The Death of John the Baptizer
Mark 6.14-29
Introduction
It was actually Easter, though it felt like Halloween. Many of you know that before moving back to Michigan, I was pastor of a small rural church in Kentucky. They had a tradition ever year on Easter: they would have a joint sunrise service with two other churches, one called Zion and the other Providence. These three churches would rotate – one church would host the service, another would lead the music, and the third church’s pastor would preach. This particular year Zion hosted, Providence supplied the music, and I preached.
After the service everyone was invited to a breakfast before going back for our own Easter services. Keep in mind I wasn’t involved in the planning of the breakfast, so I had no idea what was about to happen. Because I preached we were the last ones to get downstairs to the fellowship hall and I couldn’t believe what I saw, the head of John the baptizer on a platter. Of course it wasn’t literally the head of John. The pastor of that church had cut a hole in the table so that his head was above and his body beneath. He has a long wig on and was pretending to be dead. It was a shocking sight.
I couldn’t help but think about that odd breakfast this week as I was studying this text. The view of a severed head in the midst of a banquet is a sobering image. This is a sobering pericope, but it doesn’t take place in a vacuum. Remember Mark isn’t merely telling us random stories about things that happened while Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth. Mark is telling us about the coming of the kingdom of God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. And because that’s true, we can’t allow this to become a stand-alone episode.
No. Like every other narrative in Mark’s Gospel, this is about Jesus. It’s about how he’s the king. Long before Kanye dropped an album, Mark was saying Jesus is king. And it’s about how the king is going to the cross. It’s about how the kingdom of Christ is at war with every other kingdom in this world. The setting of the story is about Jesus. Verses 14-16 reveal that Jesus’ fame is the occasion for Mark to relay the account of John’s death. We see Jesus most prominently when we realize John functions as a type of Christ. When I use the word type, I’m meaning a signpost. John is like a sign that’s pointing us to someone else, Jesus Christ.
John’s Message
The first way that John points us to Christ is through his message. Verses 14-16 let us know the fame of Jesus causes Herod to think back to his execution of John. Just a quick word about Herod, this is Herod Antipas the son of Herod the Great. Herod the Great is the king we see murdering babies when Jesus was born. When he dies his kingdom is divided among his 4 sons. So the Herod in Mark 6 is not technically a king, he’s a tetrarch. But he wanted to be king. He made the people of Galilee call him king. Later in his life, he was removed from his position and exiled because he tries to become king. So when Mark calls him king here, it’s a little sarcastic, “king” Herod.
This Herod is hearing things about Jesus. Some say he’s a reanimated John. Some people are saying that Jesus is Elijah; others are saying he is one of the great prophets. But Herod is convinced that John is back. Now Mark gives us a flashback to what happened because though he alluded to John’s imprisonment earlier (Mark 1.14), he hasn’t told us the rest of the story.
Notice first that John points us to Jesus with the character of his message. Verse 20 says that Herod knew that John was a righteous and holy man. This, in turn, gives John an audience with Herod. Even though Herod was afraid of John and John’s message greatly perplexed him, he still heard him gladly. We know from other places in the Canon that John isn’t sinless. In Luke 7.18-23 he sends disciples to question the authenticity of Jesus. But John’s character points Herod to someone greater, to one who is perfectly righteous and holy. This is the same exact phrase that Pilate uses to describe the Lord Jesus on the night that he was betrayed – righteous and holy. His Christ like character gains him a friendship with an evil man, which affords him the opportunity to preach the gospel.
And that’s where we see that it’s not merely the character of John’s message that points to Christ, but also the content. Verse 18, For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” John is referring to Leviticus 18.16 and 20.21 where the Law forbids a man to marry his brother’s wife while he’s still alive. This is what Herod had done. Not only is Herodias his sister-in-law, but she’s also his niece. Herod is committing incest, had an adulterous affair with his brother Philip’s wife, and then divorced his first wife to marry her.
John is speaking truth to power. John is showing the people that Herod is not the true king that he claims to be. And he’s using the Law to preach the gospel. Herod was a sinner. He needed the forgiveness of sin. God promised that salvation would come through the suffering servant who would be king. Herod is not that king. He needs that king. John recognized this promised one to be Jesus of Nazareth. That’s why John declared; behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
That’s why Herod thinks that Jesus is John reincarnate. It’s not because of the miracles. The Scripture never says that John did any miracles. Look back at verse 12, what is the message Jesus sent the disciples out to preach? Repentance. That’s what John preached. Herod is haunted by guilt of sin because John called him to repent and he neglected the means of grace.
There’s no doubt that some of you are in Herod’s shoes; you feel the guilt of your sins. The message that John preached is the same message we preach, and it isn’t simply stop lying, or stop looking at pornography, it’s not just quit gossiping or quit having sex outside of marriage. The good news of Jesus is that Christ died for your sins, he was buried, and he was raised on the third day (1 Cor 15.3-4). The gospel says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom 10.9). We confess with the Apostles’ Creed that we believe in the forgiveness of sins. John’s message wasn’t just, “stop it!” His message was, “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” You don’t simply need self-improvement; you need Christ.
John’s Martyrdom
Not only does John point us to Christ through his message, but also through his martyrdom. John is imprisoned because he continues calling Herod to repentance and Herod’s wife, Herodias, hates him. She wants him dead, but Herod protects John by putting him in prison. Herodias finally seizes an opportunity when Herod throws himself a big birthday party and Herodias’ daughter dances for him and his buddies. Every commentator says this would’ve been a very illicit and sexual dance. Normally prostitutes would’ve done such a thing at a Roman party like this, but this time it was the princess. Herod is obviously drunk and feeling braggadocios and so he tells the girl that he’ll give her whatever she wants. After conspiring with her mother, she asks for John’s head on a platter.
In decades of life it seems like there are certain key moments for every individual, moments that determine what kind of people we are. This was one of those moments for Herod. When his stepdaughter asked for John’s head Herod should’ve come to his senses. He should’ve repented of his adultery and divorce. He should’ve repented of lusting after his stepdaughter. He should’ve repented of his pride and his silly drunken oath. He should’ve yielded to John’s message of repentance that had intrigued him, but he doesn't. Herod can’t look weak in front of his boys, so he orders the execution. The next time we see Herod he will be mocking Christ on the night he was betrayed. He missed his chance. Maybe this is one of those moments for you. Maybe you’ve heard the gospel over and over, but you are becoming hardened to it. Don’t play games with the gospel. It’s not neutral. The gospel either yields repentance or hardness. The same sun that melts the snow hardens the clay. Don’t miss your opportunity.
Notice also the clashing of Christ’s kingdom with Herod’s. Pastor Kevin showed us last week that Jesus sent his disciples out two by two. They go out preaching repentance, exorcising demons, and healing the sick. Jesus’ kingdom brings life. Herod’s kingdom brings death.
It isn’t only John’s life that points to Christ, but also his death. Verse 29 foreshadows what’s to come for the Lord Jesus. When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. The word body is the Greek word πτῶμα, which actually means corpse. The only other time Mark uses it is in chapter 15 when Joseph of Arimathea takes Jesus’ corpse. Just as John was the forerunner to Christ in his preaching, so is he the forerunner to Christ in his death. Like John Jesus would be wrongfully executed by the government. Like John Jesus’ body would be buried by loved ones. John’s death points us to what’s going to happen to Jesus.
When Mark’s audience heard this text they’re minds would’ve gone right back to Mark 1.14-15. Pastor Kevin and I have referred to it a lot through out this series because it really is the theme of Jesus’ ministry right at the beginning of the book. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” From the very beginning John’s death is connected to the preaching of the gospel.
It’s important for us to remember that just because John’s death points to Jesus’ death, they’re not the same. There is continuity and discontinuity. John was a martyr for the faith. Jesus Christ died to pay for the sins of his people. When Jesus died on the cross he experienced the full wrath and justice of God the Father on John’s behalf, on our behalf. The only reason we can obtain the forgiveness of sin is because the Lamb of God was slaughtered to take away our sins.
John’s Misidentification
John points us to Christ through his message, his martyrdom, and also through his misidentification. Look again at verse 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.” Also verse 16, But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” Herod misidentifies Jesus and thinks that John has been resurrected. He doesn’t know it, but even in his paranoia he’s cluing us in on the gospel.
While John hasn’t been raised, this man he’s misidentifying, Jesus of Nazareth will be. Jesus hasn’t just come to die. Jesus came to die and resurrect. Jesus came to defeat death and bring life. That phrase in verse 14, has been raised is the word ἐγείρω. It means to rise up. Pastor Kevin mentioned it when he preached chapter 4 when the disciples wake Jesus up and he rises to rebuke the storm. It’s used elsewhere in the NT to speak of the resurrection of Christ. And here it’s in the perfect passive form, the verb tense that describes an action that occurs and has lasting effects. Jesus’ resurrection is a historical event that has lasting effects today. It’s the power that works to resurrect dead hearts even today. It’s the resurrection that guarantees the resurrection of all of God’s saints in the last day.
Herod didn’t see it at the time, but Mark’s 1st century readers did, and we do too. This man who’s doing these powerful things isn’t a resuscitated John, no this is Jesus the Christ. And he was resurrected and that resurrection will have eternal effects. Christ has died, Christ is rise, Christ will come again!
Conclusion
When I think about that Easter breakfast and the strange beheading reenactment, the thing that concerns me the most isn’t that it was weird, though it was. It isn’t that the Bible was trivialized, though it was. It isn’t even that the stunt had nothing to do with the service, though it didn’t (I hadn’t even preached on this text). The most concerning thing was that it viewed the death of John the baptizer in a vacuum. Like it’s just another interesting religious story. It’s not. This story is about Jesus Christ and how he’s the king who’s going to the cross. Jesus’ kingdom is at war with the kingdom of Herod and every other Babylon this world has to offer. When you divorce John’s death from the gospel, then it’s not really an Easter story; it’s just Halloween.