to do? What am I to do?

Now, let’s go back to the beginning few verses of this whole passage. The question that launched us into this whole Soap Opera Horror movie was…

Who is Jesus?

Look at the answers given.

Is Jesus John the Baptist raised from the dead?

Is Jesus, Elijah?

Is Jesus a prophet from the past?

Each reply seemed to satisfy the question for the person giving an answer of who Jesus really is. No one looked deeper into who Jesus is.

Jesus can’t be boxed in in this way. Jesus can’t be labeled and put away.

How many of us also, don’t understand Jesus for who He is?

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is not any of those answers, yet in some way he is all of those answers.

Jesus is not John the Baptist, yet as John pointed to Jesus, Jesus points to God. And Jesus did work in and through John the Baptist.

Jesus is not a prophet of old, yet he is an eternal prophet that tells us and leads us to salvation in and through Himself. And Jesus worked in and through the prophets of old to lead us to God.

Is Jesus Elijah? No, but Jesus did work in and through Elijah.

I had an opportunity to witness Jesus just this past Friday. I likewise, saw Jesus working in and through some wonderful people at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. How? Maddy reminded me of Jesus. Maddy was the nurse that spent the most time with me preparing me, explaining to me the details of the test I was going to take. Maddy took care of me after the test as I recovered for four hours. Maddy didn’t display any of the qualities that Herodias or Herod displayed in the Soap Opera-Horror Movie we just reviewed. Maddy was not holding any grudge, acting violent, or selfish. Heck! Maddy wasn’t even drunk! Maddy was kind, caring, giving and compassionate. Yes, I saw Jesus acting in and through Maddy. Was Maddy Jesus? No, but Jesus was in Maddy. And I fail to mention so many of the staff that I got to meet along the way during my test. People who Jesus worked his good in and through.

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is our Savior, Creator, Redeemer, Shepherd and God! That’s Jesus. And we can’t tuck him in some box of ours. Words will always fail us when we attempt to answer.

Who is Jesus?

Thanks be to God, that Jesus is set in our midst to show us what is level, upright and good. God sets Jesus in our lives to announce His gift of salvation for all people.

So, there you have it. A Soap Opera-Horror movie flipped on its head. All to answer the question.

Who is Jesus?

May Jesus work in and through each of us, as we love God and all those God gives to us today… tomorrow… and forever.

I leave you with this YouTube music to listen to...

Jesus Messiah