“The powerlessness of a king” (Mark 6:14-29)

Mark 6:14-29

Pastor Tom Johnson, July 12, 2015

Our gospel reading from Mark has all the elements of the tabloids: abuse of power, royal scandal, sexual misconduct, ghosts haunting the living, and senseless violence. Why would this story be so important to include in the overall message of the good news of Jesus Christ? What can we learn from this tragedy? How can we be encouraged in the midst of the misuse of power? How can we grow in grace when evil, sin, and death seen to have won the day? This I believe is the purpose of this account and story.

From the very beginning, King Herod’s head hardly seems fully functional. He hears about Jesus and all the great things he is preaching and the miracles he is performing. Guilt for what he did and fear of the consequences drives him to superstitious madnesss. Herod does not see Jesus as his own person, but a reincarnation of John the Baptist. Why such fear? Why is King Herod so paralyzed from the neck up by irrational belief? Perhaps it is because Herod’s power is on loan from the Roman state. He is a kind of puppet-king with no true, royal lineage. To say it another way, he is the head of the Judean people as king but his head has never been fully attached. This account of Herod gives us a number of cues to let us know that Herod is as much a slave of sin as he is master.

John speaks out against Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. Herod wants to silence any public criticism. He fears having a bad reputation with his own subjects. So Herod arrests John in order to silence him. There is no First Amendment to protect John. There is no separation of church and state. So Herod arrests John but keeps him close because he finds John entertaining.  Herod knows John is righteous, a holy man, and a prophet. And because of that, Herod fears John. That is what our Scripture says: “Herod feared John.” We are in on that little secret: that the king is afraid of the one who is supposedly under his power. So, John is under arrest but also under Herod’s protection. But in a sad and twisted turn, Herod does not even have the power to protect his prisoner. Part of his powerlessness is due to his foolishness.

Herod’s daughter Herodias dances at his birthday party. He is so entertained, happy, and proud of his daughter, he makes an outrageous outburst—probably a thoughtless word more to impress his guests than follow through on his offer. “What do you want for such a beautiful dance, Herodias my daughter? I’ll give you anything you want up to 50% of my estate,” Herod says. Herodias is as cunning as she is nimble on her feet. She asks mom for advice before responding. Mom sees an opportunity. She may not be the head but she is the neck that will turn the head. She calls Herod on his bluff: “Give me John the Baptist’s head on a platter—now.” How can Herod refuse? How can he take back his word? He must save face to save his own head. He cannot let his birthday party guests down. So, the king must take orders from his daughter to carry out this royal crime and abuse of power. In so doing, loses his own head.

In many ways, this story foreshadows another leader, Pontius Pilate, and his arrest and execution of Jesus. He too is a slave to the mobs who cry out “Crucify!” He too is under enormous pressure from his wife who has a nightmare. And like Herod, Pilate will sentence Jesus to death against his better judgment and will. He is the “head of state” but his head also seems hardly attached. These tragic acts by the authorities, and the background to them, reveal that our struggle against evil is even worse than what we may have thought. Just as Scripture says: “For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). Even the powerful are powerless. Even perpetrators are victims. Even those who cut off heads have had their heads of authority cut off long ago. This problem with evil is bigger than we often imagine. It is a corporate illness. We can call it “sin,” our “fallen human nature,” or simply “evil.” We are all guilty of sin and victims of sin from head to toe.

A month ago, nine sisters and brothers in Christ were killed in a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Three of those killed were pastors. It is pure evil. Evidence suggests that the alleged killer is a white supremacist. By killing these church leaders, he may have thought that he was cutting the head off the black community. But that would be a lie. And a lie cannot live forever. The head of the Church is Christ. And when the powers tried to cut him off by crucifying him, it only secured our salvation. In his crucifixion and rising from the tomb, Jesus overcame death, the devil, and all the world’s sin. In President Obama’s words about the tragedy, he said, “As a nation, out of this terrible tragedy, God has visited grace upon us. For He has allowed us to see where we’ve been blind.” How can he be so bold? Because God’s people see behind the mask of racism, hate, and murder. Underneath that mask, we see a sinner in desperate need of the grace of God. We see our true condition. Instead of cutting off the head of that community, Dylan Roof encountered the grace of God. Some of the family went up to the alleged murderer and offered him forgiveness: “I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you,” a daughter of one victim said. “We have no room for hating, so we have to forgive,” said the sister of another. “I pray God on your soul,” said another.

I also pray those words will not be received as the haunting of the ghosts of those he killed but as an encounter with God’s amazing grace—the head of the Church, our Savior, Redeemer—the One restores heads to bodies in the resurrection—who forgives and assures us that we have a place at the eternal banquet of the true King.

Faith of our fathers!We will love both friend and foe
in all our strife
proclaim thee too, as love knows how,
by saving word
and faithful life.
Faith of our fathers, holy faith,
we will be true to you till death.                     (From hymn Faith of Our Fathers)