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Mark 6:21-29: Hush my mouth!

^“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 dish.’ 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 dish. 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.” NIV UK

It’s a sad and sordid scene, full of sex and violence – the kind of scenario lots of movie-goers love, to be honest! It seems that when Herodias’ daughter danced her presumably erotic dance for Herod and his presumably drunken (or partially inebriated) guests, the door was opened into further sin. Herod ended up doing what he did not want to do:

• Because of a relationship he shouldn’t have been in;
• Because of a state he shouldn’t have been in;
• Because of words he shouldn’t have spoken (26).

In these moments, Herod showed that he had a backbone of gelatine. Instead of living by his deepest convictions, he capitulated in the face of social pressure. John the Baptist died because Herod made rash promises and didn’t want to look bad in front of his dinner guests.

‘’Do not be quick with your mouth…’’ Ecclesiastes 5:2;

‘’When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise’’ Proverbs 10:19.

Be very careful what you promise. You may be unwittingly setting a trap for yourself.

PRAYER: Lord may my heart be a wise well out of which may be drawn wise words

Mark 6:17-20: Silence the preacher.

^“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.” NIV UK

I have seen this same sort of thing in people. Have you? Where they are fascinated by Christianity. They have huge respect for it, and for particular people they know who are believers. Yet at the same time they feel drawn, they also keep a safe distance. Also, they never seem to fully understand.  Although John’s words must have stung Herod, it was Herodias who wanted him dead. Stories about royals and sex scandals always sell papers. People are very interested in these things, even though they may pretend they are not. There had been a big scandal involving Herod and his brother’s wife. John the Baptist spoke prophetically into the situation and ‘’called a spade a spade, and not an agricultural implement.’’ We don’t like to be told we are in the wrong. Deep in his heart though, I believe Herod knew John was right, and he had way too much admiration (and fear) to want to kill him. But a compromise solution was to lock him up. When the preacher says things you don’t want to hear; speaks penetrating words that expose your sin, you may want to silence him, or her. Such desires are regularly turned into reality in some cultures. Perhaps more likely, you will do your utmost to avoid hearing that preacher. If you have to be in church, then you will metaphorically, if not literally, put your hands over your ears. One way or another, you will silence him. Conviction of sin will make certain people raging angry.

‘’The kingdoms of the world are indeed to become the kingdom of God, but those who speak of this in advance are likely to suffer the anger of those who feel their power slipping away from them.’’ Tom Wright: ‘Mark for everyone,’p.76

Wright also makes the telling point that within a decade Herod had been banished to Gaul; left to die in disgrace in a foreign land. Within a decade, John’s story had been written up by Mark, showing him to be a fearless witness to the Kingdom of God.

PRAYER: Please give me the courage to stand in the face of an oncoming tide of evil, and not be swept away by it.

Mark 6:14-16: Easter Faith

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!’

‘’Better the dungeon with John than the palace with Herod, for conscience filled the palace with the ghost of the murdered Baptist!’’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary,’p.423.

These words in Mark 6 show that Jesus was creating a stir. He was arousing curiosity.       I guess we already know this, but it’s underlined here. A debate was sparked as to His identity. There was something about Jesus which defied natural, human explanation. (It may help to know that there was a Jewish expectation that Elijah – who had not died – would return before the end of time, to prepare things for the day of judgment. In the Old Testament, many miracles surrounded the ministries of Elijah and Elisha).

‘’Who is Jesus?’’ remains the great question of life and we must answer it: If we are wrong about Him, we will be wrong everywhere else.

Just now, on radio five live, I heard part of an interview with a singing star. The interviewer said to him, ‘’You’ve been described as a militant atheist. Would you agree with this?’’ He replied, ‘’I’d say I’m a bomb-throwing atheist.’’ I think that meant something even stronger! But I wonder if that man has ever taken a long hard look at Jesus. It is, I believe, a rarity, for an adult to have an open, honest look at Christ and remain unconverted.  There is an irony in Herod’s words, of course. John the Baptist did not rise from the dead, but Jesus Himself was to come back from death. The evidence for His resurrection is compelling, but do we have the courage to examine it as part of a long, hard look at Jesus? Some people would rather just throw bombs at the evidence than face it.

Mark 6:6b -12: Come, then Go!

“Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. ⁷ Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.  ⁸ These were his instructions: ‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹ Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. ¹⁰ Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’  ¹² They went out and preached that people should repent.” NIV UK

The Anglican rector/evangelist David Watson once wrote that there are two great calls made by Jesus in the New Testament. They are ‘’Come’’, then ‘’Go.’’ We see that pattern here.

There are certain things that will always be true of Christ’s disciples:

• We are called to relationship: ‘’Calling the Twelve to him…’’ (7a). First and foremost we are brought into a relationship with Jesus. Everything else flows from that;
• We are called to service (7b). God never calls without also equipping. So, within the call to serve, we are also authorised to do what is asked. The task entrusted to these ordinary human beings was impossible for them apart from the ‘’authority’’ given by Jesus. Our calling is not simply to go into the world and be kind. We are enabled to show a powerful kindness that draws attention to the Lord Himself. We do the things He did (and ‘’greater things’’ John 14:12). When people see us doing what we obviously can’t do left to ourselves, it brings glory to God. God sends His Holy Spirit ‘’to show by works of power that Jesus is Lord’’;
• We are called to teamwork: ‘’two by two’’ (7; see also Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). We need each other;
• We are called to a life of faith (8-11). The specific instructions may differ from one ‘’journey’’ to another, but Jesus wants each of us to learn to trust God – to walk by faith and not by sight. He wants for us to grow as we prove Him for ourselves;
• We are called to spell out how serious a matter it is for people to reject Jesus (11), and urge people to ‘’repent’’ (12) to change their minds about such a stance.

Prayer: Lord, please help us to stay true to every aspect of our calling.