The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost | 14 July 2024 | Mark 6:14-29 | Paul Bieber |

Mark 6:14-29 Revised Standard Version

         ¹⁴ King Herod heard of the disciples’ preaching; for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him.” ¹⁵ But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It 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 Herod 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 said 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 kill him. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly. ²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee. ²² For when Herodias’ 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 grant it.” ²³ And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out, and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the baptizer.” 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 a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his 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.

also

Amos 7:7-15

Psalm 85:8-13

Ephesians 1:3-14

JOHN, HEROD, AND OUR INHERITANCE

Grace, peace, and much joy to you, people of God.

Those who bring God’s Word to his people will face more rejection than acceptance, but, to those who will listen to what the Lord God is saying, he is speaking peace to his faithful people, and promising an inheritance beyond our imagining.

Today’s gospel juxtaposes John the Baptist and Herod the Tetrarch. (This Herod, the son of Herod the Great, had pretensions about being a king, but he governed at the sufferance of Rome.) John brought God’s unwelcome word to Herod and his second wife Herodias, that their union was unlawful. Herodias was insulted by such talk and so Herod threw John into prison.

This happened before the beginning of Jesus’ Galilean ministry, but St. Mark tells the story now as a flashback because, as we heard last week, Jesus has sent the Twelve out on a preaching mission, and Herod has heard of it. When John was alive, he feared him even when he was in prison, for Herod realized that he was a righteous and holy man, whose message perplexed him, though he heard him gladly. Now, having executed him, Herod fears John even more.

He wonders whether this righteous and holy man has been raised from the dead and now, known as Jesus, he has the powers over sickness, demonic powers, the forces of nature, and even death itself, of which Herod has heard—and so have we, in the last few weeks’ Gospels. It is in light of Herod’s answer to the recurring question of St. Mark’s Gospel, “Who then is this?”, that the story of John’s demise is told.

It is in light of the prophet Amos’ unwelcome word to King Jeroboam II of Israel, uttered at the ancient shrine at Bethel, that the story of his banishment by the priest Amaziah is told. The prophetic image of the plumb line, a way of determining whether what you’re building is straight and true, is at the center of Amos’ prophecy of disaster for the house and kingdom of Jeroboam. Amaziah was insulted by such talk and told Amos to go and prophesy elsewhere.

God’s Word is rejected in both cases. Amaziah’s concern for the king’s sanctuary, a temple of the kingdom, cannot bear the prophecy of desolation and exile. Herod’s concern for his improvident oath to give “even half of his kingdom”—though he has no kingdom to give—to his dancing stepdaughter plays into Herodias’ grudge against the Baptist and leads to the grisly request for his head on a platter.

Jesus did say, after all, that “the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word” (4:19); the word is rejected, in which case it yields nothing. St. Mark’s placement of the story here foreshadows the final rejection of Jesus, leading to the cross. The disciples’ successful mission of preaching, casting out demons, and healing, is set in stark relief against this story of the whimsy of evil. A world in which a righteous and holy man can be so wantonly destroyed is clearly a world glutted with evil.

How, then, can Psalm 85 assure us that God’s salvation is very near to those who fear him? It is the great opening of the Letter to the Ephesians that places the people chosen by God into his all-encompassing plan of salvation. We are urged by this word, in short, to look at the big picture: What we are and what we shall be has been set out from eternity, from before the foundation of the world. We exist as people already fitted into a predestined comprehensive design encompassing Christ’s incarnation, the Father’s loving grace, and the Holy Spirit’s seal.

We need not fear that this talk of predestination takes away our cherished freedom. We still have every freedom to reject our place in God’s grace, offered to all. But is confidence that God has destined us to be made a part of his eternal household that strengthens us to refuse, like John the Baptist, to compromise with evil even in the highest places in the land, political and religious. The One who has promised to gather up all things in Christ grants us, like Amos, to see what the plumb line of his word reveals about our human constructs.

I do not possess the personal holiness and integrity of either John the Baptist or the prophet Amos. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Church, to live in response to God’s initiative. God’s intention in the incarnation is our adoption as his children, our union with the Father through the Son’s union with our human nature. Becoming a Christian is not so much inviting Christ into your life as getting yourself into Christ’s life.

That’s a life that may involve more rejection than acceptance, but it is a life redeemed—set free in the deepest way—through the grace that flows from the mystery that is Christ’s life, cross, and rising to the restoration of all things in him. Welcoming this constellation of promises, we can live to the praise of his glory. We trust the promise of our inheritance with all the saints in the light of Christ.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The Rev. Dr. Paul Bieber, STS

E-Mail: paul.bieber@sbcglobal.net

All Saints Lutheran Church

San Diego, California, USA