Gospel July 12

Mark 6:14-29

"Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it." v22b

Never ask a question for which you do not know the answer. While this is not good advice if you want to learn something, it is good advice if you are making yourself vulnerable.

Mark records the somewhat bizarre death of John the Baptist. Delighted by his stepdaughters dance Herod gives her a blank cheque. Salome consults her mother and returns to request the head of John the Baptist. Herod has it presented on a platter.

Why the record of this event? Why the detail? And why did Herodias make such a request?

John the Baptist is not a key figure in Mark's gospel. He prepares the way for Jesus, fulfilling prophecy made centuries before, and baptises Jesus (Mark 1:1-11). We hear no more of him until this record of his death. Only one further mention is made of the Baptist, a passing reference in Mark 8:28.

Circumstances around death of John the Baptist are made clear in this text. While Jesus ministry had grown the prophet had not been silent. As Elijah troubled Ahab and Jezebel so Herod and Herodias had been troubled by one in his mould.

As we read this text Jesus' fame has grown. His mighty works, or those of the disciples sent out in his name, had raised his public profile so much that people were speaking of him a 'resurrected' John the Baptist. The parallels between their ministries were close. That Jesus was identified in this manner points to the popularity of John the Baptist in this area, and Herod agrees "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised" (Mk 6:16). He was wrong, of course, but the thought must have been troubling.

Herod found himself caught between keeping the promise he made to his wife's daughter (in front of prominent and important people he had invited to the feast), and allowing a man he believed to be a 'righteous and holy man' (6:20) live. John the Baptist had criticised Herod's marriage to Herodias as being an illegal marriage according to the Jewish law. Herodias, like many of us, did not take kindly to criticism. When the opportunity came to get rid of one who tormented her she readily took it.

Herod had not known what the response would be to his boastful offer. His brash question was one that he regretted. Given what we know of his character and actions he would not have quickly brushed that regret aside.

Most of us are not so heartless, or so powerful. Even so the statement we make can easily bring our standing in the eyes of others and righteous actions into opposition. Our need for approval by our bosses or our friends, may tempt us to act unjustly and unfairly. It is for us to examine our conscience before God, and always seek the right path, or in biblical terms, the 'righteous' path.