Two months ago we actually looked at two men from the bible. Nehemiah and Ezra. One rebuilt Gods city the other rebuilt Gods people with his statutes.
This time I would like to look at two men so different and yet so connected in the bible.
The year was 1948 and a young and strange man set up a tent in Hollywood, in Los Angeles California and began preaching the gospel. He dressed in Pistachio colored suits and bright red ties and few in the beginning came to hear what he had to say.
Soon however the numbers of people grew. First hundreds and then thousands. The news media even sent reporters to write on what was going on. Even some of the movie types began to come and many accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Billy Graham the Baptist has been preaching ever since, these last 60 plus years. But there was an even stranger evangelist 2000 years earlier that caused a similar stir and his name was John the Baptist
But John the Baptist and Herod the King are so linked in the scriptures you really have to look at them together.
We are all familiar with John the Baptist. His birth was announced to his father while he served in the temple of God. His parents were old and beyond child bearing age and yet a son was promised who would be the fore runner of the Messiah to fulfill the prophecy in Malachi 4.
He grew in stature and at the appointed time went to live in the deserted places around Judea. He dressed in camels hair clothing as rough as burlap and ate locust and honey. We would call him a hermit and perhaps even a kook.
But when he burst onto the scene and announced that Gods kingdom was about to arrive, everyone went out to hear this strange man’s message. Even Jesus went out to him and was baptized by Him and a great plan had begun to unfold
Remember when we began this series it began with the fall of man. God had announced a plan to rescue or redeem man from that fall and for all the last thousands of years that plan was being revealed little by little until now. John had the message the people had longed to hear.
No one could have been more different from John, than Herod the king, the son of Herod the Great. The man who had all those infants killed in Bethlehem. This Herod, his son, was no less cruel and despicable.
We know nothing of his birth but of his life we know he was treacherous. He had his brother killed to protect his throne. He took another brothers wife as his own while that brother was still alive. He had many Jews killed during a certain feast and even though he was called the king in Israel. He was not even a Jew. He was an Edomite, a descendent of Esau who sold his birth right for a bowl of stew.
If someone had told me a few years ago that Herod at one time came near the kingdom of God John was preaching, I would have been inclined to doubt it.
But some years ago, when I was going through the gospel of Mark, making a careful study of the book, I found this verse which takes place after Johns arrest:
Mark 6:20 (NASB)
20 Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.
This caused me to change my views about Herod. I think that he was not only brought within the sound of John’s voice, but under the power of the Spirit of God; his heart was touched and his conscience awakened if only for a short time.
We are not told under what circumstances he heard John; but the narrative plainly states that he was brought under the influence of the Baptist’s wonderful ministry. Let me first say a word or two about THE PREACHER.
I contend that John the Baptist must have been one of the greatest preachers this world has ever had. Almost any man can get a hearing nowadays in a town or a city, where the people live close together; especially if he speaks in a fine building where there is a splendid choir, and if the meetings have been advertised and worked up for weeks or months beforehand.
In such circumstances any man who has a gift for speaking will get a good audience. But it was very different with John. He drew the people out of the towns and cities away into the wilderness. There were no ministers to back him; no business men interested in Christ’s cause to work with him; no newspaper reporters to take his sermons down and send them out as they did with Billy.
He was an unknown man, without any title to his name. He was not the Right-Rev. John the Baptist, D. D., Phd, or anything of the kind, he was just plain John the Baptizer.
When the people went to inquire of him, if he were Elijah or Jeremiah come back to life, he said he was not. “Who are you then?” “I am the Voice of one crying in the wilderness.”
He was nothing but a voice—to be heard and not seen; he was Mr. Nobody. He regarded himself as a messenger who had received his commission from the eternal world.
How he began his ministry, and how he gathered the crowds together we are not informed. I can imagine that one day this strange man makes his appearance in the valley of the Jordan, where he finds a few shepherds tending their flocks. They bring together their scattered sheep, and the man begins to preach to these shepherds.
The kingdom of heaven, he says, is about to be set up on the earth; and he urges them to set their houses in order—to repent and turn away from their sins.
No talk of temples, or priests, or religion. No ordinances or rituals. The message was very simple REPENT!
We don’t talk much about repentance today. We talk about baptism, and church membership and service, but very little if any about REPENTANCE!
But that was what God told this man to preach. An end to willful sinning. An end to continual disobedience. A turning to a different direction. One already laid out by God, but one that man has always chosen not to walk
Having delivered his message, he tells them that he will come back the next day and speak again. When he had disappeared in the desert, I can suppose one of the shepherds saying to another:
“Was he not a strange man? Did you ever hear a man speak like that? He did not talk as the rabbis or the Pharisees or the Sadducees do. I really think he must be one of the old prophets. Did you notice that his coat was made of camel’s hair, and that he had a leathern girdle round his loins? Don’t the Scriptures say that Elijah was clothed like that?”
Another says: “You remember how Malachi says that before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, Elijah would come? I really believe this man is the old prophet of Carmel.”
What could stir the heart of the Jewish people more than the name of Elijah?
The tidings of John’s appearance spread up and down the valley of the Jordan, and when he returned the next day, there was great excitement and expectation as the people listened to the strange preacher. Perhaps till Christ came he had ONE TEXT
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Day after day you could hear his voice ringing through the valley of the Jordan:
“Repent! repent! repent! The King is at the door. I do not know the day or the hour, but He will be here very soon.” Many of the people who flocked to hear him were baptized in the Jordan River where his ministry was centered.
The news spread to the surrounding villages and towns, and it was not long before it reached Jerusalem. Then the people of the city began to flock into the desert to hear this prince among preachers.
John’s popularity soon reached Galilee, and the people in the mountains began to flock down to hear him. Men left their fishing boats and nets on the lake, so they might listen to this unusual preacher.
When he was in the zenith of his popularity, as many as twenty or thirty thousand people perhaps flocked to his ministry day after day.
No doubt there were some complainers who said it was ALL SENSATION.
“Catch me there! No, sir; I never did like sensational preaching or services.” Just as some people speak nowadays when any special effort is made to reach the people!
“Great harm will be done,” they say. I wish all these complainers had died out with that generation in Judea; but we have plenty of their descendants with us to this day.
One might hear those old Pharisees and Scribes grumbling about John being such a sensational preacher. “It won’t last.” And when Herod had John the Baptist beheaded, they would say, “Didn’t I tell you so?”
I can imagine that just when John was at the height of his popularity, as Herod sat in his palace in Jerusalem looking out towards the valley of the Jordan, he could see great crowds of people passing day by day.
He began to make inquiries as to what it meant, and the news came to him about this strange and powerful preacher. Some one, perhaps, reported that John was preaching treason. He was telling of a king who was at hand, and who was going to set up his kingdom. “A king at hand! If Cæsar were coming, I should have heard of it. There is no king but Cæsar. I must look into the matter.
Talk about repentance all you want, but any talk about a coming King will be high treason in the ears of Herod.” I think if anyone had dared to give John such counsel, he would have replied: “I have received my message from heaven; what do I care for Herod or anyone else?”
Today we have the same nay sayers. Oh you can talk about the love of Jesus but stay away from the wrath of God to come. No one wants to hear that.
Or you can talk all you want about heaven but please stay away from the topic of hell. That will only drive people away.
You can talk in generalities but do not speak of specific sins, all that will do is alienate people and you will seem intolerant.
Scripture tells us that Herod heard him gladly, that he observed him, and feared him, knowing that he was a just and holy man. He must have known down in his heart that John was A HEAVEN-SENT MESSENGER.
But John is drawing all the wrong kinds of people. Sinners, who need repentance. Soldiers who were violent to the people and were not satisfied with their wages. And of course those terrible tax gatherers who exact from the people more than they were told to for their own benefit.
If these are the types of people this new kingdom is going to have, perhaps we had better put a stop to it. All those sinners in one place could prove a danger.
Sort of like when we find imperfect people in the church today and we wonder what they are doing here?
But arresting him here in front of the people could be equally as dangerous. I will wait until tomorrow before the people come and gather.
He seems to be comforting and welcoming sinners while at the same time rebuking the religious leaders. This may be getting out of hand
I can imagine that had you gone into the palace in those days all you would have heard from Herod was John the Baptist.
One would almost think that Herod was becoming a fan and dare I say it, perhaps even a believer in John and his message.
It would not be unthinkable that the Holy Spirit may have touched Herods heart the way He tried to touch the hearts of the Pharisees and Scribes.
But it’s all about how one responds to His touch. The crowd on Pentecost had their hearts cut and they responded by believing and being baptized.
The Sanhedrin had their hearts cut when they listened to Stephen but the response was to rush at him and kill him.
Then John breaks the unforgivable sin in preaching, he actually preaches about real sins and against the king himself. Herod has his brother’s wife and this is just wrong.
John you have to be really careful. You can point out the peoples sin in passing and perhaps even the religious leaders sins but to attack the king is far more than you want on your plate.
We are not told what Herod must have been thinking about this but we do know that he had John arrested and thrown into a prison inside his own palace.
He may have been willing to change some things about his life and how he lived because of Johns preaching. You know the ones. The little ones. The ones we can take or leave.
Yet Herod, like many lost and dying souls today, living in such times, and hearing such a preacher, missed the kingdom of heaven at last.
He did many things because he feared John. Just as many today do or stop doing things just to be religious.
Had he feared God, he would have done everything to repent and get on track. “He did many things”; but there was one thing he would not do— HE WOULD NOT GIVE UP HIS ONE DARLING SIN.
The longer I preach, the more I am convinced that this is what keeps people out of the kingdom of God. John knew about Herod’s private life, and warned him plainly.
I may not know every ones private and darling sins but the scriptures do and speak of them often.
I am really good at the biggies like murder, and adultery, and stealing and idolatry. Perhaps I am not doing so well with gossip or back biting or envy or pride
People would be more than willing to enter the kingdom of God if they could just keep that one favorite sin. But that is not an option and John let the people know it.
So Herod has John is arrested and we are told that Herod often visited him and questioned him and listened to him. But being near a man of God is not the same as being a man of God
Being near believers, even in a church, is not the same as being a part of Christ’s church.
How many visited John perhaps on a regular basis and were still lost. How many attend churches all over this country and are as lost as the first day they came in?
John had a message from heaven and it is still applicable today REPENT! CHANGE! TURN AROUND!
The idea of only one way makes people very uncomfortable and they have tried lately to make people think that all roads lead to the same God but they do not
You can be a Hindu and remain in your sins. You can become a Muslim and remain in your sins or a Buddhist.
But coming to the one true God requires repentance and a joining of yourself to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the only way. He is the only way!
Herod would only go so far and no further.
Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him. Mark 6:20 (NASB)
How many church goers today are so like Herod?
They love certain preachers and the lessons and the sermons.
They love the songs and even sing along and clap their hands.
They love the dinners and fellowships. They love being near!
Herod came that close to the kingdom. He kept John close and safe and loved listening to him – up to a point. And that point was all about his sin.
Close, I am told, only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
Coming to a church building is pretty close, but that is not what Christianity is all about.
Listening to the preacher or teacher even every Sunday is close but that is not what Christianity is all about
Singing the great hymns of the church is close but that is not what Christianity is all about
What if the building is taken away, or the pastor is silenced or killed or the hymns cease or God forbid they take away our bagels? What will sustain them then?
Christianity is not about being close. Canada and Mexico are about as close to the United States as you can get but they are not the United States.
Herod refused to do what the man we are told he loved to listen to preached and that was to REPENT. We are told nowhere he ever surrendered to John’s baptism or ever changed his ways.
He came close but close was never good enough.
Late in Paul’s life after his arrest he had the opportunity to make his defense before Festus and King Herod Agrippa the nephew of this king Herod and we read this
24 While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said* in a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad."25 But Paul said* , "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth.26 "For the king knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner .27 "King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do ."28 Agrippa replied to Paul, "In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian."29 And Paul said, "I would wish to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains." Acts 26:24-29 (NASB)
It would seem that this nephew came close that day, but close is not good enough.
Being in a church building will not get you saved
Listening to sermons every day of the week will not get you saved
And singing all the great hymns of the church will not get you saved.
The one thing none of the Herods were willing to do was to repent.
They never had a relationship with the one person who could rescue them from their inevitable fate. They never had Jesus in close relationship.
I am married to a wonderful woman for over 40 years now. But if I never committed to that marriage what good would that have been.
We became one flesh. We are as one being. We talk to one another, eat with one another, sleep with one another, live with one another. That is a relationship
If I only came by once a week and gave her an hour or two of my time, never read the letters she has written to me or shared my concerns and desires, would that still make it a marriage?
NO!
The Herods came close to the kingdom but they were never a part of it
Many church goers come close to the kingdom but they never become a part of it. They will go so far and no further.
When Jesus met with Nicodemus in the garden one night, He told the religious leader no one can enter the kingdom unless he is born again, born anew, born from above and that requires relationship
It requires surrender and obedience and most importantly it requires REPENTANCE. A change of life and thinking and behavior.
There is no such thing as close, in REPENTENCE.
John was willing to stand alone, even in the face of the entire religious community with the message of truth.
Herod came close but for him close was not good enough.
He heard the message and even had private sessions with the greatest man ever born of women but that was not enough.
How many today, even in the churches of the world, are so close and yet, as far as eternity is concerned, so far away.
