07/12/2009 6th Sunday of Pentecost Mark 6:14-29 – By Pastor Mark Moore           Older Sermons

When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed and yet he liked to listen to him.

That’s a challenging thought Herod liked to listen to John tried to protect him

It’s a challenging text to begin my ministry here at Grace

I have other nice sermons that I wrote in Seminary there’s one on the gospel lesson from 3 weeks ago…You see, these guys were out in a boat with Jesus and a storm came up …

Well, you know how things are with guys and their boats… It was a lesson about trusting God in times of setbacks disappointments and disasters.

We heard in another Gospel reading recently that Jesus was even rejected in his hometown

Then just last week, we heard of the preparation of disciples for their first mission. Take nothing but a staff …. No bread, no bag, no money and only one tunic

These stories build, one on the next Trust in God .. to see you through difficult times Trust in God .. to provide all you need

But, the writer of the Gospel of Mark has really thrown me a curve now by inserting the grisly account John’s execution, just at this point.

…Later we will pick up with the return of the disciples from their mission trip and the loaves and fishes that feed thousands So, what’s going on with Herod and John that is important …right now?

This execution is old news. So now we get a kind of a “flash-back” sequence in Herod’s palace

Can you imagine Herod’s first thought on hearing of the disciples of Jesus and their activities in their first mission?

Then comes the speculation about who Jesus really was!

Oh, Not John - back again! dum dum dummmm

[pause]

In and of itself, the story of Herod and John is great drama. I don’t know why someone hasn’t made a movie of it.

Let me set the stage for you.

Who was this John the Baptist and how did he come into conflict with Herod and his bizarre family relationships.

I’ll warn you now… I have a fascination for John the physical resemblance not withstanding

Out in the desert, kind of wild, kind of scar His central message was the radical repentance of sins, and the expectation that God would intervene in the lives of human beings

The opening words of Marks Gospel are:

“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See I am sending my messenger ahead of you. who will prepare your way”

John is that messenger. He is the one who baptized Jesus, a baptism that Jesus referred to as a baptism from above.

He is the only one who had God’s authority to baptize Christ.

[little pause]

The Swiss theologian Karl Barth points out that : “John was the only individual in the New Testament who is addressed in Greek as “hagios”, a holy human being.

And who was Herod … or better yet which Herod are we talking about.

The Jewish, general and historian Josephus recorded detailed information about the lives and actions of the ruling elite in first century Palestine.

And from him we know, This Herod is, Herod Antipas, son of King Herod the Great, The one who slaughtered the children of Bethlehem while he was searching for the infant Jesus.

His mother was Herod the Great’s Samaritan wife Malthacé

He had a lot of brothers and half brothers most of whom …also seem to be named Herod.

And he wasn’t exactly a King. His father’s kingdom had been divided into four parts

Herod Antipas was one of four Tetrarch’s subject to Rome. He governed only the area of Galilee and Perea.

And then there were wives…

Herod Antipas first wife was the daughter of Aretas, King of the Nabateans. And this was the same King who was trying to capture Paul when he was let down in a basket through the Damascus city walls to escape.

Now at some point in time, Antipas was on his way to Rome and stopped to stay with his half brother also named Herod, though Mark refers to him as Philip

This Herod-Philip was the son of Herod the Great and Mariamme, the daughter of Simon, the high priest of the Temple in Jerusalem

[dreamily]

There Antipas encounters Herodias, the wife of his half brother, … even the women are named after Herod she is the daughter of another of Antipas’ brothers, Aristobulus. making her Antipas niece.

They have affair and Antipas divorces his first wife, causing her father’s neighboring kingdom to become his enemy

And Herodias leaves Herod-Philip

About this time, I really wish we had a “power point” projector system because, I sure could use a visual aid.

[little pause]

The last player is the daughter of Herodias and Herod-Philip Mark refers to her as Herodias as well, but we know her by the famous name Salome

General Hospital and As the World Turns can’t hold a candle to Herod’s life [pause]

The execution of John the Baptist was only one of many acts of extreme violence attributed to Herod Antipas.

Yet the story plays a large part in Mark's narrative because it reflects the king's guilt and his fear that Jesus and his disciples would start a rebellion threatening his shaky hold on power.

This is the only story of any length in the gospel that is not about Jesus.

The idea that Jesus was “John raised from the dead” was popular among the common folk of the time and that John in turn was “Elijah returned from the dead”

these were the answers the disciples gave to Jesus when he asked "Who do people say that I am?"

[little pause]

John was waiting for the salvation of those who returned from their path of sin in order to turn to God.

He believed this salvation was a reality that would touch the lives of those he baptized.

This belief cost him his head.

Being God’s chosen one is a dangerous occupation.

As for Herod … the gospel says: He heard him and was perplexed; but he liked to listen to him.

How we love to listen as well And aren’t we are also perplexed.

For Robert Jensen, in his book “Preaching Mark’s Gospel”, Herod is an example of seed sown among thorns.

He knew John was a righteous and holy man. He heard the word gladly The seed had been sown He wasn’t the one who rejected the message

Jensen says “Herod was in a tough spot. He was deeply perplexed. But he sold out! He had made an oath. His guests had heard it. He must keep his word.

And so it was that the cares of the world Choked out the word he had heard. The seed that John had sown yielded nothing!”

Jesus, who came to transform sinners into saints can transform ‘thorny ground’ people into good soil for the gospel

Herod and Herodias both heard John’s call to repentance and his complaint that their marriage was unlawful.

Herodias response was hostile, she wanted John’s head Herod’s response was somewhat more positive, at least in the beginning

But they both failed in terms of being “good soil”

Gladly hearing the word and having one’s life transformed by the word are not the same thing

Faith is more than knowing about Jesus. It is more than admiring Jesus. It is more that just gladly hearing the word. Herod had done all that The word sown in his life did not bear fruit The cares of the world choked it out. [pause] “There were two brothers in Georgia during the 1950’s. One decided that in opposition to the dominant culture of the day, he was going to support and participate in the formation of a multi-ethnic community. The other worked as an attorney for a prominent law firm. Both were Christians and attended church regularly. As the multi-ethnic community formed and social pressure forced them into court proceedings, the one brother asked his attorney brother to help them with the legal work. The brother refused, saying that he could loose his job. The pressure increased to help, with a reminder that he was a Christian. The lawyer responded, “I will follow Jesus to his cross, but it is his cross. I have no need to be crucified.” To this his brother replied, “Then you are an admirer of Jesus, but not his disciple.”

There are a couple of similarities to this story and our text One is the relationship between Herod and John the Baptist He greatly admired this prophet from God, but not enough to become his disciple, not enough to risk his own honor and prestige to protect him

Another similarity occurs in the first part of our text between some people, including Herod, and Jesus. These people had heard about Jesus.

They knew of his great work. They heard about his powerful teaching They admired him, but they came to the wrong conclusions about him. These people knew about Jesus, but they didn't know Jesus.

Christianity is not just knowing about Jesus, it is about knowing God revealed in Jesus

It is about having a relationship with God through Jesus

The Bible, the Word of God, can be simply, some stories about God and about Jesus; but they can also be stories that bring God into our lives

God is present in the Word Christianity is about knowing and being known by God It involves our whole lives -- not just our heads

[pause]

What kind of cares of the world choke out the word among people today?

We all like happy endings to our movies, though that seems unlikely in the story of Herod and John.

Maybe this story is in the right place in Mark’s narrative after all.

It grounds us in the realities of life. While the disciples are out on their first mission we are informed of the consequences of preaching truth to the powerful.

[pause] What’s the good news in all this?

We believe in God, whose foolishness is wiser than our wisdom and whose purposes are not limited by our wish for happy endings.

Trust in God .. to see you through difficult times

Trust in God .. to provide all you need pray with me,

Loving God, to you setbacks are not disasters, and each crisis holds a opportunity.

Please help us to learn from the rough as well as the smooth, and from our tears as from our laughter. Amen.

 Amen!