Mark 6:14-29, CEB - Herod the king heard about these things, because the name of Jesus had become well-known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and this is why miraculous powers are at work through him.” Others were saying, “He is Elijah.” Still others were saying, “He is a prophet like one of the ancient prophets.” But when Herod heard these rumors, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised to life.”
He said this because Herod himself had arranged to have
John arrested and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Herod’s
brother Philip. Herod had married her, but John told Herod, “It’s against the
law for you to marry your brother’s wife!” So Herodias had it in for John. She wanted to
kill him, but she couldn’t. This was
because Herod respected John. He regarded him as a righteous and holy person,
so he protected him. John’s words greatly confused Herod, yet he enjoyed
listening to him.
Finally, the time was right. It was on one of Herod’s
birthdays, when he had prepared a feast for his high-ranking officials and
military officers and Galilee’s leading residents. Herod’s daughter Herodias[a] came in and danced,
thrilling Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the young woman, “Ask
me whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” Then he swore to her, “Whatever you ask I will
give to you, even as much as half of my kingdom.”
She left the banquet hall and said to her mother, “What
should I ask for?”
“John the Baptist’s head,” Herodias replied.
Hurrying back to the ruler, she made her request: “I want
you to give me John the Baptist’s head on a plate, right this minute.” Although the king was upset, because of his
solemn pledge and his guests, he didn’t want to refuse her. So he ordered a guard to bring John’s head.
The guard went to the prison, cut off John’s head, brought his head on a plate,
and gave it to the young woman, and she gave it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard what had happened,
they came and took his dead body and laid it in a tomb.
Often, when studying scripture, getting curious about what
seems odd about a particular text can lead to important insights into the
meaning of the author. I believe that
Mark’s account of the death of John the Baptist is a great example.
First, Mark’s account of this event includes much more information
than the other Gospels. Matthew (14:1-12) omits several of Mark’s details, Luke (9:7-9) barely mentions
the event, and John only mentions that John was arrested. As I have mentioned before, it is usually
Mark that gives a bare-bones streamlined version of many of the episodes of the
Jesus story. On the few occasions that
Mark includes a more detailed account, it is a clue that Mark believes the
event is central to the meaning of the gospel itself.
Most of the extra details Mark includes have to do with
Herod Antipas’s relationship with and perception of John the the Baptist
himself. In Matthew, Herod wants to kill
John but fears the angering the people with whom John is revered as a prophet. Mark contends that Herod is obviously annoyed
with John because John has publicly condemned Herod’s marriage to Herodias, but
Herod refuses to kill him because He respects John and is sympathetic to John’s
mission. It is not until Herod makes a nefarious
promise that backfires on him that he is forced to kill John. What I would invite you to hold onto for a
quick minute is how similar this is to, later in the Gospel, Jesus is condemned
to die by a ruler (Pontius Pilate) who is sympathetic to man and mission of the
one he is condemning. Pilate also makes
the decision to execute to avoid breaking a promise despite his misgivings about
doing so.
The other extra details Mark includes have to do with the
identity of Jesus. Matthew, like Mark,
mentions that Herod believes Jesus is John resurrected. However, Mark adds that others were telling
Herod that Jesus was Elijah resurrected. Luke, in his very brief account,
actually highlights this same question of Jesus’s true identity. But Mark takes that issue farther.
This leads us to the next peculiar detail about Mark’s
account. The story of John’s death seems
to be included in a very strange spot in the order of the gospel. Jesus has just sent out His disciples on their
first mission without Him. Then,
abruptly, the scene changes and Mark tells the story about John being
killed. In true Markan fashion, there is
no interpretation of the meaning of John’s death. The story simply ends with John’s disciples
collecting and laying John’s body in a tomb.
Immediately after this, the scene rejoins the previous narrative and
reports the disciples returning from their first mission. Why is John’s death reported in between Jesus
sending the twelve and the twelve returning?
All this together seems to suggest that it is really
important to Mark to clearly distinguish between the identities of John and
Jesus for his readers. Even decades after Jesus’s resurrection, the notion that
Jesus was simply the return of John or Elijah was popular. Mark starts his gospel with his explanation
of who John is. John is the one who will
prepare the way for Jesus. Luke starts
with Jesus’s birth, Matthew starts with Jesus’s genealogy, and John starts with
a theological explanation of how Jesus is God taking human form. Only Mark starts with John the Baptist right
after he says that his mission is to announce “the beginning of the good news
about Jesus Christ, God’s Son.” (Mark 1:1)
Mark wants his readers to avoid misunderstanding who Jesus is. He is the very Son of God, and John is nothing
more than the preparer of the way about which Isaiah prophesied. The
first expansion of Jesus ministry (the sending of the twelve) has just begun
when John’s ministry has ended. Like
John, Jesus will be executed, but unlike John, Jesus will be resurrected. Mark wants us to see these distinctions. Jesus is God’s son. John and/or Elijah are not.
To be fair, all the gospel writers want that same truth to
sink deeply down into our bones. They go
about it differently and I believe that is why it’s important to read all of
them carefully. Understanding the same
truth from multiple angles gives us deeper roots in that same truth. Jesus is God’s son and only Jesus is God’s
son – no one else. No one else deserves the
same place in our hearts, minds, and souls.
No one.
Questions: Who,
precisely, is Jesus to you? If you were
writing a gospel account, what would be your angle on Jesus’s identity?
Prayer: Jesus,
forgive our frequent misunderstandings of Your truth. May we experience Your truth in the deepest
part of our souls. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for
our country as we once again go through a period of uncertainty about the
outcome of our national elections.
Song: There’s
Something About That Name/All My Hope is In Jesus – Tauren Wells
