Mark 6:16-29 (Pentecost 8B)
St. John, Galveston 7/14/2024
Rev. Alan Taylor

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you were going to create a recruitment poster for the Christian faith, one that depicted some of the stories from the Bible that demonstrate God’s goodness and His providential care in the lives of His people, you might include the story of Noah and the ark, or of any of the people in the Gospel’s that Jesus healed of various illnesses. This story about King Herod and Herodias and John the Baptist though probably wouldn’t make the cut.

At first glance, the story seems to be a shining example of the triumph of evil over good. It’s a story of pettiness, of foolish pride, of wickedness and of vindictiveness. Sort of caught up in the middle of it, is God’s servant, John. He’s a voice of reason. More than that, he is the voice of the Almighty, sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord and to proclaim the truth of God, a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Throughout his ministry, John was true to God, he was true to his conviction and true to his office. It would seem that was doing everything right. He was following Jesus. He was doing what he was called to do. He was obeying his Lord. And for that, he faced the executioners merciless sword.    

If anyone had chance to save John, I guess begin with John himself. A man who is sentenced to death for what he has said, can always recant, can’t he? He can always apologize and try to make amends to whoever he has offended. In this case, John could have been more tolerant of other lifestyles. He could have been more accepting of cultural norms regarding sexuality. He could have held his tongue and minded his own business. Or, could he? I’m mindful of the words of St. Paul, when he was commanded by King Agrippa to stop preaching in the name of Jesus. Of course, Paul didn’t agree to do what Agrippa commanded. Rather, he said, “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I could not be disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God.” Paul, as he said, COULD NOT be disobedient to the heavenly vision. So it was that John was compelled by God to fulfill his prophetic office. He really couldn’t save himself, could he?

But what about God? Where was He in all of this? Couldn’t God have saved John from the executioners sword? Well, of course He could have, in any number of ways. He could have transported him to another place. A place where he would have been safe from the murderous rage and the vindictiveness of Herodias. He could have rendered Herod powerless to harm John. He could have taken away his kingdom or struck him a debilitating illness. He could have taken his life.

But, of course, none of those things happened, which leaves us with the task of trying to assimilate our thoughts regarding the goodness and mercy of God, particularly as it relates to situations in the Bible like this one. Again, this story of Herod and Herodias and John probably wouldn’t be a good one to help recruit people, if such a thing were possible, to the Christian faith.

Sometimes though the Scriptures remind us that there is a cost to following Jesus. I remember years ago, maybe 25 years or so, at a convention of the Texas District of the LCMS, a pastor from a congregation in Texas had proposed a resolution to the convention to encourage our youth leaders to remind young people that the Christian faith is not all about fun and games, but that there may be a cost associated with following Jesus. The resolution had been submitted by an elderly woman in the pastor’s congregation. A great deal of discussion followed. Ultimately, delegates to the convention were concerned that the resolution seemed to suggest that our youth leaders were not already doing such a thing and that the resolution was a bit mean spirited. Finally, the pastor who submitted the resolution stood up and withdrew it from the floor. He said, “this convention is clearly not worthy of such a resolution.” In my estimation, there was a great deal of truth in the pastor’s words.

As we think about this story of Herod and John, and as we try to gather our thoughts regarding the goodness and mercy of God, we begin, as we always do, at the cross of Jesus. There is no way to dispute it. As the old saying went, “Life happens.” See how gently I dealt with that? “Life happens.” The ultimate question, in the face of things that happen in life, which can’t be answered by nature, or by what our eyes see, is, “is God for us, is He for you, or is He against you?”

Again, for the answer to that question, we begin at the cross. God gave up His Son to die for you. He called you to faith by the power of His Holy Spirit working through His word. He washed you in the water of Holy Baptism. He took away your sin and left you spotless and pure, bearing the image of His own dear Son. He reconciled you to Himself through the blood of Jesus. He has set before you today His body and blood, to give you the blessings of His cross here and now. “What then shall we say to these things (the apostle asks)? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

From the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, we are prepared to look at the bigger picture of life and death. We’re even able to figure out how John’s tragic death could have any sort of meaning in the kingdom of God. First of all, as Jesus Himself said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” St. Paul echoed those words of Jesus later when he said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

So, even now, though John’s flesh, his body, sleeps in anticipation of the resurrection of the dead on the last day, his soul has already been taken to the nearer presence of God. And so, he enjoys even now the paradise of the blest. Indeed, “Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine…The golden evening brightens in the west; Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest; Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest.”  

Of course, God’s faithfulness to John didn’t come only in his death. In life, John fought the good fight of faith, by the power that God worked in Him through the Holy Spirit. As such, he had the joy and the honor of preparing the way for God’s Christ to come into the world. Perhaps his greatest honor was being able to direct the eyes of all the world to “the Lamb of God who takes alway the sin of the world,” to One, who in Holy baptism, took on your sin and mine, to the One who was made sin, that you and I might be the very righteousness of God in Him.

All things considered, John the Baptist would be a great man to put on a recruitment poster for the Christian faith. After all, Jesus Himself said of him,  “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” John’s greatness though was in Christ Jesus. For, as he said, “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride (the Church) is the bridegroom (that is, Jesus). The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”  

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

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +