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King Herod & the
Light Today’s passage is a fascinating one. “John the Baptist Beheaded” As we hear the gospel read, we sympathise for John. He was a Godly man who spoke up against King Herod’s ungodly marriage to his brother wife. The wife (Heroduis) forms a grudge against John. One night when the King was having a party, Heroduis daughter dances up a storm. King Herod arrogantly rewards the daughter with anything she wants. The daughter consults with her Mother and at last Heroduis plan for revenge is unveiled. She asks for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. King Herod can’t back down from his arrogance and therefore reluctantly has Johns head chopped off. There is enough juice in this story for a blockbuster movie The story concludes with the disciples taking Johns body away and it being laid in a tomb. This conclusion can leave us to reflect on how being a holy man (or a Christian) is not always going to be an easy one, it could ultimately cost us our lives! This reflection we take has truth in it and is a reasonable one; however I reckon the writer of Mark was trying to tell us something a little more then just how much the Christian faith can cost you. When we look at the passage the very climax is not when John’s head ends up on a platter, but it is when Herod comes to his conclusion on who Jesus is. Let me dig deeper on this point. Jesus was travelling around teaching from village to village. He calls his 12 disciples and gives them authority over evil spirits so that they can preach the word of God and heal people of sickness. The scriptures tell us that many people were healed through these disciples. All these miracles are happening and it doesn’t take long before Herod hears about it. He is thinking, “who is this man that has authority over sickness and demons?” Those around him were saying “perhaps it is John the Baptist,” others say “it is Elijah”, other say “he is a prophet like they were long ago.” But what is the Kings response going to be? He had the opportunity to say that Jesus was nothing more then liar, a trickster, a manipulator. But the day he thought he had left behind, came back to haunt him. His mind immediately takes him back to the day of John’s death. Within the death story we actually gain a lot of insight into what was going on for Herod. We learn that in the past he feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. We know that he was greatly puzzled by John. When the daughter of Herodious asks for the head of John, vs 26 tells us that Herod was greatly distressed. He was caught up in this tension of not wanting to kill John, knowing that there was something special about him and wanting to kill John to make sure he kept his honour in front of his guest. So in this moment of being haunted by the death of John and recognising the similarities that Jesus had with John, King Herod concludes about Jesus “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!” Now I recognise that the Gospel of Luke has Herod asking a question rather then statement Luke - I beheaded john, who then is this that I hear such things about? And he tried to see him. Matthew - This is John the Baptist, he has risen from the dead. Perhaps the answer to the variances is that Matthew and Mark emphasises the point that King Herod had to talk with certainly as he was the King. However, Luke more emphasizes the point that even though he was the King, he himself was unsure and didn’t understand who Jesus was. So the questions that we are faced with are; 1. Who is Jesus? 2. If he is not John the Baptist, why did King Herod get it wrong? A passage that describes Jesus so wonderfully is John 1 John 1 1-14 St John begins his gospel by calling Jesus ‘the Word’ An easy way to understand this is that in the same way that our words explain our mind and heart to other people, Jesus acted as the word to reveal the Father's mind and heart to all of humankind. The difference between our words and God word is that ours are created when we speak them. The ‘word’ described in John’s gospel says in vs 2 that he was with God in the beginning. Vs 4 Now, in the 'word' was life, so that ‘word’ wasn’t just an instrument being used, like a violinist uses a violin. It had actual life, and in vs. 4 it describes that life being the light for humankind. Then it goes onto say that the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness does not understand it. Hang on….. Verse 5 the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. That sounds very familiar. King Herod knew Jesus was good and holy but he did not understand him. King Herod was living in this darkness referred to in Johns gospel Before Jesus crucifixion the Gospel of Luke tells us how Pilate sent Jesus to King Herod to judge whether or not Jesus should be killed. Here was King Herod's moment. Meeting Jesus, face to face for the first time. The man he had heard so much about. The Jews were thirsty for his death. King Herod had the ability to make it happen, but for some reason he doesn’t… Yes, he mocks Jesus; he dresses him up and ridicules him with his guards. But he does not sentence him to death. My point is this, King Herod had heard of the miracles of the living God, something in him knew that there was something special about this person, so much so, that he even considered Jesus to be John the Baptist, a man who he himself saw the head of. (knew he was dead) King Herod had the ability to have a loving relationship with the one true God, but because he was living his life in darkness, he was confused as to what this light was. He got on the defensive and joined everyone else and ridiculed the light. There a men, woman and children living in our community who would have witnessed this same light from time to time in their lives, something extraordinary might have happened, maybe an amazing act of grace from a stranger, maybe surviving a near death experience, or maybe just an overwhelming feeling of love from someone. Like King Herod they don’t fully understand it, but they know it is something good. Something Special It is up to you and I to get along side our community and begin proclaiming the truth, that this good that they have recognised is more then just good karma but it comes from our Savoir Jesus Christ. Last week we talked about being hands and feet of God, but all this work will be in vain if we never get around to proclaiming the name of Jesus. It is interesting to note that there is nearly always an immediate hesitation that comes from many Christians when we start saying Jesus out loud. “I can handle being the hands and feet of God, I can handle waking up early in the morning and delivering food parcels to the needy, but to utter the name Jesus, whoa! Hold on their, what to you take me for? I’m not like that; I am not a bible basher, no,. No that’s not my gifting! Give that job for to the hard out nutty Christians.” It is sad but it is true and I believe this hesitation it has come about from years of Christians associating Jesus with the news of darkness. By this I mean, in the past we have first talked about the darkness, putting people off to the point where the good news of the light is never heard. I believe adjusting our communication style or method so that the world are in a safe place to accept what we have to say is a good idea and we need to time this conversation right in the context of our relationship. But, can we accept watering down or altering the one simple truth that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour and through him comes all that is good in this world. Including the good he does through us. In today’s gospel reading let us not get caught up in the “me factor” focusing on John the Baptist and finding comparisons to our own struggling lives, but today let us think of King Herod and all those today who have witnessed the light but are utterly confused. As a church let us continue to shine the light of Jesus brighter each day. Bright enough for people to stop and look. Let us continue to steer away from educating every one of the darkness and more towards educating them of the light that they see. So that when light is seen the whole world will one day give all glory to Christ Jesus, our Savoir. |
