Sermon Tone Analysis

Floods in Echuca - Height is more important than distance.

But distance gives a false perspective

1. Mission That Stirs Guilt

2. The Cruel Face of Opposition

The hold of Herodias over Antipas reminds the reader of Ahab and Jezebel (1 Ki. 21), and John’s role as the disapproving prophet reflects Elijah’s in that story.

The degenerate nature of Antipas’s splendid banquet contrasts vividly with the wholesome simplicity of the very different feast which will follow next in Mark’s narrative (Mk.

6:39–43).

It is possible that Mark incorporated details in the narrative which would call to mind the Elijah-Jezebel conflict, for it is clear that Jesus later identifies John as Elijah

Josephus (Ant.

18.109–13) describes this marriage as the casus belli between Antipas and Aretas king of Petra, whose daughter had been married to Antipas but was displaced in favour of Herodias

The territory of Antipas included the narrow strip designated Perea, which bordered on the Nabatean Kingdom.

His marriage to Herodias had required the repudiation of a former wife, the daughter of Aretas IV of Nabatea.

It is clear, therefore, that John’s proclamation of the unlawfulness of Herod’s adulterous union could be interpreted as a call to insurrection which threatened the tetrarch from within his province as seriously as did the incensed Nabateans to the east of his province

More weak than cruel, Herod listened to John with an undeniable fascination.

John’s word left him perplexed, and in anguish.

Yet he found a strange pleasure in the authoritative preaching of this holy man, whose stringent life gave added power to his probing word.

Too weak to follow John’s counsel, he nevertheless had to listen.

a man in a trap, forced by social pressure and by his own thoughtless promise into doing what he knows to be wrong

29 For John’s disciples see above on 2:18, where they were clearly recognised as a distinct religious group continuing to operate as such after their master’s imprisonment.

Then in A.D. 36 the Nabatean hordes swept down upon him to avenge the humiliation suffered by the daughter of Aretas.

They administered a stinging defeat to Antipas which the people interpreted as an act of God avenging the murder of John the Baptist.

William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.

B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974), 223.

3. John Has Not Risen from the Dead

Tattoo’s owner shut his leash in the door so he could help his wife carry a load to the car.

Forgetting the dog was there, the owner pulled onto the road and started home, with Tattoo the basset hound trailing along behind.

At first it was like going for a walk, but as the speed increased and the distance lengthened, Tattoo began to have problems keeping up.

The people who loved him the most were unaware of the trouble he was in.

Before they got to the main highway, a motorcycle police officer noticed the trailing dog.

The owners were horrified by the ordeal Tattoo had just experienced, even though the dog appeared uninjured.

When life seems to be dragging you by the neck, it is time to remember that God has something else planned for you—his rest.