Mark 6 – John B and Jesus

 

AUG. 12 2017

 

Mark 6:14-28

 

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

 

woman – man, Child – adult, Day – night, land – sea, rich – poor

Jew – Gentile, sinner – righteous, Pharisee – tax collector,

 

 

Herod Antipas

Herodias his wife

Herodias’s daughter

John the Baptist

SLIDE: John the Baptist Beheaded

Mark 6:14-29

¹⁴ King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

¹⁵ Others said, “He is Elijah.”

And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”

¹⁶ But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”¹⁹ So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to,²⁰ because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

²¹ Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³ And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

²⁵ At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

²⁶ The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸ and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. ²⁹ On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

 

COMPARE and CONTRAST

Herod Antipas

Herodias his wife

Herodias’s daughter

John the Baptist

 

Self-reflection – where am I at?

 

6:14-16. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great and Malthace, a *Samaritan technically tetrarch not “king”;

6:17-19. Herod’s affair with his sister-in-law, whom he had by this time married, was widely known. Indeed, because Herodias insisted that Antipas divorce his first wife before marrying her, the first wife fled to her father, king of the Nabatean Arabs, who later went to war with Antipas and defeated him.

(*Josephus claims that many viewed Herod’s humiliation in the war as divine judgment for his executing John the Baptist; Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 18.116-119.)

 

Herod’s appeal for the title “king” under Herodias’s influence that ended his tetrarchy and led to his banishment in A.D. 39 (cf. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 18.250-255).

 

HEROD: family tree – murders and incest

 

HEROD: He was light-minded, sensual, vicious

(Josephus, Antiquities)

 

SLIDE: Mark 3:6  Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

 

Jesus- Herod is a fox   Luke 13:32

 

John the Baptist

Essene – Qumran Community – Dead Sea Scrolls – Baptizer

THE LAST OF THE OT PROPHETS – correct the king!

 

JESUS SPOKE OF JOHN…

SLIDE: Matthew 21: Jesus mentions John the Baptist

²³ Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵ John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

 

John speaks of Jesus

SLIDE: “I must decrease, Jesus must increase.”   – John the Baptist  John 3:30

 

Book of ESTHER – DEEPER BIBLICAL LEARNING

ESTHER 1

² At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, ³ and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present.

⁴ For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty.

He offers Esther ½ his kingdom 5:3, :6

 

King party to impress

Daughter’s depraved selfish request

Esther’s virtuous – others-focused request.

rejected their first wives

OATH ½ of their kingdom –

But Herod – no authority to execute this oath

 

6:20 “Herod feared John”

 

Herod – wealth, power, position, connections, Roman appointment, Herodian dynasty (right family)

WHO HE IS IMPRESSING!

 

John the Baptist – none of these

 

FACEBOOK – Compare and Contrast!

 

We ALL have faith and put it somewhere

 

John – faith in Christ – this world is not EVERYTHING!

 

Herod knew John to be “a righteous and holy man.”

 

Herodias – John The Baptist is the problem

 

JOHN STRUGGLES WITH FAITH

Matthew 11   

² When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples³ to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

⁴ Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵ The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. ⁶ Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

 

the Redemption and Resurrection scroll DSS.For the heavens and the earth shall listen to His Messiah and all which is in them shall not turn away from the commandments of the holy ones … 7 For He will be setting prisoners free, opening the eyes of the blind, raising up those who are bowed down. And forever I shall hold fast to those who hope and in His faithfulness shall … 11 For he shall heal the critically wounded, He shall revive the dead, He shall send good news to the afflicted, He shall satisfy the poor, He shall guide the uprooted.

 

Burial of John the Baptist

Mark 6:29 n hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

The Burial of Jesus

Mark 15:46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock.

 

DONE!

A new beginning