Mark 6:14-29--The Death of John the Baptist

Mark 6:14-29
English Standard Version

The Death of John the Baptist
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.

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This passage is going to tell us about the death of John, but first it will tell us about something about the identity of Jesus.  After the death of John, Herod heard about Jesus, His message, and His miracles, and Herod feared that John had come back from the dead.  The words here imply that Herod believed in a resurrection of some kind.  How funny it is that they were quick to believe John had been resurrected, but they will deny the resurrection of Jesus when it actually occurs.

There is then much discussion about who Jesus really is.  Some would say He was a prophet, or even the Prophet promised in Deuteronomy, others would say that He was Elijah that would come as a forerunner to the Messiah (they missed that John was the one who came in the spirit of Elijah and was the forerunner to Jesus), some said that Jesus was another prophet of old like Jerremiah, but Herod was convinced that Jesus somehow was John the Baptist come back from the dead because of Herod's guilty conscience.  We then get a little of the story of what did happen to John and what Herod has to feel guilty about.

Apparently, Herod took his sister-in-law (his brother's wife) as his own wife and both this brother (another Herod over a different region) and his sister-in-law were okay with this, but it was against God's Law to do so.  John spoke out about it and Herod had John arrested and thrown in prison as a political prisoner.  He didn't intend to kill him, but just wanted to keep him in prison where he could restrict access to him, and John couldn't publicly speak out against Herod.  Herod knew John was righteous and holy, so Herod would listen to John often as long as he liked what John had to say, but when John said things that Herod didn't like, Herod would send him back to prison.

Herod's sister-in-law, Herodias, that he had taken as his wife hated John though and wanted to have him killed.  She will be the one to manipulate the situation to bring about John's execution.  Once at what appears to be a state dinner where Herod had invited all of his rich and powerful friends, and where there was much wine flowing, Herod had gotten very drunk.  Herodias's daughter danced before Herod and his guests to entertain them, and Herod was so pleased, and so drunk, that he promised the girl anything that she wanted, up to half of his kingdom.  The girl consulted with her mother and her mother told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.  Herod was caught because although he did not want to kill John, everyone in the room had heard the promise he had made and he already looked like a drunk fool making such a promise to the girl, but he would look like even more foolish if he did not kill this man he had in his prison as she requested.  Herod did what was asked of him and regretted it forever after this.

The executioner was sent to the prison to behead John and bring his head back on a platter as requested.  The executioner gave the platter to the girl who turned and give it to her mother, so it was obvious to everyone that it was Herodias who had made the request and gotten her way that day.  In a way, she was the one pulling the strings and in charge of things even though it looked like Herod was in charge.  Then many of John's disciples came and buried the body.  I'm sure when they received the news that it was a time of great mourning not only for Jesus, but for all of His disciples that had also been disciples of John.  We see in other gospels how this was a time of great sorrow for Jesus and how He tried to send the crowds away so He could have some time to grieve in private, but they would not allow Him the time or space to grieve (maybe they didn't know, or maybe they didn't care.  Perhaps they only cared about themselves in the moment).  It does teach us something about grief and that Jesus shared understands what we're going through when someone close to us dies.  This definitely wouldn't seem "fair" to anyone observing it and many would wonder how God could let a good man like John die so young, but John did not die in a way where he had more to accomplish.  He had fulfilled his purpose and mission he had been given by God.  He had pointed others to Jesus, though it's clear from this passage that many did not listen to John about the identity of Jesus.  Have we listened?  Do we understand who John was and who Jesus is?