These are the Sermon Notes for April 19, 2020. Watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.
Mark 6:14-29 Seeing Ghosts
Good morning! It is now week five of our CrossRoads in Quarantine livestreams and after much struggle and debate I have decided to return to our study in the Gospel of Mark. Unfortunately we cannot return to our format of discussion that we were enjoying before but we can still look at it together and you are free to write in your thoughts and questions in the comments under this video and we can dialogue after the live stream is over that way.
So let’s return to Mark chapter six. When we last studied Mark together we talked about the sending out of the Twelve two by two back in verse seven.
7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
And this is where we pick up our text for this morning.
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He 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 it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter 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 to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Word had spread of all that Jesus had been doing and teaching, no one could claim ignorance, obviously, because the Name of Jesus the Christ had spread abroad and had even penetrated the court of King Herod and this account reflects Herod’s reaction to Jesus.
Like any normal, stable, reasonable individual would, Herod deduced that it was the ghost of John the Baptist. Makes sense doesn’t it?
14 King Herod heard of it [that is, the preaching of repentance by the Twelve in Jesus’ Name], for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He 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.”
Remember back to chapter one where we first met John the Baptist, what was his message? Repent for the forgiveness of sins. That was what he preached, that is why he baptized people, for repentance.
We’ve dealt with the idea of repentance before, it is an acknowledgement of sin and turning from it. Repentance is the beginning of the gospel, the beginning of the work of the Good News. In order for us to receive forgiveness we must first acknowledge our sin and sinfulness and then turn from it.
Have you done that? Have you acknowledged your sin before God and received His forgiveness?
Holy week reminded us of the purpose of Jesus’ death on the cross, He was the ultimate sacrifice for sin. Death is the price that must be paid for sin and Jesus paid it all Himself for us.
But if we do not acknowledge our sin, how can we be forgiven? How can we call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ if we do not turn away from our sinful ways and follow His Way of righteousness?
Lust, greed, selfishness, hatred, bitterness, we give ourselves permission to continue this way but Jesus does not, the message still rings true: Repent!
The ministry of Jesus, who was not the ghost of John the Baptist by the way, had reached all the way to the court of Herod Antipas, who wasn’t really a king, he was more like a prince with rule over one fourth of his father Herod the Great’s kingdom. He was more like, governor of the districts of Galilee and Perea.
The Herod family tree is a little more like a wreath. Herod the Great had five wives and had children by each of them. These half-brothers then all had children and started intermarrying. Herod Antipas, king Herod, or Herod the Tetrarch as Luke called him, was originally married to a daughter of the Arabian king Areta the Fourth but divorced her in order to seduce and marry his half-brother Phillip’s wife Herodias. She was the daughter of Herod’s half-brother Aristobulus which made her his half-niece.
It’s no wonder that John the Baptist told Herod that it was not lawful to have his brother’s wife! According to Leviticus 20:21 it was in fact forbidden for someone to marry his brother’s wife. This didn’t seem to bother Herod that much but it certainly did bother Herodias, and from verse 17-29 Mark flashes back to the account of the murder of John the Baptist.
16 But when Herod heard of [Jesus’ ministry], he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter 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 to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
The message of repentance has never been a popular one, people don’t like to preach it, and people don’t like to hear it. Let’s face it, no one wants to hear that they’re wrong, let alone admit it.
Herod and Herodias had three options when confronted with their sin, one good one and two bad ones.
Herod chose to be indifferent about his sin. He liked John the Baptist, he didn’t want to kill him, but he also liked his sin and didn’t want to kill that either. Herod could have made things right but, like a coward, chose to just let things lie and hoped that it would all just blow over but it didn’t. He had to choose between letting John live and living with his venomous and vengeful wife. He had John beheaded and was from then on plagued by guilt.
Herodias, on the other hand, when confronted with her sin, celebrated it. The Law meant nothing to her, she had found her way into the arms of a more powerful man and would kill to protect all that her sin offered her and that’s exactly what she did. She took vengeance on the only one bold enough to expose her sin and call it what it was.
These were the two bad options. The third option is the way that leads to life, acknowledging sin and sinfulness and turning from it, this is the beginning of the gospel, repentance.
This account in the Gospels is a kind of milestone event for Herod and Herodias, but it is given to us as a reminder that we are constantly faced with the same choices they were, to be indifferent about our sin, to celebrate our sin, or to turn from our sin.
We are sinners, by nature and by choice. Through faith in Christ we are forgiven for that sin and sinfulness but that doesn’t make us now unable to sin, nor does it remove sin’s natural consequences.
Jesus paid the penalty that our sin deserves on the cross and every time we sin we make His sacrifice that much more necessary.
A life of faith in Jesus Christ is a life of repentance from every sinful thought, every evil deed, choosing to reject sin and its empty promises of fulfillment, and living lives of true righteousness and holiness.
Herod and Herodias chose to reject this message, to reject repentance, to their own eternal peril.
I pray that you won’t.
Don’t choose to be indifferent to your sin as if it doesn’t really matter, Jesus’ death on the cross for sin says otherwise!
Don’t choose to celebrate your sin as if you have the right to live however you want with no consequences, Jesus death on the cross says that isn’t so!
Choose to turn from your sin, to repent and to turn to Jesus. I’m not just talking about people who have never trusted in Jesus, I’m talking about all of us in our constant struggle with sin.
If you do not have faith in Jesus, repent! Turn from your life of sin that leads to death and trust Jesus for forgiveness and to lead you in the way that leads to life!
If you do have faith in Jesus, the life you live in Christ must be a life of repentance, constantly turning from the temptations and sin that so easily entangles.
In either case we must constantly call on the Lord to help us, to accept His death in our place and the forgiveness that comes through faith in Him and to defend us from the continuous temptations to sin.
Amen.
