Mark 6:14-29
Death of
John the Baptist
Stress,
Pressure and Words
6:14
And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become
well known; and people were saying, "John the
Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why
these miraculous powers are at work in Him."
15 But others were saying,
"He is Elijah " And others were saying, "He is a
prophet, like one of the prophets of old."
16 But when Herod heard of
it, he kept saying, "John, whom I beheaded, has
risen!"
17 For Herod himself had
sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on
account of Herodias, the wife of his brother
Philip, 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 Herodias had a grudge
against him and wanted to put him to death and
could not do so;
20 for Herod was afraid of
John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man,
and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was
very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to
him.
21 A strategic day came
when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his
lords and military commanders and the leading men
of Galilee;
22 and when the daughter
of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased
Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to
the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will
give it to you."
23 And he swore to her,
"Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up
to half of my kingdom."
24 And she went out and
said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" And she
said, "The head of John the Baptist."
25 Immediately she came in
a hurry 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 although the king
was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and
because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to
refuse her.
27 Immediately the king
sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back
his head. And he went and had him beheaded 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 about this, they came and took away his body
and laid it in a tomb.
-
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to
change the way that we think, and the way that
we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
King Herod
Kills John the Baptist
The great prophet, the fore
teller of Christ, killed because of embarrassment.
Herod was "sorry" at the thought of killing John
but did not let that stop him.
He had arrested John the
Baptist because he was pressured by his advisors
and his wife (sound familiar?) and had him killed
for the same reason.
Herod was accused of adultery
by John because Herodias was Herod's sister
-in-law, the former wife of his brother, Phillip.
Now we see some motive in the actions of Herodias.
The Choice
Herodias had two
choices.
1. She could deal
with her sin.
2. She could get rid of
the one who made it public.
Herodias chose the latter so
the stage was set for the demise of John the
Baptist.
Pressure
King Herod was pressured into
killing John the Baptist. He made a promise to give
the daughter of Herodias anything she asked and,
when she asked for John's head, he faced
embarrassment from his peers and subjects if he
backed away from that promise.
Words
"Think before you
speak." This is an old saying and I don't know
the author but the words we use can produce hurt
and sin. You and I need to be careful in what we
say. We could end up seeing someone's head on a
platter. We don't really want that, do
we?
Love in Christ
- Bob
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
go
here and take the
first
steps to salvation.
Verses about Jesus preparing and sending out
the disciples are from the New American Standard
Bible
Study another Lesson from the
book of Mark
Mark
4:35-41 - Jesus Calms the
Storm
Mark
5:1-20 - Jesus Places Demons into Herd of
Pigs
Mark
5:21-43 - Jesus Restores Life and Heals the
Bleeding Woman
Mark
6:1-6 - People of Nazareth Do Not Believe
Jesus
Mark
6:7-13 - Jesus Gives Instructions to the Twelve
Disciples - Sending Out the 12
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