Pentecost 6b

New Hope and Zion Lutheran

Mark 6:14-29 ¹⁴ King 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." ¹⁵ But others said, "It is Elijah." And others said, "It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised." ¹⁷ For 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. ¹⁸ For John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, ²⁰ for 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. ²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. ²² When 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." ²³ And he solemnly swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom." ²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the baptizer." ²⁵ Immediately 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." ²⁶ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

There are certain days that you will remember forever. They are shockers, bombshells, news which seems to come out of nowhere and change your world forever. For you, one such day might be November 22, 1963 – the day President Kennedy was shot. Maybe it is November 9^th, 1989 – the day that the Berlin Wall fell, signaling the beginning of the end for communism in Europe. Maybe for you it is Sept 11^th, 2001, the day that airplanes were turned into bombs and used to take out American landmarks. Some of these days which are burnt into our memory are good days. We remember fondly where we where when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, or when Lance Armstrong won the tour de France for the 7^th time. But those memories are carved along side of the time when Martin Luther King Jr. as assassinated, when race riots broke out in LA following the Rodney King verdict, and when Hurricane Katrina lefts hundreds of thousands of people without basic necessities and put an entire city under water. These national disasters and triumphs are then blended in with our own personal triumphs and tragedies – the death of a parent or grandparent, a high school graduation, a new baby in the family, or a teenager – hit by a drunk driver. Each one of these events changes us – shapes us into the person that we are today.

In the gospel text for today Mark, through the eyes of Herod – looks back at a life changing event in the history of the emerging Christian church. Now this is not the Herod who was a part of the Christmas story – the one who ordered that all of the Hebrew babies under 2 years old be killed. That Herod has already died and the Herod in this story – Herod Antipas was one of his four sons. The occasion for this reflection, however does not get much coverage in the text for today. Herod has been getting word of all of the healings and miracles that Jesus is performing. He is becoming rather popular and some are even claiming that this holy man from Nazareth might just be the promised Messiah who will overthrow the Roman rule. All of this causes Herod to think back in his own history to the last time he dealt with a holy man who was gaining popular support – John the Baptist.

Through Mark we have a flashback to a night when Herod threw a particularly wild party. The alcohol and the good times were flowing. All the while, John the Baptist is sitting in jail. He is there because he outraged Herod’s new wife by saying publically that she should not be with Herod. You see, she was already married to Herod’s brother, Phillip and she had a daughter by him, Herodias. If the queen had her way, John would have been killed. However, Herod liked to listen to John speak, even though he was puzzling, so instead of having him killed, Herod had John arrested and put into prison. At the party that night, Herod had arranged for entertainment. Herodias, his step-daughter and niece was there to dance for Herod and his friends. The text is unclear as to the precise nature of this dance, some scholars have proposed that it was a sexually suggestive dance – we cannot know for certain, but we do know that it pleased Herod and his guests very much. To show his appreciation Herod offers to give the girl anything she wants. I suspect that this offer caught her off guard, because she has to go home and consult with her mother before she makes a decision. Seeing her opportunity the queen has Herodias ask for the death of John the Baptist. The text tells us that Herod was deeply grieved at this request, but because of the oath that he made to her, he complied with her wishes.

While I am certain that Herod learned several lessons that night, he should also have learned that you cannot kill a movement by killing its leader. The people still believed in John and the message that he carried about the coming of the Messiah. His message did not die with him, in fact, it seems only to have grown because of John’s death. Perhaps it is for this reason, that when Herod encounters Jesus in Luke’s passion narrative, he wants nothing to do with the death of another holy man. And besides, he has already learned his lesson – you cannot kill a movement by killing its leader.

Like Herod, we too have occasion to look back over our lives and the choices that we have made. We can look back and see the places where we have fallen short and let down all of those around us, even God. Sometimes we find the error in our ways, learn from the mistake, and do better next time. Other times we foolishly follow the same path which got us into trouble before. However, when we look back at the actions and events which define our lives we find that one single event has a greater impact than any of the others - that Easter Sunday when Jesus was raised from the dead. We find that, as our lesson from Ephesians points out, we have been adopted into God’s family and saved from the deadly power of sin. God has chosen us and made us God’s own. We belong to God and there is no power on this earth or below it that can change that reality. No vindictive queen, no drunk king, no foolish dancing girl, not even the grave itself can tear us away from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Amen.