July 14, 2024 Sermon
Sermon title: “The Death of John the Baptist”
Scripture: Mark 6:14-29
(Other lectionary suggestions include II Samuel 6:1-5 and 12-19, Psalm 24, and Ephesians 1:3-14.)
Mark 6:14-29
The Death of John the Baptist
14King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” 15But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her. 18For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” 19And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22When his daughter Herodias 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.” 23And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” 24She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
Today’s Scripture lesson tells a sad tale, and it’s sad for many different reasons. For one thing, Jesus’s cousin, John the Baptist, is put to death in prison; and he is killed merely for speaking the truth. It would be nice to think that such brutality stopped once the Bible was written, but it did not. Look at Russia: a Putin rival Alexsei Uvalny died in prison under mysterious circumstances. The lesson from both the John the Baptist story and the contemporary Russian story is that there is sometimes a price to be paid when one speaks truth to power. Jesus may have come to earth and saved us from our sins - but his good work did not save us from the reality that speaking truth to power can get you in trouble. And not only that, but you and I as followers of Jesus are called to speak truth to power, too, regardless of the consequences to us.
This story that we heard today from the Gospel of Mark has sex and booze in it: always a good combination to get our attention! Now the sex may be only implied, but it’s there! We are told that Herod threw a party. Well, in most parties that I have attended, there is usually some alcohol available, and I’m going to guess that there was some at this party, too! The person who danced was actually Herod’s stepdaughter, and her dancing excited Herod, and he promised her anything she wanted. It doesn't take much reading between the lines to see that a drunken Herod probably lusted after his stepdaughter when he said, “I’ll give you anything you want, even half of my kingdom.” What a mistake, and I think sex and alcohol can be partially blamed. But not completely. When he was asked to give the dancing girl John the Baptist’s head on a platter, he was “deeply grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her.” Herod was a weak man, made even weaker by lust and alcohol, and “because of his oaths,” he gave the order to have John killed. A sad, sad tale of human weakness and a desire from his wife to take revenge on the man who had - in her mind – “shamed” her.
On the lighter side, my cousin went to a Methodist summer camp when we were kids in Indiana. Here are some of the songs he learned.... “Salome was a dancer who did the hootchy-kootch. The king said he loved her....very, very mootch....” There was also one about Adam and Eve and Noah and the ark! And it’s interesting that the name Salome shows up. I don’t know where that comes from, but Richard Strauss wrote an opera with that name, with perhaps the tagline....“and the Seven Veils.” In any case, humankind has been captivated with this story from the beginning.
The Herod in this story is Herod Antipas, sometimes called Herod the Tetrarch, with Tetrarch referring to the fact that he ruled - as a Roman puppet - something like a fourth of Palestine. His father was the mean old King Herod who was the evil king that Matthew tells us tried to kill all the baby boys under two years old when Jesus was born. Without being too outlandish, I should say that today’s Herod came from a crazy family, if that’s possible! His father Herod the Great killed one of his own sons out of jealousy. And today’s Herod DID steal his brother’s wife away! Listen, soap operas on television have NOTHING on some of these Biblical stories! And that is why John the Baptist said it was not right for Herod to have her. What kind of Israelite king takes his brother’s wife into his own house? Herod, like his father before him, wanted to be loved by his people. But his behavior, pointed out by John the Baptist, almost implied he wasn’t fit to be king. So, Herod was torn. He liked listening to John the Baptist, and maybe he really didn’t want to kill him. But at his wife’s urging, and because so many of his guests had heard him say, “Name it!” to the young dancer, he couldn’t go back on his promise. So sad! John didn’t deserve to die, and Herod probably didn’t really want to do it - but he did, and think how miserable he must have been afterwards.
One of the things we need to keep in mind is that even though John the Baptist was murdered, Herod lasted less than 10 years after this terrible story. He was banished to Gaul (present day France) dying in disgrace in a distant land. And John the Baptist? He’s a saint, going down in history as a fearless witness to the kingdom of God.
So, the next time you are tempted to despair, remember this story. While oft the wrong seems so strong, God is the ruler yet, as our hymn “This is My Father’s World” makes clear.
And something else.......John’s death must have saddened Jesus. If bad things could happen to John the Baptist, then bad things could happen to Jesus, too, and eventually they did. So, John’s death must have been a reminder to Jesus that he didn’t have all the time in the world. He may have come to bring salvation, but what he felt called to do would not be painless. His cousin John was a reminder to Jesus, perhaps, that nobody has all the time in the world. And that includes you and me! Amen.
Pastor Skip
