But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” For it was Herod who 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. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly (Mark 6:16-20 ~ conclusion in footnote).
The reason I find so much comfort in a passage like this is because of our tendency to think that no one could possibly know what painful things we have gone through in life. When painful experiences pile up so that we feel buried in our grief, it can be difficult to imagine anyone else knowing what we are going through.
However, when we read something like this account of John the Baptist’s imprisonment and execution, the details are so familiar that there is comfort in knowing that “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
Instead of expanding on how the things I shared relate to my own experiences, I encourage you to look at the things John the Baptist went through for being “a righteous and holy man” who was living in “the obedience of faith”. John’s assignment was to prepare the way for the Messiah to come and secure our salvation. So even in his unjust death, he pointed ahead to what would be done to our Savior who was perfect in righteousness and holiness.
By the end of my meditation on God’s word, I found myself attaching to Paul’s motto in facing the threat of death, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). John the Baptist showed that he was living the same way. He proclaimed a baptism of repentance, and so he kept confronting Herod with his sin in the hope of bringing the king to repent and believe the good news that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah of God.
John’s example continues to prepare our hearts for the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Herod shows us the cost of respecting Jesus without repenting and trusting him. Herodias shows us the cost of despising God’s servants who expose us in our sin (when it is God’s kindness working to bring us to repentance – Romans 2:4). Herodias’s daughter shows us the cost of following our parents in their sin instead of following Jesus into his salvation.
But John the Baptist shows us another member of that “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) who, “through his faith, though he died, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4). And what he speaks into our “nothing new under the sun” experiences of injustice is to,
let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)
Footnote: But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias's 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 give it to you.” And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 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.” And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. (Mark 6:21-29)
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