Protection in Death: Mark 6:14-29

While the gospel record focuses on Jesus’ life and the lives of those He helped and taught, periodically, a gospel writer will insert a side-note about something else that happened during Jesus’ life that wasn’t entirely connected to Jesus. Our passage for this podcast episode includes one such side-note – or in this case we could call it a “side-story”.

In a number of our episodes during this year of podcasting, we have focused in on the ministry of John the Baptist, and on how his ministry paved the way for Jesus’ ministry. However, John’s ministry was different from Jesus’ ministry, and perhaps because the gospel writers’ knew John’s ministry and Jesus’ ministries were connected, a few of them deviate from Jesus’ story to tell us what ultimately happened to John the Baptist.

Let’s read the passage and find out what happened to John the Baptist. Our passage is found in the gospel of Mark, chapter 9, and we will read it 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.

Let’s pause reading the passage because I want to point out two things I find interesting so far.

The first thing I find interesting about this passage is how Mark weaves John’s story into Jesus’ story through Herod’s statement when He hears about Jesus. Mark doesn’t break from Jesus’ story without giving us a transition to let us know a brief summary of what had prompted John the Baptist to end up in prison, and, as we will soon read, what eventually lead to John’s head being detached from his body.

The other statement that stood out to me in this section of the passage is the last portion of verse 20, where Mark tells us, “. . . though John’s preaching always bothered him [and this is king Herod], he enjoyed listening to John.”

This statement probably stands out for similar reasons as the other one, because it tells me that John’s preaching was intriguing enough to be interesting and enjoyable, but truthful enough to make the region’s leadership uncomfortable. From how Mark frames John the Baptist’s preaching, we can conclude that John was an excellent communicator who knew how to share a message in a way that taught truth while also being engaging to those who were listening.

Let’s continue reading from verse 21 and learn what happened to John the Baptist:

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.

While King Herod disliked John, he knew that killing John was not wise politically, because John had a decent level of support still among the Jews living in his region, but Herod’s wife hated John because of John’s stance that their marriage was not acceptable or as the passage puts it in verse 18: “lawful”.

However, the queen found her opening through a somewhat blind, open-ended, blank check that Herod gave to her daughter following a dance. Before continuing further, I won’t claim to know what sort of dance this would have been to have pleased Herod so much that he would be willing to part with half his kingdom, but chances are high that he was drunk and this significantly limited his ability to reason that a promise of this nature was a bad idea.

However, Herodias and her daughter were not drunk, and the queen was very quick and calculated in her response through her girl. As I say this, I can’t help but notice that this passage makes a clear distinction that the girl who danced before Herod was Herodias’ daughter, which probably meant that this was a product of Herodias’ marriage to Herod’s brother Philip. This would make the girl who is not named in this passage Herod’s niece. This detail in part explains her loyalty to her mother that was greater than her loyalty to the king.

However, even with all the nuances within the details of this passage, we cannot help but stumble upon some big truths worth paying attention to in this passage. Through the details we know about the end of John’s life, we can discover and learn both a warning and a promise.

The warning comes from Herod’s perspective. This warning is a warning to be cautious about the words that we speak and the promises we make. We may back ourselves into a corner if we are not careful, which results in us pushing ourselves to do something we really didn’t want to do.

However, the promise we can learn in this passage comes from John’s perspective. The promise we discover is that regardless of what happens to my body in this life, God has promised full protection for my future life with Him. While nothing can happen in my present life that He has not allowed, I can understand that whatever happens to me in the present life is insignificant when compared to the future life He has promised me.

With this warning and promise stated, and as we have 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 in your life. Remember the warning and the promise that we can learn from Herod and from John. Purposefully be cautious of the words you say and the promises you make, and remember that with whatever happens to you in this life, God has promised protection in your future life as a follower of Jesus.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do in one way or another, make prayer and personal Bible study a regular habit. Always pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn what being a follower of Jesus really means. Through studying the Bible, discover who Jesus is and why following Him is important! You won’t get a better answer or reason to follow Jesus than what is found when looking at His life within the Bible and the four gospels.

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 give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!