Mark 6:14-29: An Inconvenient Truth

The truth isn't always popular, and it's often inconvenient.  As disciples of Christ, the challenge is telling the truth even in those times when it hurts.  Whether it stings someone else emotionally or causes our own lives turmoil, our vindication comes ultimately because of our willingness to cling to our proclamation of the truth, even when that proclamation has dire circumstances.  There is no greater example of such determined truth-telling than that of John the Baptist, a man who often found himself in hot water because of the truthfulness of his testimony.

We see clearly illustrated in John's story that there will come a time when telling the truth will make us enemies.  Sadly for John, his witnessing made enemies of not only King Herod, but also his wife Herodias.  Being surrounding by sycophants and courtiers, Herod was probably not used to hearing his actions criticized.  And yet, John didn't hesitate to share an honest opinion of Herod's marriage to Herodias, specifically the opinion that it violated the law.  Though we have no indication that John mentioned it, Herod was also guilty of building his capital on a pagan cemetery (making it inhabitable to any law-observant Jew), and naming it Tiberias (after a Roman Emperor of all people).  Of course it's possible that John had something to say about these things, but the text makes it clear that Herod's wife Herodias took specific issue with his criticism of her marriage to Herod, and states that she had a "grudge" against him, or "had it in for" him.  This vocal opposition to the marriage of Herod and Herodias would ultimately lead to John's beheading, an execution chosen as a means of demeaning and dishonoring the condemned.  If the powers that be will treat a prophet like John the Baptist in such a way, how will they respond to one who is greater, whose actions themselves proclaim the message of God's kingdom at work in the world?  What treatment can Jesus expect to receive at the hands of such people?  

John isn't the only person we can learn from in this story.  As Christians we are called to proclaim the truth, but as imperfect sinners, there will also be times when we need to hear very difficult truths.  How will we respond when the truth is inconvenient?  We see Herod was intrigued by John's message, but he lacked the character to respond in the necessary way.  Herod is greatly disturbed when his own oath forces him to acquiesce to John's execution.  The Greek word  perilypos, which the ESV translates as "exceedingly sorry", is used only one other time in the gospel of Mark, to describe Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  If we think of Jesus' agony in the garden, we can then imagine the internal conflict that Herod was experiencing.  He knew what he should do, but he proved incapable of doing it, setting off an emotional and spiritual civil war within.  It's easy to overlook the fact that this story is introduced by way of referencing Jesus' increasing popularity.  What we have in Mark 6 is a recounting of what had already happened to John, set in motion because many thought Jesus to be John the Baptist back from the dead.  Was this Jesus the resurrected John, a martyred prophet resurrected and thus vindicated by God?  While we know that in fact that was not the case, we can also understand why Herod would fear that Jesus' ministry was ultimately a sign that he had chosen the wrong side.  Which "side" have you chosen?  When confronted with the tough truth of who Jesus is, how have you responded?

A final thing we can take away from the story of John's death is that our cause and our message, is bigger than we are.  Looking through the world's eyes, it would appear that Herod won in his confrontation with the message proclaimed by John the Baptist.  However, history, and ultimately God vindicates John at the same time that it vindicates Jesus.  In an appropriate twist of fate, Herod would go to war with the Nabateans some time after John's death, partially over his past divorce of a Nabatean princess.  That twist of fate would prove to be not only appropriate but also ironic in that it was this divorce which cleared the way for Herod's marriage to Herodias.  In the end, Herod's marriage was not only the cause of John the Baptist's undoing, but also Herod's as well.  While the text refers to Herod has a king, technically speaking he was merely a tetrarch, and it would actually be his request to be made a king that would get him exiled by Caligula in 39 AD.  Herod's exile sent him hundreds, if not thousands of miles from his "kingdom", where he was never heard from again.  Contrast this with John, who even in death was shown a great deal of respect by his disciples, who retrieve his body for a proper burial.  Those same disciples continue his ministry, helping prepare the way for the proclamation of the kingdom of God, and ultimately the church. 

One died shamefully, but is honored to this day as an example of what it means to proclaim the truth with boldness and without reservation.  The other lived gloriously, but died in exile, forgotten by all those whom the sought to impress and rule over.  In referring to the treatment of John the Baptist perhaps John Chrysostom summed it up best when he said of Herod that  “he cut off the head but he did not cut off the voice.  He curbed the tongue but he did not curb the accusation.”  When we proclaim the truth, no matter what happens to our head or our tongue, our voice is never silenced.