A Tale of 3 Crowns

Tonight we are continuing to make our way through Mark 6 which is a fairly long chapter which just so happens to have two of Jesus’ most well-known miracles: the feeding of the 5,000 and walking on water. We will get to at least one of those miracles next week but tonight we are going to move backwards on the life of Christ timeline and return to John the Baptist. You may remember back in Mark 1 we were introduced to John the Baptist and his ministry and we haven’t heard of John since we left chapter 1. Tonight we break from the narrative and move to the throne room of King Herod Antipas. If you have heard the Christmas story, chances are the name Herod might be familiar to you but what you may not know is that there were multiple king Herod’s that will be seen throughout the time of the New Testament. The Herod that we are going to be introduced to here in Mark 6 is the son of Herod the Great who was the evil king that we read about around Christmas time. If I was to say of you, “Your conscience is eating you alive” what would I be saying? Would that be a positive statement or a negative statement? So, what is a conscience? It’s like that little voice inside of you that seems to tell you whether or not something is right or wrong. If you’ve seen Pinocchio, you might remember Jiminy Cricket who was the little bug that was given the task of helping Pinocchio distinguish between right and wrong so that he could become a real boy. You might even think of your conscience as the little angel and devil that sit on your shoulder like from the Emperor’s New Groove that is constantly tugging and nagging at you to make a decision. So is something like a conscience biblical? I would say that based on what the Bible teaches, yes. Paul himself says in Romans 2:15 “in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” Throughout the early chapters of Romans, Paul talks about how every man, woman, and child has the law written in their heart and how they can clearly perceive God through nature and His invisible attributes so that we are without excuse when it comes from knowing right and wrong. Man’s laws may change but God’s law does not and it is that law which is written in our hearts. Is there such a thing then as a guilty conscience? Is their an internal testimony which follows us like a shadow and reminds us of when we have done something wrong? Does God work that way? I believe he does and we will see this tonight in the life of King Herod. Before we open up in prayer and read God’s Word, let me tell you what we will be talking about tonight: We are going to look at 3 crowns that we will see in this passage: a worldly crown, a guilty crown, and then a glorious crown. Let’s pray and then we will read Mark 6:14-29

Mark 6:14–29 NASB95

And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!” For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so; for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him. A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee; and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.” And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded 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 about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

A Worldly Crown

Now, who is the wearer of the worldly crown in these verses? Verse 14 tells us right away that it is King Herod. Now we have already talked a little bit about who this man was but we need to know a little bit more about him in order for us to understand why he feels as guilty and as haunted as he does in these verses. Like I said earlier, the king that is recorded here is known as Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great. Even though he has the title of king, he was not on the same level of kingship as someone like David or Solomon in the Old Testament. Instead, Herod was what we could call a little king that served under the emperor of Rome. In fact, this kingship position was instituted by the Roman government as an additional way to see to it that Roman rule and influence was over the entire empire. Herod the Great had several sons and they all ended up getting portions of the nation of Israel to rule. Herod Antipas served the longest while his brother Archelaus was just an idiot and lasted on a few years ruling over Judea and Samaria. It is this son that would eventually be replaced by Pontius Pilate. There was another son named Philip the Tetrarch who ruled in the north and was succeeded by his more well-known nephew Herod Agrippa, this is the Herod that we are introduced to in the book of Acts. Our of all of these little kings, Herod Antipas, the Herod we are reading about in Mark 6, served the longest over the region of Galilee. Herod Antipas, like his father and brothers, was an incredibly immoral, sinful, and barbaric individual. So, what is happening with Herod in Mark 6? In verse 14, Herod hears all about Christ’s teaching and miracles and at this point, people are still struggling with the identity of Jesus. They cannot wrap their heads around who He is so some people are saying that Jesus is a prophet and some are saying that He is the second coming of Elijah but another rumor that is going around is that He is John the Baptist risen from the dead. By Mark 6, John has already been put to death by Herod and Herod is convinced that Jesus is a resurrected John the Baptist. In verse 17, Mark gives us a flashback where we see that John was arrested by Herod not necessarily because of his ministry but because he opposed Herod’s marriage to Herodias. What was wrong with that marriage? Well Herodias was the wife of Herod’s half-brother Philip who was still alive at this point so John is opposing the adultery and sexual sin of Herod. John points out that the Law states that what Herod did was wrong, that he needed to repent but Herod does not care. He is not Jewish so he does not feel bound to the Law of God and this is an important lane for us to swerve into. If God says something is sin, it does not matter what culture you are a part of or what your opinion of the matter is. God’s law is for all people, it is universal. No one can say that what God says in regards to what is clearly stated in His word is not for them. What is wrong for one in God’s sight is wrong for all. In verse 19 we see that Herodias hated John and wanted to put him to death but she couldn’t do it because Herod was afraid of John. Deep down, Herod knew that John was a righteous and holy man and kept him safe. Not only did Herod keep him safe, we read in verse 20 that he listened to John, enjoyed listening to John but was very perplexed when he listened to him. That word perplexed means that Herod has an ocean of emotions come over him as he listened to John. Some translations go as far as to say that Herod was disturbed while he listened to John. Even at this point, Herod’s conscience is being pricked and prodded by John’s words. Eventually Herod’s birthday comes along and we read that Herodias’ daughter comes to the party and dances for Herod and his guests. When we read that she danced for them, we need to understand that she isn’t a little girl that came in and did a tik tok dance for the party goers. No, this dance is very provocative, very sexual in its nature and Herod is so enslaved to his sexual sin that after one dance, he promises this girl whatever she wants, even up to half the kingdom. She doesn’t know what to ask for but her mom does, she wants the head of John the Baptist and Herod, though sorry, is more enslaved to his promise than he is to human decency and has John killed.

A Guilty Crown

The man with the earthly crown now has an even heavier crown of guilt. No matter where Herod goes, he cannot escape John. He hears of this great work that is being done in Jesus and knowing that he has done so much wrong, he is convinced that it has to be John. John has come back to haunt him. There is an old movie from the 60’s called The Greatest Story Ever Told which is like a 3 hour movie on the life of Jesus and Charlton Heston plays John the Baptist. Heston was the guy that played Moses in the Ten Commandments movie and Ben-hur in Ben-hur, and there is a scene in the movie where John is taken to be executed and the camera zooms in on Herod’s face and all that Herod hears is the voice of John saying, “Repent!” John is already dead but that message of repentance that Herod kept hearing, he can’t escape it. J.C. Ryle said, “Here we see the amazing power of truth over the conscience. Herod fears John the Baptist while he lives, and is troubled about him after he dies. A friendless, solitary preacher, with no other weapon than God’s truth, disturbs and terrifies a king.” Unless the guilt of our actions is addressed and atoned for, we are always going to be wearing the crown of guilt. We all hear that call for repentance, we all feel the tug that whatever action is wrong but what are we going to do with it? Because I tell you this, each and every one of us is either wearing this crown now or has worn it in the past. Each and every one of us deep down knows that we have stood against the God of the universe and we attempt to silence or minimize it to vindicate ourselves or make us feel like we haven’t done something wrong. But how the guilt follows. We know, we’ve heard, and we can’t escape it. Let me give you guys a quick tour through the literary world. Have you guys ever read Edgar Allen Poe’s A Tell-Tale Heart? I know I read it in high school but I can’t remember if you all would still read it. We even took a field trip I think in middle school to go see a play of it. It’s a really well known story. In it there is the narrator who lives with an older man that may be his father, his landlord, it’s left ambiguous but the narrator hates the old man and he makes up this perfect plan to murder him. He kills the man, chops him up in the bathtub and then hides him under the floorboards. Right before the old man dies, he screams as most people do that are being murdered and this wakes up a neighbor who gets the police. The narrator tells the officer that he just screamed from a nightmare and he lets the officers walk through the house and there is no evidence that a crime had taken place. But then the narrator starts to hear something, or at least he thinks he does. He hears a small ringing which turns into a loud ringing and he is convinced that it is the old man’s heart still beating. The story ends with the narrator saying this: “I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men — but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! what could I do? I foamed — I raved — I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder — louder — louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! — no, no! They heard! — they suspected! — they knew! — they were making a mockery of my horror! — this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! — and now — again! — hark! louder! louder! louder! louder! — “Villains!” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! — here, here! — it is the beating of his hideous heart!” Could we not see Herod being haunted in this very same way? Look, God in His mercy gives us a conscience to know right from wrong, there is a reason why we feel guilty when we live contrary to what God requires. Deep down we know that we have offended someone far greater and with far greater authority than our own. The issue with Herod, and the issue with so many of us is that rather than have our guilty conscience drive us towards repentance, we run further away from the one that can rid us of the guilt. If we fast forward in the Gospels to the end of Christ’s life, we see that Jesus as He stands on trial is brought to Herod and Herod is excited because at this point, he hopes to see some amazing sign from Jesus and this is what we read in Luke 23:9 “And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing.” The time came when the One who could do something for Herod would no longer do it. The One that could have silenced his conscience remained silent. God had nothing more to say to Herod. Herod had all the information he needed but he didn’t use it. His sin had gotten too loud and the moment was gone. Friends, this is so important for us. Sinclair Ferguson writes, “Unless we silence sin, sin will silence conscience. Unless we heed God’s word, the day may come when we despise God’s son- and then God will have nothing more to say to us.” Where does your guilt and grief drive you towards? Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:10 “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” If our guilt drives us towards God and repentance it is a good thing. John also reminds us in 1 John 2:1 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;” We know that all lie guilty before God and all lie in need of a Savior. Do not let the sin in your life continue to blind you to that reality. If you feel the weight of your guilt and sin, look to Christ now and cast your burden onto Him with the full assurance that He alone is able to bear it.

A Glorious Crown

One last thing that I want to mention is the third crown that we see in this chapter and that is the crown of glory. John’s death was not a pointless and unrewarding death. It is after John dies that he receives a crown of far greater worth than Herod would ever wear. Those that suffer and die for righteousness sake do not go unrewarded. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 4:8 “in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” Peter also tells us in 1 Peter 5:4 “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” Jesus says to the church in Revelation 2:10 “‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Everything in the believers life from beginning to end is a royal procession. Even our deaths are used by God and we read in Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones.” Everything in the believer’s life is precious to God because God loves us. If even our tears are so precious to God that He puts them in a bottle, all the more so is our blood and our deaths. Why so precious though? Here’s what Charles Spurgeon said: “The death of a saint is precious because it is a precious sheep folded, a precious sheaf harvested, a precious vessel which had been long at sea brought into harbour, a precious child which had been long at school to finish his training brought home to dwell in the Father’s house for ever. God the Father sees the fruit of his eternal love at last gathered in: Jesus sees the purchase of his passion at last secured: the Holy Spirit sees the object of his continual workmanship at last perfected: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rejoice that now the blood-bought ones are free from all inbred sin, and delivered from all temptation. The battle’s fought and the victory is won for ever.” The death of Christ’s people does nothing but bring the object of His affections home. St. Chrysostom said, “Do not say, ‘why was John allowed to die?’ For what occurred was not death, but a crown, not an end, but the beginning of a greater life. Learn to think and live like a Christian. You will not only remain unharmed by these events, but will reap the greatest benefits.” Friends, if your life were to end today know that it is not out of God’s hand or His control. The day of our death is the perfect day because it is the day that God has marked to bring us home and God makes no mistakes. Even those who are killed for righteousness sake will not see their faithfulness go unrewarded and will see their deaths as that which rushes them before the throne of their loving Savior. Do you have that kind of confidence before death? If not, let’s talk about it.