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THE MARTYRDOM OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

Mark 6:14-29

Key Verse:6:18 “For John had been saying to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’”

  In the last passage, we learned that we should not accept the word of God with our feelings only. If we do so, we will be like Jesus’ hometown people who heard Jesus’ teaching with joy for a while, but soon persecuted him. On the contrary, the disciples of Jesus simply obeyed Jesus’ word and went out for an evangelistic journey. Most of Jesus’ disciples were poor and unschooled. But, when they simply trusted Jesus and obeyed his instructions, they experienced the great power of God. We live in an age of reason. People in this age want to know or want to see first, and, if it is reasonable, they apply themselves to action. But, the people who are living in the age of reason are also always ready to escape from reason. They think through and through and their thinking becomes negative until they live in despair. But, we are the children of God. We must live by faith in Jesus and experience the power of God through our obedience. Last week, we who obeyed Jesus’ instructions simply experienced the power of God.

  Today’s passage tells about the martyrdom of John the Baptist. This story is a flashback to the disciples’ evangelistic journey and their return. We will study why Mark put this story, the death of John the Baptist, in the middle of Jesus’ ministry, and what Jesus really wanted to teach his disciples through the martyrdom of John the Baptist. May God give us deep understanding about John’s martyrdom spirit. Amen.

1. Adulterous King Herod (14-17)

 Look at verse 14. “King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”  As we studied last week, the disciples of Jesus obeyed Jesus’ word and went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons in the name of Jesus and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. (6:12,13) People thought that John the Baptist, who had been killed by King Herod, was raised from the dead. Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago. (15)  There were numerous rumors and opinions about Jesus among the people. But King Herod thought that Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist, whom he had beheaded before. Look at verse 16. “But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead.!”

Let’s think about who this King Herod was. He was known as Herod Antipas, the son of King Herod the Great. He was not technically a king, but a tetrarch who was a ruler of specific territory in Israel. He was weak-willed and timid, but clever enough that Jesus called him ‘that fox’ (Lk 13:31,32) His first marriage was to the daughter of Aretas IV, whom he later divorced. Then he remarried Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Philip, who was rumored to have been killed by Herod.

Look at verse 17. “For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.” People said that Herod arrested John the Baptist because John’s popularity was threatening to his power and dangerous enough to bring a revolt. But the main reason he arrested John was because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. Look at verse 18. “For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” According to Deuteronomy 25:5, if a man dies without a son, the wife should not marry outside his family. Rather, his brother should take the widow, his brother’s wife, and have a son by her.  But this was not the case with Herod. Herod had had an immoral relationship with Herodias and had divorced his first wife. He violated the Commandment, which says, “Do not commit adultery.” (Ex 20:14). He also violated the Law of Moses, Leviticus 18:16 which says, “Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.”  John the Baptist knew that King Herod’s marriage with Herodias was not right with God. He knew that King Herod committed adultery before God. So he severely rebuked Herod to repent, saying, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

  King Herod put John the Baptist into prison to quiet him. Even though he put John into prison to silence his rebuking, he could not stop the voice which came from his conscience, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” These days there are many people who are doing unlawful and evil things, ignoring the voice of their conscience. According to the Bible, marriage should be established between a man and a woman. But many abnormal and adulterous people violate the law of God by abandoning the natural relationship between a man and a woman and indulging in same-sex marriage. It is not lawful for a man to marry another man or a woman another woman. It is not only illegal but also abnormal. Recently, there is a trend in colleges to allow students to find their roommates from among the opposite sex. In other words, in a dormitory, a male student and a female student share a room together and a bathroom together. We should not do unlawful things against the law of God and against our consciences. We must live according to the truth of God and live in the sight of God and in the fear of God.

2. A woman of vanity, Herodias (19-29)

As we studied, Herodias was the wife of Philip, who was killed by his half-brother Herod Antipas. She was such an ambitious woman that she divorced Philip and married Herod to become the queen. She wanted to be called ‘queen’. There is a saying, “A woman’s vanity is very great. If vanity is taken out of a woman, she will collapse.” But since John the Baptist rebuked King Herod for his immoral relationship with her, Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. (19) So she made Herod put John into prison and tried to eliminate him. However, she was not able to do this because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. (20) Heroidas was looking for a chance to get rid of John the Baptist, who was like a thorn in her evil eyes.

  Look at verses 21-23. “Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” And he promised to her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” The daughter of Herodias, who was known as “Salome”, must have been a charming and seductive damsel. She was invited to the birthday party for King Herod and danced before the king and his guests. Her dancing was so fascinating that the drunken King Herod could not but make an empty promise before the girl, saying “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.” In reality, King Herod had no power to subdivide his kingdom since the country was occupied by the Roman Empire. Nevertheless, like modern politicians who make unrealistic public statement, King Herod made an empty promise with an oath to Salome.

  The evil queen Herodias did not lose her chance. When her daughter came in and asked her, “What shall I ask for?”, Herodias answered without hesitation, “The head of John the Baptist.” (24) What a wicked and treacherous woman she was! At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request “I want you to give me now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”  (25) Her chilling answer made Herod’s blood cold. Verse 26 says, “The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her.”  Herod was greatly dejected by the young girl’s horrendous request. At that time, he should have answered like Theodosius, the Roman Emperor, who said, “I said it, but did not promise it if it be unjust.” However, in order to save face before his friends and the girl, he granted her request. He valued his foolish oaths and honor more than the life of the righteous prophet. In fact, King Herod deceived his conscience, and his weak-willed and vacillating attitude made him a victim of his wicked and revengeful wife, Herodias.

Look at verses 27,28. “So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.” This was not a play of Shakespeare or a story from a horror movie. It was not an event which happened in a Japanese restaurant. It was a real story which was performed by unjust and evil people. There are many innocent people who became victims of an unjust and evil society. To our surprise, there have been many powerful women behind the throne like Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab (1 Ki 18,19),  her daughter Athaliah (2 Ki 11:1), Yvonne the Terrible, and so on. A woman should not be like Heroidas. A woman should be praised as a suitable helper, a prayer mother like Msn. Monica Suh, who encourages her husband to work hard for the glory of God. Proverbs 31:30 says, “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Amen.  May God raise many women of prayer who fear God and serve God whole-heartedly.  Amen.

3. The courage of John the Baptist. (18)

Proverbs 27:5,6 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiples kisses.” In the Contemporary English Version, it says, “A truly good friend will openly correct you. You can trust a friend who corrects you, but kisses from an enemy are nothing but lies. Nevertheless, it is not easy for us to correct our friends’ faults or rebuke their sins, for we are afraid of losing friends or of other negative consequences. But, John the Baptist was different. When he saw King Herod’s unlawful marriage, he rebuked him saying, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” He did not condone his sins. He did not compromise with social consensus. He delivered the message of God clearly before the king.

  Where did John the Baptist get such courage? His courage came from God. He lived a pure and simple life in the desert as a servant of God. He was not contaminated by his corrupted generation. His heart was always right with God. He lived before God, so he did not have to please people. He delivered the message of repentance to whoever did evil before God, whether they were the king or mere children.

This generation needs such courageous men and women of God, who clearly deliver the message of repentance to our corrupted generation. Out of fear, many Christians keep silent even though evilness raises her voice day after day. They are negligent rather than tolerant. In human history, those who have raised their righteous voice against an unjust generation have been rejected and persecuted, and even killed. Elijah the prophet in the Old Testament, who fought against the evilness of King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel, was always in danger of being killed. The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, who had prophesied about the fall of Jerusalem, were rejected, persecuted and killed. Martin Luther, the religious reformer who challenged the corruption of the Catholic authority, had to escape from deadly threats of murderers. In America, Martin Luther King Jr., who raised his voice for justice and human rights, was threatened, imprisoned, and finally assassinated. Dr. Samuel Lee, one of the co-founder of UBF, raised many disciples of Jesus as well as many enemies because he always told the truth regardless of human situations. Where then did their courage come from? Their courage came from the truth of God and from their clear conscience. They were not afraid of death. They were not afraid of people. They only feared God and were determined to fulfill their duty as servants of God and as voices for their generation.

  Our Lord Jesus Christ showed us a good example about how to live with courage and with martyrdom spirit. Jesus was not afraid before the power of death. After his intensive praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, he firmly determined to take up the cup of cross. Then, he went up to the hill of Galgatha to become an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. He suffered and was crucified by the hands of evil people, still he was not daunted. He completed his mission as the servant of God, saying, “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30). Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He took up the cross to fulfill the will of God for world salvation. Jesus gave up his precious life for you and me. By his wounds we have been healed. By his sacrifice, we are saved.

  Through the martyrdom of John the Baptist, Jesus taught his disciples what kind of attitude they should have as servants of God. The disciples of Jesus must not compromise with the sinful world. The disciples of Jesus must have courage to rebuke the sins of their generation. The disciples of Jesus must have martyrdom spirit, saying, “If I perish, I will perish because I study for an exam all night.” May God raise many men and women of courage and faith with martyrdom spirit in this adulterous and unbelieving generation. Amen

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