Mark 6:14-29
The Death of John the Baptist
King Herod the son of Herod the Great ruled over Galilee and Peres from 4 BC to 39 AD. Jesus' name had become well known and after sending out the twelve disciples to preach repentance throughout Galilee, here is Mark’s account of what took place.
King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
You can read the account in Mark’s gospel of Herod putting John in prison because he told Herod that marrying his brother's wife was not lawful and the wife of Philip hated John for saying this and wanted to kill him. She did not have the authority to do so but the King did, yet he feared John in that he was a righteous and holy man.
I ran across this quote from Plato, “The measure of a man is what he does with power.” These words rang true in Herod’s life and they are ringing lower than I can recall during this Pandemic of Fear, we are seeing mayors and governors show their moral character. King Herod was like many who have a title but do not have moral character.
On Herod's birthday, he gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. Now there is no doubt that Herod and his brother’s wife Herodias’s who he took as a wife, just because he could, were under the control of the devil. We do not know all that was done behind the scenes, but Herodias' daughter must have been around 12 years of age, it is the same word Jesus had used for Jairus little girl. It seems she stole the show and the king wanted to show his appreciation, we see that in verses 22 and 23, For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”
Have you ever wondered what hate will do to a person's decision ability, then let’s pick up the story in verse 24, And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” She was willing to trade half the Kingdom for the death of the man she hated because he told her the truth.
Now Herod is in a pickle so to say, he may have had a few too many adult beverages, but all the men of influence are there, and he knows John is a holy man, and righteous, but pride is a powerful thing, and so John’s head is delivered to the little girl. Those are some very evil people to want a man’s head delivered to you.
Is there a message in this for you and me, yes people will often hate the one that tells them the truth, and hate makes people do things that are very evil? Who was the big winner in this? John was absent from his earth suit but present with the Lord. We understand that hate leads one to places they never planned on going, a really bad place. I’ve witnessed its effect on a woman who hated her ex-husband and went from 120 pounds to over 300 pounds, hate will destroy you.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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