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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. (Amen.)
“Ripped from the headlines”: so the long‑running television franchise “Law & Order” often promoted its episodes that were at least partially inspired by current events but primarily involved fictional characters and details (Wikipedia). The imprisonment and execution of a political opponent in today’s Gospel Reading at first might seem to be “ripped from the headlines”, as if the Bible is imitating current events, when, in fact, today’s Gospel Reading, like today’s Old Testament Reading before it (Amos 7:7-15), in some ways demonstrates that there is nothing new under the sun. As we heard in today’s Gospel Reading, King Herod thought that Jesus was John the Baptizer raised from the dead, and, as the Divinely‑inspired St. Mark reported that fact, St. Mark reported how King Herod had John beheaded. Considering primarily today’s Gospel Reading, this morning we direct our thoughts to the theme, “Jesus’s identity and His and His followers’ persecution”.
You may recall that in last Sunday’s Gospel Reading, after the people in the Nazareth synagogue took offense at Jesus, Jesus sent out His twelve disciples, who proclaimed that people should repent and performed miraculous signs, casting out many demons and healing many who were sick (Mark 6:1-13). Today’s Gospel Reading picks right up where last Sunday’s Gospel Reading left off. Herod, not a “king” himself but a son of King Herod the Great and the “tetrarch” of Galilee, a ruler over one‑fourth of what was his father’s kingdom, heard of presumably what Jesus’s disciples were doing through Jesus’s Name. But, perhaps in part plagued by a guilty conscience for wrongly beheading John the Baptizer, Herod wrongly concluded both that John had been raised from the dead and that so John had miraculous powers.
The scandals of the House of Herod themselves seem to be “ripped from the headlines”, and John the Baptizer was repeatedly saying rightly that it was not lawful for Herod to have his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias, who also was both Herod and Philip’s niece. Reportedly, Herodias divorced her husband Philip, and, when Herod and Herodias eloped, Herod essentially divorced his wife of 20 years. Although St. Mark does not say precisely what John found unlawful about their relationship, the Jews may have objected primarily to the Scripturally forbidden marriage of a one‑time brother and sister‑in‑law (Leviticus 18:16; 20:21)—though apparently not of an uncle and his niece!—but John may have objected, as we in about three months will hear that Jesus objected (Mark 10:2‑12), primarily to the divorces followed by a “remarriage”. Regardless, Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to put him to death, but Herod, by seizing and imprisoning John, effectively silenced John as a political opponent, to some extent satisfied Herodias, and kept John safe, apparently from her, at least for a time.
You and I may not be in positions to seize and imprison people who say things that we do not want to hear, but we can hold grudges and try to silence such people in other ways. Even when it comes to the preaching of God’s holy law, there may be teaching that we do not like, teaching that hits too close to our home or to ourselves, and so teaching that we do not want to hear. Herod and Herodias sinned against God’s Commandment not to commit adultery, and so do husbands and wives who fail to love and honor each other today. In one way or another, we all sin against the Sixth Commandment, failing to live sexually pure and decent lives in what we say and do—not to mention think! And, we all also sin against the other nine Commandments. Secular justice may be imperfect, but no one—king or president— truly is above God’s law. Each one of us all ultimately is subject to God’s judgment and perfect justice.
Yet, while we justly deserve present and eternal punishment for our sinful nature and all our sin, God—through preachers such as John, Jesus, and His apostles—calls us each to repent: to turn away in sorrow from our sin, to trust God to forgive our sin, and to want to stop sinning. When we so repent, then God forgives us. God forgives our sinful nature and all our sin. God forgives our sins against the Sixth Commandment and against the other nine Commandments. God forgives all our sins, whatever our sins might be. God forgives us for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Some people say that today’s Gospel Reading is not about Jesus, but such a claim is nonsense. Today’s Gospel Reading is about both “Jesus’s identity and His and His followers’ persecution”. Herod may have mistaken what Jesus’s disciples were doing through Jesus’s Name for the work of a resurrected John, but we know both that Jesus had miraculous powers because He was the Son of God in human flesh and that Jesus gave His disciples authority to work miracles in His Name. No doubt, whether publicly in the wilderness, or privately with Herod, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and pointed to Jesus (Mark 1:48). Likewise, Jesus called people to repent and believe the Gospel about Him, the Son of God, for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:14-15; confer Mark 1:1; 10:45). And, as John was seized, bound, and executed, so was Jesus seized, bound, and executed (Mark 14:46; John 18:12; Mark 15:24). Jesus taught that His suffering, death, and resurrection were Divinely necessary (confer Mark 8:27‑31); they were Divinely necessary in order to save us. Out of God’s great love and mercy, Jesus died on the cross for you, in your place. As you trust in Him, God forgives you by grace for the sake of Jesus and so makes you righteous and holy. God forgives you through His Word in all of its forms.
Today’s Gospel Reading especially reminds us of Holy Baptism, what St. Paul in today’s Epistle Reading essentially calls the sealing of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:3-14). At the Font, for each one of us, God works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe the words and promises of God about Holy Baptism. Herod may have bound John in prison, but pastors today bind and loose sins, exercising the authority of the keys given to them, comforting penitent sinners with the peace of individual Holy Absolution. And, quite unlike the feast of Herod that resulted in John’s death, but more like the feast of Esther that resulted in the people of Israel’s temporal salvation (Esther 7:2-4), in the Holy Supper we receive bread that is the Body of Christ given for us and wine that is the Blood of Christ shed for us and so we also receive forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. All these are Jesus’s miracles for us today!
So forgiven by Word and Sacrament, we are transformed. Unlike Herodias and more like Herod, we hear God’s preachers gladly. Like Herod, we may be greatly perplexed, struggling to do the good that is laid out for us to do, but, as God enables us, we at least try to think, speak, and act as we should, and, with daily contrition and faith, we live in God’s forgiveness of sins for all our failures. When called upon to, we publicly confess the Christian faith, as Pete and Ellen will do here in a few moments, and we expect to be persecuted for the Christian faith, as were John and Jesus and also countless others (confer Mark 8:34-38). If martyred for the Christian faith, we certainly pray that our corpses would not lie in the street, as the two witnesses whom our Midweek Bible Study recently considered in its study of Revelation (Revelation 11:8-9), but rather that, as St. Mark reports of John and Jesus (confer Mark 15:45), our corpses would be laid in tombs, both awaiting and testifying to the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
Reportedly long before the “Law & Order” franchise promoted its episodes as “ripped from the headlines”, Warner Brothers studios promoted their “social problem” films as “torn from today’s headlines” (TV Tropes). We certainly lament any reported imprisonment and execution of political opponents in our time. In light of the imprisonment and execution reported in today’s Gospel Reading, we have considered “Jesus’s identity and His and His followers’ persecution”. By faith in the Son of God, we have peace and joy, but we also expect to be persecuted for that faith. As we did in today’s Psalm (Psalm 85:8-13; antiphon: v.7), we continue to pray that the Lord would show us His steadfast love—His “mercy”—and that He would grant us His salvation.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +