The Death of John the Baptist (Mark 6:12-29)

Perhaps the first readers of the Gospel would have been wondering what had happened to John the Baptist. After all, Mark’s account had opened with a reference to John and his disciples are mentioned in 2:18. Yet nothing else has been said about John. I wonder what they would have thought when they heard this description from Mark. Of course, by the time this Gospel was written, Christians had been martyred for their faith.

The contrast

This gruesome story is the account of a battle in a long-term war between two kingdoms. One of the participants is the representative of the kingdom of heaven and the others are the representatives of the kingdom of darkness. The representative of the kingdom of heaven had a highly privileged role as the forerunner of the Messiah and yet he lost his freedom and then his life. The representatives of the kingdom of darkness imagined that they were very privileged, yet they lost their souls and are now in the blackness of darkness. One of them, Herodias, did not like to hear John whereas the other, Herod, liked to hear him – both of them now would love to come back from eternity as the lowest of slaves if only they could hear the voice of John again. But they cannot. The story of the account does not end in verse 29. In fact it has no ending, because the consequences of this incident have never-ending repercussions as each of the characters now know.

The connection

The good news of the power of Jesus’ kingdom spread into high places, right to the ears of Herod himself. He was also aware of what others were saying as to the identity of Jesus. Three opinions seemed popular. One was that John the Baptist, who had recently had a large influence, had been raised from the dead; perhaps those who made this deduction hoped that God had vindicated John and therefore more would hear his message about the Messiah.

A second opinion was that Jesus was the forerunner of the Messiah. Malachi had predicted that Elijah would be sent by God prior to the coming of the Messiah. Maybe this group had hoped John had been Elijah, but having been killed, they now concluded that he could not have been. But they would have been very comforted by their opinion on who Jesus was. After all, he was doing far more than John the Baptist did. So, for them, it was more likely that Jesus was the forerunner rather than John.

A third opinion was that Jesus was only another prophet, but a great one at that. In their estimation, Jesus was in the front rank of prophets, like the prominent prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, Elijah and Elisha. He could speak well like Isaiah and Jeremiah and he could do many important signs of God’s presence like Elijah and Elisha. For those people, here was a sign that God was about to visit his people again.

Of course, we know that all of who had those opinions about Jesus were wrong concerning him. He is not merely a religious leader who has experienced resurrection, nor is he the forerunner of the Messiah, nor is he merely a great prophet through whom God does amazing things. We know who he is: he is the divine Son of God who became a man in order to deliver us from our sins by suffering in our place on the cross. Afterwards he was raised from the dead and later he ascended to heaven, from where he now reigns, and in the future he will bring about a general resurrection and oversee a general judgement.

Yet we know that people like to have their own opinions about Jesus. For some, he is a great teacher and they believe that if those teachings were followed the world would be a better place. For others, he is a good example, perhaps the best example, to imitate, especially with regard to how he helped the needy. Those who limit him to a good example, however, don’t want to imitate his emphasis on prayer or on the need of salvation, and the same can be said about those who say he is a good teacher. Basically the Jesus they commend is a creation of their own ideas.

But there are those who know better, yet stop short of listening correctly to him. In what ways are they stopping short? Some say that he is not really telling the truth when he says that they will be forgiven if they repent of their sins and trust in him alone. Others imagine that Jesus could not possibly condemn them because they have a connection to the church and indeed some of their relatives who prayed for them were devout believers. Still others imagine he is not being serious when he says that they should believe in him now.

So while the opinions that were aired about Jesus when he sent out his disciples have disappeared, there are still similar opinions about him both outside and inside the church. The fact is, until we embrace Jesus by faith, until we repent of our sins, we are only people with an opinion about Jesus. What we need to be are people who have faith in Jesus.

The conscience

Herod heard those opinions, but he put his own slant on the one that he adopted. His view was that ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’ As we look at his statement, two things seem to stand out. First, he believed that God was involved – we can deduce this from his opinion that John had been raised. Second, he recognised his own involvement in the death of John. It is possible to assume that Herod’s response here is merely one of superstition. Yet another interpretation is better and that is that Herod realised that God was active and that he was accountable for his actions.

From where did Herod get such insights? Surprisingly, the probable answer is that he got them from John. In verse 20 Mark tells us that Herod, although he had imprisoned John, loved to listen to him, despite the fact that John was pointing out Herod’s sins to him. Why would Herod have this interest in listening to John? The answer is that his conscience bothered him. He had not wanted to execute John, but found himself in a situation in which he felt compelled to do so.

Herod’s story reminds us of the dangers of the power of one sin. In his case, it was the sin of immorality and incest because Herodias was his niece as well as being the wife of his brother Philip. So Herod and Philip were guilty of the same sin and their niece saw no problem with it either. Such behaviour would have scandalised the community, but probably no one had the courage to confront Herod apart from John the Baptist. It may be the case that Herod recognised that John was the only person prepared to say the truth at all times.

Herod discovered something rather startling. Awareness of sin that only proceeds from a person’s conscience is easily ignored when the crunch comes. The crunch can be anything. In Herod’s case, it was the prospect of losing face before the important people in his realm. He exchanged the future of his soul for his public image. The man who could ignore the private desire of his wife for John’s demise found himself weak in the grip of public opinion.

We may look at Herod and conclude that he made a foolish mistake. Yet I would suggest that the influence of the opinion of others is a common reason why people give up on following Jesus. Herod counted the cost of protecting John and discovered that it was too high. But as his later comment reveals, it was too high in a way that he did not fully appreciate.

The courage

We have already mentioned that probably John was the only person who told Herod that he was sinning. What made John so brave? It was not his natural bent, although he may have been fearless by nature. Instead it was because he was driven by certain convictions that burned into his heart.

First, he was devoted to the God revealed in the Old Testament. That God had spoken about how his creatures should live. His Word had authority over both John and Herod. Herod, as a ruler over God’s people, was meant to govern according to God’s law. He didn’t, and was more like Ahab who was dominated by immorality. John was so different. He could not bear God’s Word being broken and said so. It did not matter to him that his words might have been out of touch with what those in power believed. Instead he was marked by loyalty to God all along the road of life, no matter where it would take him.

Second, he knew that he was called to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. They way they were to prepare was by repenting of their sins. There was a place for Herod in that kingdom if he would repent. We know that he did not, and in that he is a warning about how unconfessed sin will eventually lead to worse sin. What was John like when he preached to Herod? Did he remind Herod of the Lamb of God who could take away his sin? Herod ignored what John said, and he lost his soul.

Every preacher of the gospel looks forward to meeting in heaven those he spoke to on earth about the Saviour. John has met many in heaven to whom he preached on earth, and they are stars in his crown. But one face he will never see in heaven is that of Herod, despite all the times that Herod heard him.

The challenge

There are three challenges that I would leave with you. The first is, don’t engage in speculation about who Jesus us. It is very easy to do so in today’s world. But such speculations take you away from the gospel.

The second is, don’t even let one sin have an emphasis in your life. That was the real issue with Herod, and he was prepared to break God’s law in order to do it. We may not have an interest in the type of sin that gripped Herod, but any sin can grip us. When God tells us to confess sin and forsake it, we should do so.

The third challenge is, what is my witness like when I am alone in an unfriendly crowd? I don’t think John was rude to Herod, but when he was given the opportunity he told him the truth. We don’t have any information about how John felt when he saw the executioner coming to get him. I suspect the man who spoke to Herod would have something to say to the executioner.

But what does he say to us? What image of John the Baptist do you have? Is it of strange attire or eating an unusual diet? I think the one that echoes down the centuries is of a man crying, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who bears away the sin of the world!