Mark 6:14-29 Danger Zone
Bethel Church of the Nazarene
April 6, 2014
Introduction
A. I want you to view a brief video clip with me this morning. Don’t speak out loud if you know the show this clip came from. I want to know who the youngest person is who can identify this show. (Show the video clip from Youtube address-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWwOJlOI1nU. This is a 5 second clip from the old TV series Lost In Space with the Robot saying “Danger Will Robinson!”)
B. We are heading into the Danger Zone today as we make our way through Mark’s Gospel. We saw earlier in Mark 6 that Jesus was rejected in his hometown and was amazed at the lack of faith he found there. Following that he went out teaching from village to village and sent the 12 out as an extension of his ministry. He gave them authority over evil spirits and they went out and preached that people should repent.
C. In verses 14-29 we come to one of the more disturbing stories in the New Testament. Let’s read it together today.
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
A. Confessions of a pastor in sermon preparation. As I read and studied this passage earlier this week I confess that I wondered what possible application it could have to our lives. Was the message-Follow Jesus like John the Baptist and have your head cut off? Was it-Don’t let your daughter do the dance of death? At first glance it may seem that this story is so bizarre and brutal that it has no real application to our lives. Now hold that thought for just a moment and we will come right back to it.
B. One of the aids in driving is warning signs. They make us aware of potential dangers. They warn us of what is ahead and caution us to be careful. (I put together a Power Point show with road warning signs. These are easy to find and some from other countries can be quite humorous.)
C. Warning signs are not meant to tell us we are bad drivers, but to help us to be good drivers. They warn us of potentially dangerous places in the road ahead of us.
D. There are many warning signs in scripture. There are stories of people’s failures such as David and Bathsheba. There are clear commands such as the Ten commandments. .They are not meant to constantly remind us of how bad we are, but they are meant to point us in the way of Christ. Yes, they may expose sin, but they may also serve to remind us of the kind of life we should avoid as followers of Christ. They are very much like warning signs about potential danger zones in life.
E. While this passage may seem difficult to relate to, there are certainly some warning signs, some danger signals in this passage before us today. We would do well to heed their warning, to hear the wake up call “Danger! Danger!” that clearly comes out of this story.
1. Notice first the Danger of Unchecked Sin.
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.
A. There is no doubt that Herod came from bad stock. His Father was Herod the Great and was a brutal king. Herod the Great murdered family members out of his paranoia about his position of power. While he had great architectural accomplishments his family leadership was bizarre at best. This despicable Herod the Great was the father of the Herod Antipas in our passage today.
B. I believe there was a real progression of sin in the life of the Herod in this passage.
C. Not for a moment do I believe he ever considered himself heading to be a murderer of a prophet of God. While Herod certainly wasn’t a follower of Jesus I don’t think murdering a prophet was on his agenda and a close look at this passage points that out.
D. But you can see the progression of sin in this passage. Herod had John put in prison because John publicly spoke out against Herod’s marriage to Herodias. Let me say this-due to family chaos and intermarriage is it very difficult to make sense of the all the family relationships of Herod the Great’s offspring. For simplicity let me just state that when Herod Antipas, (the Herod of our passage today), married Herodias, he married his sister in law and his niece. This immorality is what John the Baptist is confronting.
E. He had many chances to do something about it but he didn’t. When John confronted him he could have admitted his sin and done something about it, but he didn’t.
F. There is a real danger of unchecked sin in anyone’s life. We shouldn’t look at this story and say “Well, my sin is nothing like Herod’s so perhaps it isn’t a big deal”. If there is unchecked, unconfessed, unresolved sin in our life then it is a big deal.
G. Listen to what the scripture says in Ephesians 4:27-and do not give the devil a foothold.
H. There a couple of definitions of the word “foothold”.
1. a place where your foot may be placed when you are climbing a cliff, a mountain, etc.
2. : a position that makes it possible to begin an activity or effort
I. Every spiritual downfall begins with someone giving the devil a foothold, giving sin a foothold in their life. The devil doesn’t need to break down the door and show up in all of his wickedness. He just needs a foothold. He just needs a small position from which to begin his activity in our lives.
J. What might that look like?
1. For a person who is frustrated in their marriage it might look like a very warm, supportive, encouraging and seemingly harmless lunch with a person of the opposite sex.
2. For another person it might look like a very busy schedule that seems to justify the neglect of spiritual disciplines like prayer and Bible reading.
3. For someone else it may be looking for “spiritual loopholes” in the bible that allow them to continue with risky behavior that they enjoy too much to give up.
K. I am amazed at how often I hear people say “It’s okay pastor, I can handle it.” when it comes to questionable behavior in their life. When were we ever called to that kind of living? We should not allow sin to remain unchecked in our lives, but more than that, we shouldn’t even give the enemy a foothold in our lives.
L. Are you giving the enemy a foothold in any area of your life? Hear the call, see the signs-Warning! Danger! Danger! Repent of any and every sin, no matter how small. Find grace that forgives and closes the door on the enemies’ work in your life.
2. Notice secondly the danger of Nursing A Grudge.
A. This isn’t hard to see is it?
v. 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him.
B. Herodias is just plain bad. This isn’t one of those Bible names that parents give to their children.
C. Does she remind you of another king’s wife in the Old Testament? Jezebel
D. Jezebel-Dictionary Definition.- an impudent, shameless, or morally unrestrained woman
E. Herodias was a N.T. Jezebel. Look at what she does. She gets her daughter to do a sexually provocative dance in front of a bunch of half drunk men and then tells her to ask for the beheading of John the Baptist. To top it all off the girls does this and delivers the severed head of John The Baptist to her mother on a platter.
F. How in the world did all of this come about? It seems quite clear-Herodias nursed a grudge. Let’s think about the word “nurse” for a few moments. What does a nurse do? The general job description of a nurse is to help to give aid and assistance so that patients are alive and healthy.
H. What happens when we nurse something? What happens when we nurse a plant back to health or an animal back to health? We work to make sure that those things are alive and healthy.
I. That is what Herodias did with the grudge she had against John the Baptist. She thought about it, replayed the events, and kept that grudge alive and healthy. When she heard the name John the Baptist she probably replayed in her mind the things John had said about her and her current husband and kept that grudge alive and healthy. When she thought about the fact that her husband was protecting John the Baptist while he was in prison she probably reminded herself that she had every right to feel the way she did about the things John had said about her and she kept that grudge alive and healthy.
I. Are we guilty of the same thing? When we are hurt and we replay the events around that hurt in order to justify our feelings of anger or bitterness are we not nursing a grudge? When we secretly wish that someone would “get what is coming to them” because of what they did to hurt us are we not guilty of nursing a grudge just like Herodias?
J. We are called as followers of Christ to get rid of every bit of bitterness in our lives, to forgive as the Lord forgave us.
K. No one says it is easy. It won’t be for Steve Utash. A young child ran out in front of his pick up truck as he traveled down an inner city street in Detroit last week. He stopped to help the child and was brutally assaulted by nearly a dozen young men and literally beaten nearly to death. He is said to be a Christian and if he recovers this side of heaven he will have to make a decision on whether he will nurse a grudge against these men or extend forgiveness. It won’t be easy, but it is possible in Christ.
L. It wasn’t easy for Renee Napier. She had to choose between nursing a grudge or forgiving the drunk driver who killed her daughter. (You can find this story by doing a search for “Renee Napier” or “Matthew West, song story, Forgiveness, Renee Napier”. Matthew West wrote the song “Forgiveness” based on this story.)
M. Are you holding onto bitterness or a grudge against someone? Hear the call, see the signs-Warning! Danger! Danger! It is time to confess that bitterness, that grudge. It is time for you to find forgiveness in Christ and extend that same forgiveness to others.
3. Notice the danger of Spiritual Curiosity.
A. Spiritual Curiosity? Isn’t that a good thing? Aren’t we very interested in spiritual seekers? There has been a “seeker sensitive” movement in the church.
B. Please notice that King Herod, the one who had John the Baptist beheaded, was spiritually curious.
v. 20-Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
C. If you read on in the story of Jesus you will find that he questioned Jesus and hoped he would do a miracle for him.
D. Herod’s spiritual curiosity didn’t help him at all. Why? Because he never got beyond his curiosity.
E. I think there were plenty of spiritually curious people around Jesus. There had to be. Many people came to see him because they were in great need. However, there were certainly may who were curious about this man who was teaching with such authority, who healed so many people, and who had such power over demons.
F. Is it bad to be spiritually curious about Jesus? Certainly not.
G. But is that all that Jesus was looking for? If we examined his words and his life would we come to the conclusion that he is satisfied with merely provoking some spiritual curiosity in his followers? I don’t think so.
H. I think Jesus is looking for spiritual honesty and life commitment. Spiritual curiosity can be a good thing. I think Jesus wants people to be curious about him. I think Jesus was seeker sensitive. However, mere curiosity wasn’t the end result Jesus had in mind. It he only wanted us to be curious or to seek him when it was convenient then he never would have spoken words about losing our lives and picking up our cross and following him. Does Jesus welcome the spiritually curious? He most certainly does and we clearly see this in the gospels. However, he calls the spiritually curious to spiritual honesty and complete commitment to him.
I. That is a place Herod never wanted to go.
J. If Jesus’ words are true, that the gate to eternal life is narrow and only a few find it, then perhaps it is a place that few want to go today. There may be many who are spiritually curious but perhaps there are few who willing to be honest about their need for a savior and willing to commit their lives fully to him.
K. How about you today? Have you been merely spiritually curious about Jesus? Are you content to talk about him but to also keep him at a safe distance in your life?
L. If so, then hear the call, see the signs-Warning! Danger! Danger! Jesus is looking for more than mere spiritual curiosity. He is calling us to spiritual honesty and to complete commitment to him.
Conclusion
A. It would be tragic to drive down the road and ignore the warning signs about the road ahead.
B. It is tragic to drive the road of life and ignore the warnings signs of God’s words. Heed them today. Turn to the savior. Find grace and true life in him.
