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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
A certain degree of knowledge about the Bible seems to be necessary to be what is often called “culturally literate”. For example, the popular British musical group Coldplay’s 2008 song “Viva la Vida” includes the line “Revolutionaries wait / For my head on a silver plate”, which sure seems to be a reference to the martyrdom of John the Baptizer, as told in the “flashback” of today’s Gospel Reading and in the other passages we examined this past Wednesday in Midweek Bible Study (Coldplay Lyrics). In the song, however, the paranoid king fears being beheaded by the revolutionaries, while in the Gospel Reading’s “flashback”, the “revolutionary” is beheaded by the “king”. In the Gospel Reading’s “present” time, the “king” had heard of the miracles performed by the six pairs of disciples Jesus had sent out in the preceding verses, as we heard in last week’ Gospel Reading, and the “king” thought John, whom he had beheaded, had been raised from the dead. The “king” misidentified John and Jesus as the same person, but, considering today’s Gospel Reading, which at first listen at least might hardly seem to be about Jesus, we realize this morning that there certainly are similarities between “John the Baptizer, Jesus, and Us”.
In a scientific study first published earlier this month in the journal Royal Society Open Science, wolves are described as less-likely to hold grudges, while their more‑domesticated relatives, dogs, are said to be more-likely to hold grudges (Inside Science). In today’s Gospel Reading, Herodias certainly is described as holding a grudge against John the Baptizer and wanting him put to death, because, as a faithful prophet of God, John had been saying to Herod, either indirectly or directly, that Herod could not lawfully have as his wife Herodias, who was his brother’s wife (see Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21). Perhaps to keep John safe from Herodias, Herod had sent out his representatives to seize John and bind him in prison. Herod feared (or, maybe better, “respected”) John, knowing that John was a righteous and holy man, and Herod heard John gladly, though Herod was greatly perplexed by John, maybe more specifically, by John’s message, since Herod could not seem to do what he needed to do in regards to Herodias.
John the Baptizer’s faithful proclamation of God’s law and Gospel made Herodias like a dog hold a grudge against John and made Herod perplexed. And, as we know from elsewhere in the Divinely‑inspired Gospel accounts (Matthew 11:2-19; Luke 7:18-35), John’s own teaching seemed to make him, as he languished in prison, wonder—wonder not about the law, but about whether Jesus really was the embodiment of the Gospel. Which of those reactions to God’s law and Gospel do we observe in those we know? Which of those reactions do we observe in ourselves? Do we hold a grudge against those who faithfully proclaim God’s law, do we not know how to decide or what to do, or do we wonder whether Jesus really is and did what the Bible says about Him? By nature we all have been seized and bound by sin and death, and so by nature we all like Herodias rebel against God’s law and His messengers and like Herod are unable to do or even decide anything good before God, and, even after God by His Holy Spirit has freed us from sin and death’s captivity, our sinful natures still cling to us, so we like John the Baptizer might wonder about Who Jesus is and what He has done. But, when we, enabled by God, repent, as God through John called all sinners including us to do, then God forgives our sin, all our sin, whatever our sin might be, for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ.
As we heard in the Gospel Reading, some (perhaps of those in Herod’s own court) like Herod said that Jesus was John the Baptizer raised from the dead, others said that Jesus was Elijah, and still others said that Jesus was a prophet, like one of the prophets of old. As we know, Jesus was not John the Baptizer raised from the dead, if for no other reason because Jesus’s own ministry was underway while John was still alive in prison (Mark 1:14). If anyone was like Elijah, it was not Jesus but John the Baptizer, whom the Lord sent to turn hearts before He Himself came (Malachi 4:5‑6), and to whom, Jesus said, they did whatever they pleased, as it was written of him (Mark 9:11-13). And, Jesus is greater than the prophets of old, for He is the Prophet, the Prophet like unto Moses, into Whose mouth the Lord puts His words and, if anyone does not listen to them, He holds them accountable (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). Moreover, Jesus is God in human flesh, come to be our King by dying on the cross for our sins. The Gospel Reading’s description of “King” Herod contrásts sharply with what we know from elsewhere of Jesus: for example, Herod associated with the movers and shakers, while Jesus associated with outcast sinners (Mark 2:15); Herod was exceedingly sorry but unable to deal with his difficulty, while Jesus was deeply grieved (Mark 14:34) but able to deal with difficulties in a God-pleasing way (Mark 14:36); Herod was unduly influenced by others, while Jesus was in control of situations with others (Mark 15:4-5); and Herod presided over the death of another for his own gain, while Jesus offered Himself to death for others (Mark 10:45), such as for you and for me. On the other hand, the Gospel Reading’s description of what happened to John the Baptizer points us forward to what would happen to Jesus: for example, the speech of both put them in danger, an “opportune” time arose for action against both, both were arrested and bound, both were innocent of evil activity, leaders tried to save both but yielded to pressure from some implácable foes, and Holy Scripture describes the burial of both by their followers. (On both, see Voelz, ad loc Mark 6:14, 29, pp.408, 411‑412.) All that Jesus suffered, He suffered out of love for you and for me, in order to save us from our sins. As we trust in God to forgive our sins for Jesus’s sake, God does just that—forgives our sins—and so by faith, God makes us what people such as Herod thought John the Baptizer was: namely, holy and righteous.
God makes us holy by the power of His Holy Spirit working through His Word in all of its forms. Just as Herod heard of Jesus’s Name because it had become known, so we openly use the Name of Jesus—the Triune Name, that of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—to invoke His presence in this place as we seek the forgiveness of sins; to apply water as John did in Holy Baptism, which forgives sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe; and to individually absolve (or “forgive”) those who privately confess the sins that trouble them most. And, instead of a macábre meal where John the Baptizer’s head was passed, we in the Sacrament of the Altar joyously and thankfully feast on Christ’s Body and Blood, which for all its believing guests forgives sins and gives life and salvation—not up to half a kingdom but the whole Kingdom. Today’s Epistle Reading (Ephesians 1:3-14) likewise points to the seal of the Spirit and our adoption as God’s children in Holy Baptism and it also points to the redemption that we have through Jesus’s Blood not only on the cross but also in the Sacrament of the Altar.
And, even though other examples could have been chosen, such as that of Elijah and King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, who was eaten by dogs (1 Kings 19:1-3; 21:17-24; 2 Kings 9:30‑37), today’s Old Testament Reading (Amos 7:7-15), with its account of the prophet Amos speaking against Jeroboam King of Israel, anticipated not only the prophet John the Baptizer’s speaking against Herod, but such examples also anticipated the apostles and our potentially standing before and bearing witness to governors and kings, even as martyrs to the point of death for Jesus’s sake (Mark 13:9). Such martyrdom is just one of the ways we live righteous lives as a result of God’s making us holy. Holiness to which we return with daily repentance and faith.
Considering today’s Gospel Reading, “John the Baptizer, Jesus, and Us”, we realize that, unlike the fall from grace in Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” (Coldplay meaning), though we by nature are fallen and still sin, God raises us, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and in Him God makes us holy and righteous, to our great comfort, peace, and joy, both now and for eternity.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +