Will You Reject Jesus or Receive Jesus?
Truth Taught- Herod did not fear God but feared the people and was greatly swayed by popular opinion.
Who was Herod?
Herod the Great dies in Jericho and is buried in Judea. Herod the Great was the Herod who tried to kill Jesus as an infant and murdered the infants in Jerusalem. He was the Herod who met with the wise men. After his death Roman Emperor Augustus divides up his kingdom among some of his sons.
Herod Antipas, One of Herod the Great’s sons through wife Malthace, is made tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. He ruled from 4 B.C. to 39 A.D. It was he who, as the New Testament records, not only arrested and beheaded John the Baptist but also played a part in the crucifixion of Jesus.
If there is one thing that marked Herod the Great and his son Herod Antipas was fear, fear of losing power, fear of what people thought, fear of not being liked and losing popularity. They made decisions based on fear of man.
We must never make life decisions based on what others think. Make decisions based on what God says in His Word and who cares what anyone else thinks. Far too often people are hindered and led astray by the fear of man. Rather than fearing man, we are commanded to fear God…to care more about what He thinks than what anyone else thinks.
Herod Antipas is led to Hell by trying to keep people happy. Where will that lead us?
Herod tried so hard to please the crowd that became his god. He loved himself, his power, his fame, his wealth, and his life far too much. That misguided attraction with self leads straight to Hell.
Herod is the poster child for what power does when the one in power does not fear God but fears man and loves himself way too much. It seems that just about every decision Herod made was based on politics and his own mental polls…who would be happy? Who would be angry? Will people still like me? Can I play the middle ground and keep everyone happy? Herod was concerned about everyone except God.
Herod did not love God but loved himself. We are going to see a great contrast between two men, Herod and John the Baptist. One lived his life in paranoia and fear of losing his power and the other simply remained obedient and feared God. Both men will eventually die as all people do but one welcomed to glory, the other to hell.
John 12:25 (ESV)
25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
The happiest place we can be is when we love Christ and hate our lives. We all know what Jesus means here. Give up self to embrace Christ? Love Him and get over yourself. Love Christ and don’t live your life like you have to manipulate everything to stay on top because it’s power and the roar of applause that fuels your life. If this is true of you, Jesus tells you that you will lose the very thing you worship, your life. Live for Christ in humility fearing God not man. You will be most happy. Beloved, pleasing others is just too hard, it costs too much…just ask Herod.
Are you willing to give up self to embrace Christ? If you are, this will lead to a clear picture of Jesus. He will be seen as He truly is, namely, Lord and Savior. If you are not willing to submit your life to Jesus then self-will mar your perception of Jesus. He will be a stumbling block not Savior.
Mark 6:14–29 (ESV)
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
1. Herod’s Dilemma #1: I’m the Murderer of a Godly Man and The One I Murdered Has Returned From the Dead (6:14-16)
14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
Herod was greatly disturbed by the fact that he was responsible for John the Baptist’s death.
The account of the murder of John the Baptist is brought to us by way of a flashback. Herod is afraid that Jesus is John the Baptist raised from the dead. There is no greater fear for a murderer than to have the one you murdered to come back from the dead.
Herod was haunted with this fear. He heard about Jesus and what He was doing.
Luke 9:7 (ESV)
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,
In Jewish thinking, resurrection is the prelude to judgement. It was the terror of God’s judgement that can be caught here in Herod’s statement… he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
Herod had just been led to the wrong answer about who Jesus is. His sin, guilt, paranoia, and struggle to maintain power had led him to the wrong answer.
Matthew 16:13–16 (ESV)
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Herod was led to the wrong answer through fear and guilt, especially the fear that God knew the truth about his sin. He knew what he did was wrong but because the fear of the crowd trumped the fear of God, he did it anyway. Now when Herod hears about Jesus, his conclusion is not Jesus is a scam and His miracles are fake but that He is John the Baptist back from the dead.
2. Herod’s Dilemma #2…I Hate John Because He Keeps Telling Me I’m a Sinner and I Should Repent and Yet, the People Love Him (6:17-20)
17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
Here is where we see why Mark places this account where he does. John preached a message of repentance to all his hearers. He was a bold preacher who did not care who you were. His call to radical repentance even went as high as the royal palace.
Jesus preached repentance and was rejected. He sent the twelve out and they too preached repentance and Jesus warned them that they would also meet with resistance and rejection.
Now we see that John the Baptist also has been rejected and even imprisoned for preaching what God wanted him to preach.
When you tell people that marrying their brother’s wife when they are already married is sin, it did not go well for John. He was captured by Herod’s men and brought into custody and locked away.
17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.
John was telling Herod what God wanted him to tell. Notice the text does not say that Herodias was Herod’s wife but Philip’s wife even though it also states Herod married her. God did not recognize the marriage and John the Baptist told Herod. For this, John was imprisoned and then later beheaded.
This response of Herod was somewhat like the response of Jesus’ hometown. They too heard Jesus as Herod heard John but even though there was amazement, there was no faith.
Here we see the flashback to how John the Baptist was murdered by Herod…
3. Herod’s Dilemma #3…I Hate John and I Want to Kill Him But The People Love Him So I Can’t But I Just Told Herodias’ Daughter She can Have Anything and She Asked Me to Kill John and I Can’t Look Bad in Front of My Guests So I Guess I’ll Kill Him (6:21-29)
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Herod does not want to lose face with his guests. He’s a fool and thinks that now he must keep the smokescreen of truth. He wants his guests to think that his word can be trusted. I’m sure, unless his guests were completely senseless, they knew Herod could not be trusted but because they too wanted to be in with the power people, they played along.
For Herod, one sin led to another then to another until the very thing he was afraid to do, namely, kill John the Baptist was the exact thing he did?
Sin is so deceptive. The old saying sin takes you where you don’t want to go and you do the very thing you don’t want to do.
In Herod’s case, the sin of fear led him straight to Hell. It would be Herod’s fear of losing his power that would later lead him even to play a part in the murder of Jesus.
God has ordained the events and players around the crucifixion of Jesus. Herod was one of the figures.
Pilate sent Jesus to Herod after he learned that Jesus was a Galilean. Pilate wanted to get out of this bad political mess, Herod was the ruler of the area of Galilee. Herod mocked Jesus and questioned Him and then sent Him back to Pilate. Neither one wanted to get their hands dirty. Both feared the people. Both were politicians who loved their position and power.
God ordained that their hands would be dirty. He did not make them do what they did but turned them loose to do exactly what He wanted done.
So, after imprisonment over a year, John is dead. His work is done. And the one of whom it is said, “There has not risen a greater than John the Baptist,” went into his glorious eternal home, received his full reward for faithful, uncompromising service to his blessed God. And the Jews who were at the party never protested at all. John was incidental to them. John was nothing to them. They had rejected the Messiah. The Herodian party had already been in sympathy with the Pharisees to kill Jesus, reject Jesus. John doesn’t matter. Anything for entertainment.
And so, they killed the last of the prophets and the best of the prophets. Verse 29 closes out Mark’s account. “When his disciples” – that is, the disciples of John the Baptist. He had many followers who came to the Jordan, who came repeatedly, who listened to him preach about repentance and righteousness and the Kingdom. He had many disciples, “When they heard that he had been beheaded, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.”
4. The Ultimate Rejection, Herod’s Condemnation of Jesus
Pilate had Herod over for a few days. It just so happened in God’s providence that it was exactly the time Jesus was being tried as a criminal. Pilate has this great idea that since he knew the people loved Jesus but the Jews had him between a rock and a hard place and there was no scenario where he could come out looking good (he also was an insecure leader) he would send Jesus to Herod and have Herod do the dirty work for him. Herod also rejected Jesus and sent Him back to Pilate.
Herod cut off John the Baptist’s head and played a crucial role in Jesus’ crucifixion…what torture he must be enduring right now.
Matthew 23:29–36 (ESV)
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
I want us to make sure we understand something of vital importance here. In this portion of Scripture where we see rejection of Jesus, His disciples, and John the Baptist that there is grace for us. Grace is seen as we receive the Lord Jesus and not reject Him. All those who reject the Lord Jesus will come under God’s righteous judgement.
You either receive and embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior or you reject Him. And if you reject Him, you put Him to shame by that rejection. You stand in agreement with the rejecters and the crucifiers. But Jesus welcomes your repentance and welcomes you into His Kingdom if you turn from your sin of rejecting Him, confess your sin, acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior, and receive His forgiveness. You go from death to life, from darkness to light, from blindness to sight, from hell to heaven, from tragedy to bliss. This is the gospel.
Yes, they put Him on a cross in rejection, but in that very act of dying on the cross, He paid the penalty for all the sins of all who would ever believe. Do you reject Jesus or receive Jesus?
LORD’S SUPPER******
I want to leave you with this Gospel promise…
John 1:11–13 (ESV)
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Resources Used:
https://www.gty.org/sermons/41-29/the-murder-of-the-greatest-prophet
Mark by William Lane
https://www.biblestudy.org/beginner/new-testament-groups/herodians.html
Words of grace
Leave a Reply