# 95 Herod Kills John the Baptist.
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Courage Under Fire.
Courage Under Fire.
Introduction. In event #93 Jesus sends out the 12 disciples on their first missionary journey.
In event #94, Jesus warns the 12 disciples about how they will suffer for the cause of Christ. Jesus tells them he is sending them out as lambs among wolves and describes the kind of persecution they will face.
John the Baptist is example of this persecution.
I. Herod heard of Jesus.
I. Herod heard of Jesus.
14 And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
Herod had heard of all the things that Jesus and the disciples were doing healing the sick and raising the dead.
Because of his guilty conscious, He was afraid that John the Baptist had risen form the dead.
It is bad enough that he had to live with the fact that He had had an innocent righteous man killed but now He is afraid that the man he had killed had come back to life.
It really messes up a good murder when the dead person comes back to life.
Past sin is that kind of burden. It is always lurking in the background. It takes pot shots at you every now and then to remind you that it is there. It will eat away at your very soul if you do not do something about it.
This sin among many others was chewing away at Herod. If this was John the Baptist what would Herod do now? It is hard to hide when the person you killed keeps coming back to life.
As we will see it was not John the Baptist but was in fact Jesus causing all of this stir.
II. Who is Jesus?
II. Who is Jesus?
15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.
Elias= Elijah.
One is a prophet, or one the prophets.
The only person that accurately stated who Jesus was, was Peter.
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
16 But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.
Guilty conscious.
Now Mark goes back in time to tell everyone about how and why Herod had John the Baptist killed.
III. Flashback
III. Flashback
17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her.
16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.
21 And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.
John had the courage to confront sin of the ruling class.
Mark 6:18 (KJV)
18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.
Courage.
19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not:
Herodias did not like having her sin exposed. Instead of dealing with her sin, she simply wanted to do away with the accuser.
She wanted to freely participate in her sinful lifestyle.
Most atheists are so because there is sin in their lives they do not want to give up.
People get defensive when you confront them with their sin. Some people even claim that God maid them that way so it is alright.
Jesus confronted sin but he done it with love and compassion.
Herodias is very reminiscent of Jezabel and her relationship to Elijah the prophet.
20 For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.
Herod is a reminiscent of Ahab.
Herod was afraid of the people and what they thought much like Pilot.
21 And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;
Herod had a big party. Parties with drinking were dangerous in the Bible.
Esther 1; Daniel 5; John Phillips.
22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
This was probably not an artistic dance. This was probably very provocative.
Josephus the Jewish historian says tells us that this girls name is Salome.
keep in mind that Herodias is the daughter of Aristobolus, Herod’s brother. Notice the similarities in their names, Herod and Herodias. Herodias had married Herod’s brother Phillip. there were two Phillips one was Herod Phillip and the other was just Phillip. So Herodias was married to her uncle Phillip. Harod Antipas comes along and Herodias divorces uncle Phillip and marries uncle Herod. Under jewish law a woman could not divorce her husband but under Roman law she could.
So Herod is married to His his niece and His wife will have her daughter seduce Herod, her great uncle and step father with this dance. An.d she evidently performed her task very well.
Royalty should never do this kind of dance in front of people. Every moral law in books has been disregarded in this event.
23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
3 Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
This is a figure of speech. Herod did not really have a kingdom to offer. He was tetrarch not an actual king.
24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.
This was all pre-planned as we learn from Matthews Gospel.
8 And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.
25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.
Herod is a picture of Pilot
John would die for confronting the sin of the government.
Jesus would be crucified for confronting the sin of the religious leaders.
27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
This is also a picture of Jesus being placed in the tomb of Joseph of Aramethea.
Conclusion and application.
Most importantly, don’t hide in the shadow of past sin. Confess that sin and get it covered under the blood of Jesus.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
After you confess you sins, leave them at the foot of the cross and enjoy the freedom you have in Jesus Christ.
We have to have the courage to stand up for what is right. Just because we do right does not mean that everything will go the way you want it.
John stood up for what was right and it cost him his physical life but what rewards he has in heaven.
Jesus also stood up for what was right and was crucified for it. What the religious leaders meant for evil ended providing the atonement for the sins of those that would believe in Jesus and what He done for us on the cross.
Being a disciple of Christ is not a bed of roses. There will be persecution, tribulation and suffering in this world. But we gain way more than this world can offer when we get to heaven.
Next event is #96 Jesus feeds the 5000.