Sunday 12 July 2009

Bible Book:
Mark

"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.' But others said, 'It is Elijah.' And others said, 'It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.' But when Herod heard of it, he said, 'John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.'" (v.14-16)

Mark 6:14-29 Sunday 12 July 2009

Background

This passage from the Gospel of Mark has as many twists andturns as a small mystery novel! But it's worth the patientunravelling. The Herod who is mentioned in this passageis not the Herod ('the Great') whoslaughtered all the innocent male children in his jealous attemptto kill the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:16).Instead, this Herod (Herod Antipas) is the son of Herod the Great.And it was very much a case of 'like father, like son', for HerodAntipas was equally jealous of Jesus' power and position.

Herod Antipas had despatched the prophet John the Baptizer, becauseJohn had spoken out about Herod's wrongdoings - such as marryinghis brother's wife. The grisly account of John's death is,interestingly, the only narrative in Mark's Gospel that is notdirectly about Jesus (6:17-28) - or soit seems. So when Herod, thinking he had got rid of John, receivedreports about the teachings and wondrous works of Jesus, he fearedthat John the Baptizer had been raised from the dead and returnedin an even more powerful form!

It's something like the old adage, 'The only thing worsethan notgetting what you want is ... gettingwhat you want'. Yes, Herod had killed John the Baptizer, but Johnhad prophesied that "The one who is more powerful than I is comingafter me" (Mark 1:7). In Jesus we have the 'one' coming after John- and Herod's tiny kingdom would be shaken and changed more than hecould ever have imagined.

To Ponder

Do you ever want something so much that, likeHerod, you forget about the unintended consequences? What wasit?

John had called people to expect and listen forthe authentic word of God (meaning Jesus). Are there people youknow of who do the same?

Wednesday 22 July 2009
Monday 13 July 2009

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