Truth And Consequences Series

A. How many of you remember the show “Truth or Consequences”?

1. Anyone who remembers the show is either old or is a radio and TV history buff.

2. “Truth or Consequences” was a long-running wild and wacky game show.

3. It was on the radio from 1940 to 1957 and was on TV from 1950 to 1988.

4. Contestants were selected from the studio audience and then were brought up on stage and were asked a question.

5. They could either tell the truth when the question was asked, or be forced to pay the consequences, which was to perform a stunt.

6. The question was always a trivia question (usually an off-the-wall question that no one would be able to answer correctly).

7. They had two seconds before “Beulah the Buzzer” was sounded.

8. Ralph Edwards the first host said, “Most of the American people are darned good sports.”

9. When Bob Barker hosted “Truth or Consequences,” he signed-off the show with the phrase: “Hoping all your consequences are happy ones.”

B. In today’s sermon from the Gospel of Mark, we are going to see that the consequences that John the Baptizer experienced for telling the truth were not always happy ones.

1. In our text for today, Mark 6:14-29, Mark gives us an interlude with two scenes.

2. The first scene is Herod’s concern about the identity of Jesus.

3. The second scene is a flashback to Herod’s execution of John the Baptizer.

C. As you know, John the Baptizer was the forerunner of the Messiah.

1. Jesus held John in high esteem and spoke these words in tribute to John: “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared…” (Mt. 11:11).

2. John’s preaching prepared the way for Jesus and John pointed to Jesus declaring Him to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (Jn. 1:29).

3. If the Jewish religious leaders had accepted John’s testimony, then they would have received the One John spoke of, but unfortunately, they rejected both John and Jesus.

D. The story of the execution of John the Baptizer is as dramatic as any story in the Bible.

1. His story reads like a bizarre soap opera that includes intrigue, debauchery and brutality.

2. These two scenes about John in the Gospel of Mark are sandwiched between the apostles being sent out on a mission and their return from the mission to report to Jesus what had taken place.

3. Why did Mark sandwich the story of John the Baptizer here in his Gospel, probably because the sending out of the 12 and the results of their testimony was bringing more attention to Jesus, causing everyone, including Herod to wonder who Jesus really was.

4. Mark may also be using the story of what happened to John the Baptizer to clarify the cost of being a disciple of Jesus – Jesus is the truth and believing in the truth has consequences but there are also consequences for rejecting the truth.

5. Herod’s concern about Jesus’ identity sets the stage for the flashback to the arrest and execution of John the Baptizer.

E. Allow me to remind you about John the Baptizer’s family and birth.

1. John’s mother Elizabeth and Jesus’ mother Mary were cousins.

2. John was a miracle child born to the elderly priest Zechariah and his barren wife Elizabeth.

3. In obedience to the command of the angel, John was a Nazarite from birth, meaning that his hair was never cut, he never touched a dead body, and never drank fermented drink.

4. John grew in his knowledge of the OT Scriptures and took on the clothing of an ancient prophet, wearing a coat of camel’s hair with a leather belt, and ate locusts and wild honey.

F. Back in Mark chapter 1, Mark began his Gospel with the ministry of John the Baptizer.

1. Mark began with a prophesy from Isaiah about the messenger who would prepare the way for the Messiah.

2. John the Baptizer was that messenger and he came preaching a baptism of repentance and was baptizing people in the wilderness.

3. Mark reports that the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and being baptized in the Jordon River.

4. John called all people to repent, including political and religious leaders whom John called a “brood of vipers.”

5. Mark told us that Jesus also was baptized by John in the Jordon.

6. Finally, Mark told us that: After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. (Mk. 1:14)

G. So, while John was in prison, Jesus continued His ministry and then sent out His apostles for the first time.