Mark 6:14-29
A Bible
Study Led by Dr. Larry Reynolds
June
14, 2012
In
this session we will focus on two men who could not have been more different.
--born into the humble home of aging Jewish
priest...
--reared
as a Nazirite, never taking a fermented drink, touching a dead body, or
cutting his hair...
--from
earliest days of his life was dedicated to God and constantly grew in his
knowledge of and commitment to God...
--as
adult lived alone in desert communing with God...as result developed keen
sense of morality and righteousness...
--had courage to stand by his convictions even
though resulted in his death...
|
--born into the most powerful family of all
Palestine...
--grew
up living life of luxury as member of royal family...no pleasure denied to
him...
--had
no religious convictions whatsoever...what religious practices did observe
were for purpose of advancing political career...
--spent
adult life surrounded by corrupt people...had no sense of absolute right and
wrong...
--didn't have courage even to stand up to his
evil wife and corrupt step-daughter...
|
I’m referring
to John the Baptist and Herod Antipas, two men who are forever bound together
in history. Mark tells their story in
Mark 6:14-29.
Before
we read these verses, it is important to understand to whom Mark is referring
with the title “King Herod” in verse 14.
Actually, a number of different “Herods” are mentioned in the
Bible. Various members of the Herod
family ruled in the area of ancient Palestine for approximately 100 years.
- Herod
the Great ruled as King of Judea from
37 – 4 B.C. He is the one who
rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem. It
was under his reign that Jesus was born.
In an attempt to destroy the newborn king, Herod ordered the
slaughter of babies in Bethlehem (see Matthew 2:16-18). He was a very ruthless man who even
killed members of his own family if he thought they were his political
rivals. It was said that it was
better to be Herod’s dog than his son!
When Herod the Great died in 4 B.C., his kingdom was divided
between three of his sons:
- Herod
the Ethnarch
(the word means ruler of a people) also known as Archeleus (see Matthew
2:22). He ruled over Judea,
Samaria, and Idumea from 4 BC – 6 AD.
He was an incompetent leader liked by virtually no-one. The Romans replaced him with a
governor.
- Herod
the Tetrarch
(the word means ruler of a fourth part) also known as Herod Antipas. He was the one referred to in this
passage who had John the Baptist arrested and eventually beheaded (see Mark
6:14-29). He ruled over Galilee
and Perea from 4 BC – 39 AD. He
was also the Herod before whom Jesus was taken in Jerusalem prior to the
crucifixion.
- Herod
Philip
was tetrarch over the northern areas of Palestine. He was the one who founded Caesarea
Philippi at the base of Mt. Hermon where Jesus and the disciples spent
some time (see Matthew 16:13).
- Herod
the King,
also known as Herod Agrippa I, is the Herod in Acts 12. He was the grandson of Herod the
Great. His father was Aristobulus
and his mother was of a royal Jewish line.
Herod the Great had Aristobulus murdered in 7 BC. When that occurred, young Agrippa was
taken to Rome to get him away from his evil grandfather. While in Rome he became friends with
Caligula who became Emperor in 37 AD.
Since Agrippa helped Caligula become Emperor, the Emperor rewarded
him with the title of “king.” Over
a period of years, he become ruler over roughly the same area his
grandfather, Herod the Great, had ruled.
He died in 44 AD, so we know the events in Acts 12 took place in
that year.
- Herod
Agrippa II
was the son of Herod the King. He
was the ruler before whom the Apostle Paul appeared in Acts 25 and 26.
With that background in mind, we
are going to work through Mark 6:14-29 and then make several quick points of
application of this event to our lives.
Verse
14-15 –
These verses tells us that the preaching and miraculous works of the disciples
of Jesus (cf. vv.12-13), as well as the teaching and works of Jesus, caused
Jesus to “become well known.” His
fame even caught the attention of Herod Antipas. In an attempt to explain how this simple
Galilean and His followers could be doing such amazing things, three theories
were put forth:
·
Some
said He was “John the Baptist" risen from the dead. As we will see in a moment, by this time
Herod Antipas had beheaded John the Baptist.
·
Others
said He was “Elijah.” Malachi 3:1 and 4:5 indicates that God would send
one like Elijah to be the forerunner of the Messiah. While it was John the Baptist who actually filled
that role, but apparently some people viewed Jesus as a forerunner to another
to come.
·
Others said He was “like one of the prophets of old.” This
shows the people sensed a new authority in His teaching that had not been in
Israel for hundreds of years, since Malachi. It also reflects the Mosaic
Messianic prophecy of Deut. 18:15ff about the coming of a prophet like Moses.[1]
Verse 16 – Herod, who was plagued with a guilty conscience over the role he
played in the death of John the Baptist, believed the theory that Jesus was
John the Baptist risen from the dead.
Verses 17-29 take us back in time to explain why Herod reacted as He did to Jesus.
Verses
17-18 - Mark explained (gar, for) that Herod himself had ordered
John to be put in prison. According to Josephus, this prison was at the
fortress-palace of Machaerus near the northeastern shore of the Dead Sea (The Antiquities of the Jews 18. 5. 2).
Herod did this because of Herodias, an
ambitious woman who was his second wife.
Herod had first married a daughter of the Arabian king, Aretas IV. Then he
became enamored with his half-niece Herodias (daughter of his half-brother,
Aristobulus) who was married to Herod’s half-brother (brother means half-brother) Philip (her half-uncle; cf. Josephus The Antiquities of the Jews 18. 5. 1-2).
They had a daughter, Salome. Herod divorced
his wife in order to marry Herodias who had divorced Philip (not the Philip of
Luke 3:1). John had repeatedly
denounced this marriage as unlawful (cf. Lev. 18:16; 20:21).[2]
Verses
19-20 - John’s bold rebuke
infuriated Herodias who nursed a grudge against him (lit., “had
it in for him”). Not satisfied with John’s imprisonment, she wanted to kill him, but her plans were
thwarted because Herod feared John (had
a superstitious dread of him), whom he knew was a righteous and holy man. So he protected John from Herodias’ murderous intentions by keeping him
in prison—a shrewd compromise.[3] The verb tenses in this verse indicate that
Herodias kept bringing up the subject of John the Baptist’s death to Herod and
Herod kept resisting her by keeping John in prison.
“Herod
was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man…” – Herod
recognized that John was not like most other people. His message and life-style made that
abundantly clear. Also, John had become
very popular with the people. This story
reveals that Herod’s life was marked by fear.
He was afraid of John, Herodias, and His guests. Unfortunately, Herod had no fear of God!
“when he heard him … was very perplexed …
but used to enjoy listening” – Shows the great conflict in Herod. He was drawn to the truth but at the same time
rejected the truth.
Verses 21-29 explain the events that led to the death of John
the Baptist.
Verse 21 – On his birthday,
Herod gave a banquet and invited three groups of people:
·
“his lords” – Civil authorities or
government officials
·
“military commanders” – The word is chiliarchs which means commander of a
thousand troops
·
“leading men of Galilee” – Wealthy
and influential citizens
Verses 22-23
“daughter
of Herodias” – The word indicates she was a young woman of marriageable
age, probably in her mid-teens.
Josephus, the Jewish historian, says her name was Salome.
“danced”
- It was not common for woman of her social
status to dance at this type of gathering. These sensual dances were usually
done by prostitutes or professional dancers.[4]
“swore to her” – This was an oath, made in front of many
witnesses, that was irrevocable.
“up
to half my kingdom” - Actually Herod
had no “kingdom” to give He used a
proverbial saying for generosity which Salome knew was not to be taken
literally.[5]
Verses 24-29 – Herodias saw her opportunity and
took advantage of it to extract her revenge on John. She was incensed that John had damaged her
reputation. Ironically, her
vindictiveness toward John insured that her evil deeds would be known forever!
Applications:
God's people should stand consistently and
courageously against evil in all forms and all places
1.
Many
Christians have bought into idea alright have ideals and standards and morals
as long as don't attempt to impose our standards on someone else...you've heard
that philosophy..."You do your thing and I'll do mine and everything will
be fine!"... and if you challenge or question the actions of anyone else
that means you're insensitive, mean-spirited, and uncaring...
2.
Submit not a
Christian philosophy...if early Christians and those who have followed through
the centuries had opted be silent face obvious evil, Christianity would have
had virtually impact on world history...an essential part of mission of God's
people in world is speaking out for things that are right and against things
that are wrong...and reason many people in world cannot accept that is because
they do not want to believe that there is such a thing as absolute right and
wrong...it's much more convenient to speak of right and wrong in terms of what
I want and do not want instead of in terms of God's absolutes...
3.
John the
Baptist didn't buy into that kind of philosophy...he knew that some things are
right and some things are wrong in eyes of God...and he wasn't afraid to say
that...
There is a price to be paid for standing against
evil
1. John's
outspokenness about sin Herod cost him his personal freedom and ultimately his
life…
2. Now when
news John's death leaked out, no doubt some people thought, "Well that serves him right..should
have known better that denounce someone as powerful as Herod"…Matthew
Henry says: "Perhaps some of John's friends would blame him as
indiscreet in reproving Herod, and tell him that he had better be silent than
provoke Herod...But away with that kind of discretion that would hinder men
from doing their duty as ministers or as friends..."
1 .For
God's people to suffer for doing right and speaking out for right nothing
new...pattern throughout Christian history...ask‑‑
·
Deithrich
Bonhoeffer, the preacher
executed in Nazi Germany because loyalty to Christ...
·
William
Booth, the founder of
Salvation Army, who was beaten and by street gangs in London…
·
John
Knox, the Scottish preacher,
who spent two years in galleys French ship for his part in Protestant
Reformation…
·
Paul who suffered abuse in city after city for pro‑claiming
gospel…
·
Jesus who was crucified just because told truth about
God and God's plan for world…
2. Yes,
price be paid for speaking out and if God's people not willing pay price,
Herod's of this world will forever go unchecked...
3. Realize
in our culture not likely suffer physical abuse as result opposing
evil...probably won't get your head chopped off as did John the Baptist...but
other kinds abuse probably will suffer...some label you as naive...accuse
living in past claiming stuck in Victorian era...say you're anti‑intellectual
or narrow minded or uncultured...call hypocrite and charlatan...
4. But if
constantly worried about pleasing or being accepted by the world, will never
have anything of value to say to the world...
There
is a price to be paid for failing to confront evil
1. In Herod
see price for remaining silent in face of evil...death of John Baptist not
actually Herod's idea...was Herodias encouraged Salome make gruesome request of
John's head on platter...Herod could have intervened, but sat by and let evil
run its course...
2. As
result, paid terrible price...was plagued by guilt and fear...when Jesus came
preaching in Galilee same message of repentance and Kingdom of God John preached,
Herod's guilty conscience cause him conclude John had risen from dead...look at
verse 16...can almost hear the panic in Herod's voice..."But when
Herod heard of it, he kept saying, 'John, whom I beheaded, has risen!'"...
3. Price
Herod paid for his failure confront evil was being immobilized by guilt and
fear when could have been most powerful man in all Galilee...
4. Lesson
in that for God's people...surest way lose power and influence in world is
compromise and/or be silent and become like world...I John 2:15 warns,
"..Do not love the world or the things in the world.."..and
James warns "..Friendship with the world is enmity with God. Whoever
wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself and enemy of God."...
[1]
Utley, R. J. D. (2001). Vol. Volume 2:
The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I
& II Peter. Study Guide Commentary Series (74). Marshall, Texas: Bible
Lessons International.
[2]
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An
exposition of the scriptures (Mk 6:17–18). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3]
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An
exposition of the scriptures (Mk 6:19–20). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4]
Utley, R. J. D. (2001). Vol. Volume 2:
The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I
& II Peter. Study Guide Commentary Series (75). Marshall, Texas: Bible
Lessons International.
[5]
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An
exposition of the scriptures (Mk 6:21–23). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
