Mark 6:14-2
Mark 6:14-21 English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
14 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.“ 15 But others said, „He is Elijah.“ And others said, „He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.“ 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, „John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.“ 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.
18 For John had been saying to Herod, „It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.“ 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 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.“ 23 And he vowed to her, „Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.“ 24 And she went out and said to her mother, „For what should I ask?“ And she said, „The head of John the Baptist.“ 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, „I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.“
26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Ministry and Rejection: They Never Stop
Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Stonings. Imprisonments. Floggings. Beheadings. Crucifixion. Those are not words we would put on an evangelism poster for Christianity. When we talk to folks that are new to the faith, crucifixion is probably the only one of those words we may mention. More than likely though we don’t even mention crucifixion, we simply say “Jesus died for your sins.” And yet stonings, imprisonments, floggings, beheadings, and crucifixion is all part of the history of the early church. Therefore we have a duty to not only be truthful in our historical setting of the church, but we also have to be prayerful in our discernment of what these stories mean in relation to our own faith.
Our Gospel lesson today is one of these stories, inserted in the midst of the larger narrative of Mark’s account. Last week our lesson ended with Jesus sending out the disciples to do ministry and telling them not to take any extra supplies. They would either be provided for and the gospel would be spread, or they would be rejected and they were to shake off the dust of their sandals. Next week our Gospel lesson will pick up with the return of the disciples back to Jesus. Our lesson today, which is not all warm and fuzzy, is sandwiched between these two lessons of ministry.
If you recall from last week, the rejection of Jesus and the disciples were a major theme in the text. Even in our world today, we see how the church is rejected in many places. Despite rejection, the work of the church never stops. There is always ministry that is actively being done through the work of the Holy Spirit. Although our Gospel lesson today is that interruption of Jesus sending his disciples, it too fits with the theme of being rejected. Just as Jesus’ hometown rejected him, Herod’s wife rejects John the Baptist. The work of the messenger of God is hard for the world to accept. John, the disciples, and Jesus….all rejected because of the ministry and work of God that they did.
The rejection of John that we have heard in today’s text is due to the Levitical laws of the Hebrews (specifically Lev. 18:16 and 20:21) concerning marriage. But the bigger issue at hand is similar to what we heard last week…the heightening of one’s self over everything else. Of this the entire family of Herod is guilty. Herod loves being king so much he threw a party on his own birthday for himself. The daughter of his wife (which actually is his niece) impresses him so much he offers half of the kingdom to her. Herod’s wife, who also used to be his sister in law, hates John for publicly saying their marriage wasn’t legal. This self-love is so strong that Herod chose his oath and reputation over his fear of John being a messenger of God. Mark even tells us that Herod liked listening to John. But none of that mattered because the entire family of Herod was more concerned with themselves than anything else.
As for us hearing this today…how does this lesson speak to our own faith? To me this speaks of the constant struggle of being a Christian. We go out and do ministry in this world. At times, that ministry is rejected. Sometimes it is our own doing in which we find a not-so good story sandwiched between stories of good ministry. We recognize John as the messenger sent by God to prepare the world for the Messiah. John is ultimately killed in a brutal way by a king who cares more about himself. We confess that the Messiah is none other than Jesus, who also was put to death at the hands of a ruler that cared more about himself. Pilate may have washed his hands of the crucifixion of our Lord, but he also didn’t stop it. And despite all this….ministry continues. In the midst of horrible things like beheadings and crucifixion, ministry continues. The church continues because the Spirit gives us the ability to go forward. This world may continue to reject the church all it wants. That’s ok. It will not stop God’s work to reconcile the world to himself. As we go forward into the world of rejection, we do so with an eagerness to discern where God is leading us, and the ministry that we are being called to do. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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©Judson Frick Merrell, STS
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Lexington, South Carolina USA