Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving through Mark’s gospel, we come to a point where Mark includes a brief side-story that is not directly connected to Jesus, but one that gives us insights into a few comments that are mentioned later on in Jesus’ ministry leading up to a very uneventful meeting that took place on the morning Jesus was crucified.

However, the reason this event is significant is not because of how it leads into Jesus’ story, but instead it is significant because of how it ends the story of Jesus’ forerunner in ministry. Three of the four gospel writers include this event, and this tells us that this event was significant to those in the early church.

Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 6, and we will read from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 14, Mark tells us that:

¹⁴ King Herod heard about Jesus, because he was now well known. Some people said, “He is John the Baptist, who has risen from the dead. That is why he can work these miracles.”

¹⁵ Others said, “He is Elijah.”

Other people said, “Jesus is a prophet, like the prophets who lived long ago.”

¹⁶ When Herod heard this, he said, “I killed John by cutting off his head. Now he has risen from the dead!”

¹⁷ Herod himself had ordered his soldiers to arrest John and put him in prison in order to please his wife, Herodias. She had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother, but then Herod had married her. ¹⁸ John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to be married to your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ So Herodias hated John and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t, ²⁰ because Herod was afraid of John and protected him. He knew John was a good and holy man. Also, though John’s preaching always bothered him, he enjoyed listening to John.

²¹ Then the perfect time came for Herodias to cause John’s death. On Herod’s birthday, he gave a dinner party for the most important government leaders, the commanders of his army, and the most important people in Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and the people eating with him.

So King Herod said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³ He promised her, “Anything you ask for I will give to you—up to half of my kingdom.”

²⁴ The girl went to her mother and asked, “What should I ask for?”

Her mother answered, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.”

²⁵ At once the girl went back to the king and said to him, “I want the head of John the Baptist right now on a platter.”

²⁶ Although the king was very sad, he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard it. So he did not want to refuse what she asked. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent a soldier to bring John’s head. The soldier went and cut off John’s head in the prison ²⁸ and brought it back on a platter. He gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When John’s followers heard this, they came and got John’s body and put it in a tomb.

One thing about this event that stood out to me as we read it just now is Herod’s reaction on hearing about Jesus and thinking He was a resurrected John the Baptist. While I will be the first to say I believe in a resurrection of the dead, it is interesting that Herod also believed in a resurrection of the dead.

However, a slightly disturbing but also a little funny picture enters my brain when thinking about Herod’s response. When Herod tries to rationalize Jesus stepping into history as potentially being John the Baptist risen from the dead, Herod makes the statement that he had beheaded John. This would make John’s head occupy a completely different location than John’s body. This passage finishes off by telling us that John’s followers came for John’s body and they buried his body, now headless, in a tomb.

I don’t know if Herod’s wife kept John’s head as a souvenir or as a trophy for her victory over this irritating preacher, but regardless of whether she kept it or eventually disposed of it, John’s head was not anywhere near his body from the details of our passage.

When speculating whether John had been resurrected, the somewhat strange picture in my mind wonders if Herod thought John had resurrected without a head, or if somehow, John’s head had regrown itself. From my reading of the miracles in the Bible, I don’t recall a resurrection miracle where the person being resurrected had been beheaded beforehand.

However, this brings up an interesting point about resurrection as a belief. While we don’t have any examples that I am aware of with resurrecting someone who was cut into more than one piece, the resurrection we are looking forward to does not need our current bodies intact. Instead, when Jesus returns, regardless of the state of the atoms that composed our original bodies, Jesus has in mind new bodies for us. It is possible our new bodies will be composed of atoms, but it is also possible that God has a completely new element in mind for our resurrected and re-created bodies.

However, what about the passage and event we are focusing on in this episode? What can we learn from what is shared about John’s fate in this passage?

Whenever I read about John’s ultimate end, two ideas come to mind. The first idea is that John could have spared himself a lot of hassle if he had simply kept quiet about his disapproval of Herod’s marriage to his brother’s wife. While nothing about this marriage was lawful from a Jewish perspective, I don’t ever get the impression that Herod cared what the Jews thought or believed. And, I also don’t get the impression that Herod was Jewish or cared about Jewish customs.

It is also possible that the context for this marriage was also condemned by Roman culture. I don’t know whether this was the case or not, but if so, then Herod might have cared a little more even if he didn’t care about breaking that custom.

This first big idea leads to the lesson that if we speak out against authority, don’t be surprised if we face consequences because that authority does not like to have their sins held up for display. While God might call us to speak out in tough situations, it is also possible that we are called to have wisdom and discretion with how we speak. Jesus did say some harsh words directed towards the political leadership in Judea while He was alive on earth, but I don’t recall Jesus ever condemning the lifestyle or choices of those in political power. Jesus simply had a different focus.

The second big idea is that sometimes God’s plan for our lives ends up being different from our preferred plan. Actually, this is usually the case. However, sometimes God’s plan for our lives has an end to our earthly lives before we might desire our end to be. While it is often impossible to know on this side of heaven why God allows some people to die while letting other people live, we can know and trust that God does have a plan.

I have a suspicion that if John lived past Jesus’ return to heaven, even confined to a prison, then he might have unintentionally hindered the start of the early church spreading the good news about Jesus to the known world. It’s possible that some of those who had been John’s followers who had become Jesus’ followers may have returned to John instead of seeking the Holy Spirit and spreading the gospel.

In our own lives, while we might not always understand why things happen the way that they do, we can trust and know that God has a plan for our lives. While our lives on earth may end before we think they should, God’s ultimate plan is for us to live longer than we can imagine and to live a recreated, resurrected life with Him for eternity. Even if trials and struggles come our way, we can hold onto the promise and the hope that God is bigger than the challenges we face, and eternity last longer than today’s trials.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first and place Him first in your life. Choose to trust Him even when things don’t make sense, and keep your faith and focus fixed on Jesus and the sacrifice He made for each of us. Know that through Jesus’ death, we can have a new life with God!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to Jesus each and every day. Through prayer and Bible study, we open our hearts to God and we let Him into our lives.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Following Jesus feeding the crowd of over five thousand people, and then walking on the water to His disciples as they were struggling in their boat to cross the lake, we come to our passage for this episode. Leading up to this passage, Jesus had sent the people away following the miraculous feeding of food, and the following day they return looking for Him.

The crowd saw Jesus’ disciples leave without Jesus in their boat, but when they came back looking for Jesus, they could not find Him where that miracle had taken place. The crowd then travels to the other side of the lake looking for Jesus.

This background leads us into our passage for this episode, and a set of powerful truths we can learn from it. Actually, the teaching we are looking at in this passage is too long for one episode, and because of this, we will split this teaching into two parts.

Let’s read the first part of what Jesus shared, and discover some amazing things about how Jesus pushed His crowd of followers.

Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 6, and we will read it from the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 25, John tells us:

²⁵ When the people found Jesus on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Teacher, when did you come here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you aren’t looking for me because you saw me do miracles. You are looking for me because you ate the bread and were satisfied. ²⁷ Don’t work for the food that spoils. Work for the food that stays good always and gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because on him God the Father has put his power.”

²⁸ The people asked Jesus, “What are the things God wants us to do?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent.”

I must pause here to draw out this huge truth. In Jesus’ response, we have the clearest answer for the mission of Jesus’ followers on earth. Above anything and everything else, we are called to believe the One God sent. In other words, we are to believe Jesus and place our faith, our hope, and our trust in Him. When we believe someone, we trust their words and adjust our actions accordingly. When we believe Jesus, we trust His words and we align our lives into His will.

However, the crowd has another question. After Jesus tells them to believe the One God sent, we continue in verse 30, and read:

³⁰ So the people asked, “What miracle will you do? If we see a miracle, we will believe you. What will you do? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the desert. This is written in the Scriptures: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

³² Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven; it is my Father who is giving you the true bread from heaven. ³³ God’s bread is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ The people said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ Then Jesus said, “I am the bread that gives life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you before, you have seen me and still don’t believe. ³⁷ The Father gives me the people who are mine. Every one of them will come to me, and I will always accept them. ³⁸ I came down from heaven to do what God wants me to do, not what I want to do. ³⁹ Here is what the One who sent me wants me to do: I must not lose even one whom God gave me, but I must raise them all on the last day. ⁴⁰ Those who see the Son and believe in him have eternal life, and I will raise them on the last day. This is what my Father wants.”

⁴¹ Some people began to complain about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that comes down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “This is Jesus, the son of Joseph. We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³ But Jesus answered, “Stop complaining to each other. ⁴⁴ The Father is the One who sent me. No one can come to me unless the Father draws him to me, and I will raise that person up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. ⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ I tell you the truth, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread that gives life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but still they died. ⁵⁰ Here is the bread that comes down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will never die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give up so that the world may have life.”

Let’s stop reading here and finish this passage in our next episode.

In this first portion of Jesus’ challenge to this crowd, I am amazed that they are this stubborn and unbelieving. It is as though this crowd is looking for reasons to not believe in Jesus than for reasons to believe.

This is the clearest to me when they directly ask Jesus what sign He would give them from heaven. I suspect you caught the irony like I did when the crowd uses the example of God giving the people manna in the desert. They quote scripture saying that God gave them bread from heaven to eat.

The irony in my mind is that these people just finished eating a clearly miraculous food miracle, where the only place for this bread to have come from is God. A boy supplied his meal big enough for one person, and Jesus multiplied it into food for over 5,000 with plenty of leftovers. After witnessing this miracle, likely less than 48 hours later, this crowd completely discounts the miracle of food multiplication, and they want a clearer sign instead of remembering back to what had just taken place.

Jesus redefines the source of the Bread from heaven, and in a symbolic way, Jesus takes the manna that the Old Testament Israelites ate, and He turns it into a symbolic prophecy about God sending Him into the world.

Jesus clearly tells this crowd in no uncertain terms that He is the symbolic bread that gives life. Jesus says in verse 35 that “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jesus is speaking on a spiritual level that many in this crowd do not understand, and those that do understand this are not willing to accept it.

Those in the crowd are unwilling to accept Jesus because many of them knew the family Jesus was raised in. Whether Mary and Joseph kept Jesus’ miraculous birth a secret, or whether they stopped trying to tell people because no one believed them, this crowd saw Jesus as simply being Joseph’s son and nothing more significant. The amazing miracles that God did through Jesus were not enough to break through to them that Jesus was more than simply a carpenter’s son.

However, we have an advantage, because three of the four gospels shed light on Jesus’ origins, and on how Jesus did in fact come from heaven. While this passage may be enough to cause some people to trip up in their faith like those in this first century crowd, the biggest truth I see included in this passage is Jesus’ repeated promise about His own task and responsibility.

In this first part of Jesus’ challenge to this crowd, He repeatedly tells them that He is the Source of eternal life, and that His responsibility is raising up all of God’s people on the last day. When we place our trust in Jesus, not only to we trust in His sacrifice to cover our sins, we trust that He is more than capable of raising us up personally when He returns on the last day.

Jesus’ promise is a promise pointing forward to resurrection, and it is a promise I firmly hold on to. Jesus conquered death, and I know He is preparing a place for all of us who have placed our faith in Him as we all together look forward to the day He returns to bring us home!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As always, continue seeking God first in your life and intentionally place your faith, your hope, your trust, and your belief in Jesus and what He did for you on the cross. Also place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and His power to do exactly what He has promised for all of God’s people, which is raising each and every one of them up when He returns. It is Jesus’ responsibility to raise up God’s people and it is His responsibility to not lose even one of those who have given their lives to God. We can trust that even when we don’t know why or how, Jesus knows, He is trustworthy, and God is working in ways we likely cannot see yet.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to personally grow closer to Jesus each and every day. The Bible is the best way to discover Jesus for yourself, and prayer and study are the best ways to open your heart to Jesus and fall in love with Him like He has fallen in love with you!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!