The Death of John the Baptist, Part 1

Introduction to the Sordid Narrative of John's Death

0:03 As we have exhorted ourselves in the language of this hymn to be hushed in our spirits to hear the word of God, let us seek to show the sincerity of that request as we hear the reading of God's word as found in the sixth chapter of Mark's gospel, the gospel according to Mark, and I shall read the entire incident that is bounded by verses 14 through 29. Mark chapter 6, beginning the reading at verse 14. And King Herod heard thereof, for his name, that is the name of Jesus, had become known. And he, that is Herod, said, John the baptizer is risen from the dead. And therefore do these powers work in him. But others said, it is Elijah.

1:07 And others said, it is a prophet, even as one of the prophets. But Herod, when he heard thereof, said, John, whom I beheaded, he is risen. For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison, for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. For John said unto Herod, It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.

1:42 And Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him, and she could not. For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. And when he heard him, he said, He was much perplexed, and he heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and the high captains, and the chief men of Galilee.

2:15 And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and them that sat at meat with him. And the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever you will. And I will give it you. And he swore unto her, Whatsoever you shall ask of me, I will give it unto you, unto the half of my kingdom.

2:41 And she went out and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the baptizer. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that you forthwith give me on a platter, the head of John the baptizer. And the king was exceeding sorry, but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat, he would not reject her.

3:13 And straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard thereof, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb. Now let us again seek the face of God, with the help of his Holy Spirit, as we come to this portion of his own infallible word.

3:55 Let us pray. Our Father, once again we address you as the living God, and we pray that, in all the livingness and presence of your Spirit's ministry, we shall know your word being opened to our understanding, and coming home to the deepest chambers of our hearts with power. O God, speak to us today, and may we, hearing your voice, run in the way of your commandments. We ask in Jesus' name.

4:37 Amen.

4:46 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. With these words, Ark's account of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus begins. And in the course of our expositions, I have called you back again and again to those first and opening words of this gospel, that it pertains to Jesus Christ, God's Son, and its great concern is to herald the gospel that is the good news that centers in this mission of mercy to a sin-cursed world accomplished by Jesus Christ, the mighty worker. The Holy Spirit sent from heaven to testify of Jesus so worked in the mind and spirit of Mark, Mark, that again and again our attention has been graciously yet almost forcibly drawn to the Lord Jesus. Whether we see him casting out demons with the word of his power, whether irresistibly calling into fellowship with himself fishermen to be his apostles, whether forgiving sin by his own supreme word of absolution,

6:14 whether healing broken bodies, calming troubled seas, raising people from the dead, again and again it is our Lord Jesus as the mighty worker, full of power and of the Holy Ghost, who is brought before us in the gospel of Mark. But today we come to a passage in striking contrast to all that has preceded. Mark, our Lord is not central in the passage read in your hearing. Rather a pagan ruler along with his vicious, adulterous and scheming, unprincipled wife is the central figure and another figure takes the center place with him an imprisoned and ultimately a beheaded man of God by the name of John. And as I have meditated upon this passage in recent days, I have found within me on the one hand a reluctance to expound it. And I think some of that reluctance grows out of a sensitivity to the clear precept of Philippians 4, 8. For we are told in that text, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are pure, if there be any virtue,

7:43 if there be any praise, these things, we are to aligns with the beautiful, with the virtuous, and with the praiseworthy. And apart from the virtue of John's fidelity to Jesus Christ, even unto death, this passage is not a deposit of the record of human virtue. Rather it contains the sordid like a modern Harlequin novel or soap opera, like a modern Harlequin novel or soap opera, like a modern Harlequin novel or soap opera, it has a bloody violent death. Some of the modern pictures that are made with unbridled violence, sensuous semi-drunken climate, in which men with lustful gazes look upon the body of a young woman until the leader amongst them, inflamed by passion and half drunkenness, makes wild promises and commits himself to murder. makes wild promises and commits himself to murder. There is the shocking misuse of parental influence as we see the scheming Herodias

9:08 manipulating the daughter by her previous marriage for the head of the man of God. And then there is, I know not what else to call it, but the nauseating sight of a political leader who is not led by conscience and principle but by pride, the fear of men, and the enslaving pressure of a lust-impelled bondage to his own reputation and to his evil wife. Now my friends, I don't find that pleasant. With no treatment, as I have since studied this passage in the original, have pondered its structure, sought to allow my soak in its message, there are times when I felt nauseous. It's not the kind of passage that makes you shout hallelujah. It's not the kind of passage that leaves you breathless with awe and wonder as you see the majesty and the power of Christ as we have been left some Lord's Day mornings in our studies of Mark's gospel. However, the spotlight is again and again upon our blessed Lord

10:36 is the Holy Spirit who inspired this account read in your hearing. Something in me would avoid them, pass over them quickly, and if I could maintain a good conscience and do it, I would, but I dare not. It is my task to surround them and then to apply them thoroughly under this conviction that God is more wise than I. And if in it is infinite wisdom, He does not present through Mark the good news of Jesus Christ without this sordid account of John's death, then He knows that he desperately needs this variant in which to couch the message of His saving mercy to needy sinners. And when we become wiser than God, it is right for God to curse us with spiritual blindness. And fearful of that curse, I therefore commit myself this morning to expound the passage as time permits to make but one application of the passage, and then God willing, God send us next Lord's Day morning to make four or five other vital

Historical Background: John the Baptist and King Herod

11:57 lines of application out of the passage. Now if we're going to understand what is set before us, we must have a little bit of historical background regarding these two central figures, King Herod and John the Baptist. Now let's start with John. The passage assumes that John is in prison.

12:23 We met John in the very opening words of Mark's Gospel, for Mark no sooner says the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but that he directs our attention to the ministry and message of the forerunner of Jesus, Son of God, even John the Baptist. In the beginning of chapter 1, the last thing Mark told us about John was this, now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee preaching. And from that point onward, we have been observing the ministry of our Lord in that northern Galilean area of Palestine. And although we have been following the ministry of our Lord, John has been languishing in prison. He's been in prison now for at least approximately a whole year. A whole year in which he has been committed to this confinement, during which time he obviously went through some tremendous spiritual struggles.

13:34 For you'll remember that the Scripture records some of his doubts, and he sent some of those who visited him to go to the Lord Jesus with this question, are you the one who was coming, or should we look for another? Now it wasn't that John had any mistaken notions about his own identity. When people came saying, are you the Christ? Are you that great prophet who was promised?

13:59 John said, no, I'm a voice crying in the wilderness. And when they came and said, look, everyone's running after him, aren't you jealous? He said those famous words in John 3, no, I'm not jealous. He must increase.

14:13 He was confident his ministry was both temporary and one that led to another, and that it was not an end in itself, and yet in the spiritual struggle and trauma of loneliness has come upon him, and our Lord gently responds to those doubts as recorded in Matthew 11, 2 to 6. And when John's disciples come saying, are you the Christ, or do we look for another? He didn't send them back with a rebuke to John. He said, look, go back and tell him what you see and what you hear.

14:55 Set his mind at rest by the facts, by the facts of what is going on in this area of Galilee, where since he was committed to prison, preaching and healing, raising the dead, and bringing the good news of salvation unto the poor. So that's the situation of John the Baptist. That's something of the background that brings him into the circumstances described in this paragraph. Now what about this man, King Herod, or Herod the Tetrarch, or Herod Antipas, all one and the same person?

15:34 Well, if we're to understand who he was, how he fits into the picture, we've got to understand several very simple and basic facts. Number one, we must understand that Palestine at that time was under Roman domination. By the middle of the first century before Christ, the city of Rome, originally an insignificant city, an intelligent Italian town, had become the mistress of the realm that extended all around the Mediterranean Sea. And since the expulsion of the kings, which took place at a very early time, Rome had become a republic.

16:13 But in 48 B.C., after a civil war, Julius Caesar had acquired supreme power. And after his assassination in 31 B.C., Octavius became sole ruler, and in 27 B.C., the permanent form of his authority was fixed, and his name, Augustus, was assumed. That date, 27 B.C., is regarded as the marking of the beginning of the Roman Empire. Now, when you have an empire, you must rule it. And in ruling it, you must set up a structure for rule. And Rome was still, as it were, experimenting, and piecemeal operating certain facets of the exercise of from Rome.

17:04 This is where Herod fits into the picture. This is not Herod the Great, who was alive at the birth of Jesus, for you remember it was after his death that the message came that Jesus and Mary and Joseph could go back into Palestine out of Egypt, for the one who had sought his life was dead. This Herod is one of his sons, as one writer has beautifully and helpfully summarized it. This Herod is Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great and Malthus, a Samaritan woman.

17:39 After the father's death, that is, Herod the Great, the kingdom that he had founded was divided among the sons, and Antipas received Galilee and Perea as his portion. Galilee and Perea over here on this side. He bore the name of Tetrarch as ruler of a fourth part of the Roman province of Syria, and the title King was a popular one. It was used as a substitute for Tetrarch.

18:09 He was one of the tributary sovereigns to whom Rome would well afford to grant some gratification of their vanity. His reign covered almost the whole lifetime of our Lord and continued beyond it, extending from B.C. 4 to A.D. 39.

18:29 It is not positively affirmed that Herod heard of Jesus for the first time in this incident, though it is plainly implied that he had not known much of him and now obtained more information than he had before. Now that gives you a little background of who this Herod was. He was, in that sense, a puppet of Rome, and yet a puppet with some freedom of his own. One who was there to enforce the rule of Rome, but with some degree of latitude and of liberty.

19:08 What is the whole incident about this matter of Herod being his wife and all of these other things? Well, again, a little historical background will be helpful. Though Tiberius was the center of his operation, and that's up on the Sea of Galilee, sometimes called the Tiberius Sea, and is sort of central on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, Tiberius, there was also a place down here by the Dead Sea. And you remember Palestine, you have the small body of water, the Sea of Galilee or the Lake Galilee, Sea of Tiberius, the Jordan River, and then the larger Dead Sea.

19:51 And over here, about five or six miles to the east of the central bank of the Dead Sea is a place called Machiris. And there was a large fortress with all the facilities for housing prisoners as well as having large banquets. And from time to time, Herod would be found there at Machiris, and it was probably here that John the Baptist was imprisoned, because that puts us much down, much further down into the area of Jerusalem and the center of John's activity, which would be out toward the Jordan River, probably just 15 or 20 miles away from Machiris. Now, with that ground in mind, let's come to the text itself. The first thing we encounter in the passage, verses 14 to 16, is Herod's conviction as to the identity of Jesus. Notice how the passage begins. And king heard thereof, for his name had become known.

Herod's Conviction Regarding Jesus' Identity

21:03 And he said, John the Baptizer is risen from the dead, and therefore do these powers work in him. But others said, It is Elijah. And others said, It is a prophet, even as one of the prophets. But Herod, when he heard thereof, said, John, whom I beheaded, he is risen.

21:24 Now, the passage begins by focusing upon Herod's conviction as to the identity of Jesus. According to verse 14, the name and the fame of Jesus was now on everyone's lips. We read in earlier passages that his fame spread not only through all of Galilee, but even spilt across the borders of the Gentile lands that surrounded Galilee and parts further south. In Palestine.

21:59 And as continually filtered through that there was one called Jesus of Nazareth who was healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, he expressed a strange conviction as to his identity. The reports that reached his ears were concerning someone called Jesus who came from up in Galilee called Nazareth. But whenever the reports reached his ears, by the time they filled through his own he said, No, it is not some independent, hitherto unknown personage who has come out of Nazareth. This Jesus, who is doing these miracles, must be none other than John the Baptist come back to life from the dead. Strange conviction. For the scriptures tell us that in his life John did no miracle.

23:11 He was recognized as a prophet but he did no miracle. And yet this man says he works. These manifold powers are being worked from the dead. Now apparently when he would express this conviction that Jesus of Nazareth was none other than John the Baptist back from the dead, others would challenge that and chime in and say, No, verse 15.

23:46 But others said, It is Elijah. Here were the Jewish scribes and Pharisees with their crass literalism. And God had prophesied in Malachi 4, 5 that before the day of the Lord he would send them Elijah. And so some of them in their crass literalism really believed that Elijah would be resurrected and come back.

24:08 That sounds familiar. Some of our so-called prophetic teachers in our day with their crass literalism Jesus very clearly taught that that prophecy in Malachi was fulfilled in John the Baptist. He said, This is Elijah. Elijah hangs.

24:24 But there were the crass literalists and they said, No, we don't agree with you, Herod. This is Elijah. And others said, We don't agree with any of you. It is a prophet even as one of the prophets.

24:37 In other words, this Jesus of Nazareth is not to be understood as John back from the dead or Elijah back from the dead, but rather God has broken the long silence and added to the prophetic ministry of John, the first prophet in Israel in 400 years, God has added another prophet to all explanations as to the identity of Jesus. He weighs all of it, but he's not swayed. Notice how verse 16 concludes, But Herod, when he and here's the key, on whom I was risen, a more literal rendering of the original for emphasis would be this. He expressed as to the identity of this miracle worker, this mighty, powerful preacher and healer who has come out of Nazareth. Others interact with him and try to shift him off his ground, but Herod will not be shifted. He says,

26:04 No, he is not this one. He is not that. It is John back from the dead and now here's why I'm convinced of it. It is John headed.

26:22 In other words, his conviction identity of Jesus was framed by a screaming conscience and a haunting memory of his own activity in conjunction with the death of John. His judgment about the entity of Jesus was framed by his own conscience with respect to the death of John. He regards John the Baptist not merely murdering him, not merely killing him, taking off and subjecting John to the indignity of being served as the final in a drunken feast with a go-go dancer doing her stuff. You say, Pastor, are you right in making that connection? Yes, because if you'll notice verse 18,

27:38 verse 18 makes it. You see the connecting word? Our second division. Herod's conviction as to the identity of Jesus verses 14 to 16 now.

27:54 Herod's actions which lay at the root of that conviction. Herod's actions which lay at the root of that conviction. And the connection is made with the four at the beginning of verse 18. For John, he was saved.

Herod's Adulterous Marriage and John's Fearless Denunciation

28:19 It is not law your brother's wife. Now, if we're to understand Herod's actions which lay at the root of his conviction, we've got to first of all grasp number one, the fact of his adulterous, incestuous marriage to Herodias. Verse 17. The fact of his adulterous, incestuous marriage to Herodias.

28:52 That Herod had married his wife. Well, what's so wrong with that? Well, secular history here, helps us. Josephus records acts of that marriage and they are as follows.

29:16 His niece. She had married her. So you get the picture. Here's Herod Antipas.

29:22 He's got a brother. Here is his niece as well as Herod's niece. Leader. A common citizen at Rome.

29:41 And whether because she lusted for the position and power of standing by the side of one of the rulers, or whether there was, as it is reported in secular history, a matter of love at first sight, infatuation. On one of his trips to Rome, Herod Antipas, the Herod of our passage, connected with John. And Herodias, quote, fell in love. And when they fell, they had to do something.

30:13 Herod had a wife in Galilee. Well, she agreed to go off. See what I said about a Harlequin novel. Modern soap opera.

30:40 Word gets out his affairs. To divorce me, she runs back to her papa. Disappear into this fracas and Herod was troubled and ultimately brought to ruin because of this lustful desire for this wicked and unprincipled woman. Anything like this in a public figure doesn't get done in a corner.

31:23 Who let a public figure in our day simply scratch his nose on the wrong side? And one of the scandal sheets will find some tremendous significance in it and it's emblazoned all around the world. But in that day everything passed by word of mouth. There was a sense in which there was an even tighter network of oral communication and you can imagine how someone in a high place like this coming back from a trip to Rome with a different wife upon his arm and his own wife having abdicated their living quarters, how this would be scandalous and be known all over Palestine.

32:00 And apparently what John did as he was not down here where the fortress was or way up there in Tiberius but as he was by the Jordan a bit north of the Dead Sea as John was preaching and called men to repentance apparently in the course of his preaching of an adulterant and incestuous relationship. The relationship by blood between Herod and Tiberius was such that it was forbidden by the law of God that he should marry in that close-up bloodline it was incestuous and because there were no biblical grounds to dissolve in marriage it was adulterous. And John had the courage when standing there by the shore of the Jordan River preaching righteousness and calling men to repentance to point this sin that had become scandalous knowledge or knowledge of this scandal had become known throughout all of Palestine. Furthermore, according to Luke he didn't stop with exposing just that sin for we read in the word of God he exposed this sin to other sins as we'll see momentarily. But we've looked now at the fact of Herod's adulterous incestuous marriage.

33:26 But now notice the fearless exposure and denunciation of this sin by John and I've already anticipated that and run over into that next heading. There's no indication of a personal encounter prior to the imprisonment but no doubt there was public comment upon a public figure and that is perfectly legitimate and I hope to demonstrate that next week more fully. And he not only exposed this sin but Luke 3 and verse 19 says he exposed other sins but Herod the tetrarch Herod Antipas the Herod of our passage being reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife and for all this also to them all that he shut up John in prison. So it was not only Herod's love life that John messed with he messed with every area of his life that was scandalously contrary to the law of God dating this great one of the earth for all the facets of his life that were contrary to God's law. So there was that fearless exposure

Herodias's Murderous Desires and Herod's Perplexed Protection

34:50 and denunciation of this sin by John it is not lawful for you to have her. Then we notice the venomous murderous desires of Herodias. Look at the record. The venomous murderous desires when she becomes aware of John what's her response?

35:22 Against him could not set herself against him translated literally would be this she had it in for him. Sound familiar? It's an idiom that we use. That guy's got it in for me.

35:38 That's what the word means. You have the prefix the preposition and the moment she becomes aware of these reproofs she had it in for John and what did she have in for John? What designs were brewing? Wretched, uncleansed dungeon of a sinful heart.

36:03 The heart of Herodias look at the text it says and she desired him and the form of the verb means she had a set and continuous commitment and motion of her will when she woke up the ambitions of that day one thing was woven into the thread of her volitional faculties it was this I'm going to get him I'm going to see him murdered. I'm going to see him killed. I'm going to see that tongue silenced. I'm going to see that voice silenced that dares reprove me for joining myself to Herod there is something of the settled disposition in the heart of this woman she is set against him and it speaks of continuous action and desire the settled, committed act of her will and notice it says woman spurned the human heart hath no fury like murderous designs frustrated when the sight and thought of someone fills a person with such venom that they cannot be satisfied until they see them dead what is the spirit of such a person when that desire is frustrated and blocked at every turn one can only imagine what it must have been like to live with that hellish woman

37:31 frustrated in her desire and what was the means of her frustration that's the fourth thing we need to see the means of her frustration frustrated design look at verse twenty for see how it's all connected here's why she could not for Herod feared John knowing that he was a righteous and holy man and kept him safe the reason she couldn't kill him was her husband became aware of her designs and he stood he could not be took measures essential to protect John from his own wife and why did he do it the text is very clear it says he was afraid of John he was afraid of John think of it but who's really the prisoner who's really the free man you see what caused him fear look at the text John that he was a righteous and a holy man enough to John not just to hear the report filtering into his palace that John was exposing his sin publicly

38:57 but when he had opportunity to observe the life of John he said he is a holy man he is separated unto God he's not a professional preacher who just does his thing and then lives like the devil he's not just a professional cleric he's not like the other religious holy men I've seen who are only other than their temple and their altar he saw John under tremendous pressure he saw him imprisoned for no law that he was a man stated unto God truly holy and truly righteous he saw him acting according to the law of God in all of his interpersonal relationships and when he was in the presence of a man whose rebukes of his own nation from the law were backed up lived in conformity with that law it got to his conscience it got to the deepest chambers of his soul and he was afraid of this man he had the connection God if I touch this man I touch God I dare not I dare not I dare not it itself to the conscience of this man that this passage verse 20 closes with a strange statement

40:23 and when he heard him he was much perplexed and he heard him heard him with pleasure he protected him and while protecting him he had audience and while he had audience he didn't stand up and say I declare life in my hands you listen to me John no no he became the pupil and as John talked and spoke and preached he was troubled he was perplexed and yet the mystery is he found pleasure in him I say it's an amazing passage but that's what the text says he was much perplexed and yet he heard him gladly why? I'll tell you why because down in the depths of his being because he was not yet totally abandoned by God where it knew when he heard John he was hearing the voice of the righteous man something that struck a chord in the depths of his being as an image bearer that when he heard John there was an inner delight he was in a world white swapping canine

The Occasion of John's Execution: Herod's Birthday Feast

41:49 that is set up when John's everything was clear and pure and light and glorious he heard him gladly the stage is set we see how we're born verses 21 to 29 and here we move very quickly because we only stop as long as is necessary for explanation I take no delight in any graphic description and when a convenient day was on oh what a pregnant phrase there's so much in this passage that cried out to preach a convenient day from whose standpoint a convenient day from the standpoint of Herodias the picture is that she was watching every day looking for an opportunity and her own husband was trying to outfox her what a horrible thing when husband and wife are trying to outfox each other what horrible marriages when husband and wife have no trust and that's the kind of marriage they had he's trying to protect John she's trying to get by some back door to get to him and slit his throat get his head cut off shut his mouth and her day came her day came the occasion for the fulfillment of Herodias' desire what was it? this witch of a woman

43:16 with her murderous passions she finds the day of Herod's birth when a convenient day was come that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords and the high captains and the chief men of Galilee you see human nature hasn't changed men today look for any occasion that will give the semblance of justification to party Memorial Day Christmas Easter anything you see people can't keep their self-respect and call their neighbors together and say on any Saturday let's and sip mixed drinks on now you lose your respectability young people may do that but for the most part respectable middle class people and certainly not governmental leaders so you've got to have to have a state occasion you've got to have a banquet for a visiting dignitary you've got to have some semblance of rationale to gather together and to have the wine and the booze flow so the occasion came what should a birthday do remind us of god's goodness and giving us the gift of life and then sober us with the reality we're going to die and if anything it ought to be a day for fasting and prayer that we'd be prepared to meet god and use the life he gave

44:44 us to the end for which he gave it namely to glorify him but what does herod do he calls together all the chief political leaders that's what the first word refers to he gathered together his lords and then the high captains the military leaders and then the chief men that's the general big shots the financiers the people of reputation he gathers all the hot shots together and if we read between the lines here what we read of roman feasts and i shall not go into description you suffice it to say that there was no concern for morality sobriety no concern for self-control and moderation there was gorging to the full there was drinking to the full and then often a group of the women from the leaders harem would come in and do their dance but so satin with this horrible spirit of murderous herodias that she will subject the fruit of her lazy subnex to nothing on her to become

45:51 the object of the rude drunken men deeply despot woman had become the cruel rulings that she danced with him the king now has to show his pride and so drunken guest in his own hat drunken lust inflamed fate he says sallow me she was overcome by that first request and there was silence so now he's that open invitation and oath and he swore unto her he was overcome by that

47:02 he brings gold and takes an oath you ask of me i'll give half of my kingdom he didn't have a kingdom he couldn't give half of it he had nothing to give he had no kingdom he was a vassal of rome he didn't own anything he's gonna talk big and impress all the hearts you see all the politically woman she is gratified and inflamed with lust never change either their mouth exceeds all reason in all sense so did his so he boasts show something of the horrorship that herodias had developed with this daughter of herodias and herodias had developed with herodias and herodias had developed with her

48:12 whom we read in secular literature was named sallow me or sallow me she immediately goes to her mother and she says notice the text she went out and asked of her mother what shall i ask saw her moment she had her and her just waiting for the fly and she said to her daughter i want you to was protecting him she said i'll outfox him if i simply say kill john the baptist what he may do is have someone else killed carry in the draped body or carry it out to a place of burial what he may do is have someone else killed carry in the draped body or carry it out to a place of burial while hiding john message and nose and mouth and it is john substitute corpse that i see i want his head and then notice the emphasis of mark and she came in straight with haste

49:30 why did she come with haste did her mother say get on with it quickly girl conscience that said if i think long enough i'll never do it let me get it over with before i have a chance to bend before my conscience i don't know could be either all i know is she came in with haste she goes one step further than her mother so well that she learned her mother's way she did not say i will that you give me head of john the baptist but she added another little horrible wrinkle serve it up on a platter as the last course of the feast servants come in to serve the fruits and to serve the that you've all been partaking of i want his head on a platter now this tragic text verse 26 and the king was exceeding sorry mark only uses that terminology one other time in his gospel and you know where it is it's get seven when our lord was exceeding

50:44 sorrowful and said my soul is eating sorrowful this was no little hang of conscience this was no little twinge the king now the moment of truth comes will i hunt and break my oath and break the kingdom you ask or does not include john he could have said that for the sake of his oaths not because he had a sense of commitment to god commitment to save face and of them that sat at meat you see his man pleasing man fearing spirit he would not reject her and straightway as she came in straightway with the request so straightway he sends forth the soldier at his guard and commanded to bring his head the soldier apparently without any reluctance went out and taking his broad had john and with one blow head from his shoulders

52:05 and that soldier head by its locks and plumped it on a platter now spattered with blood carried it into the banquet play verse 28 platter and presented it to the damsel now let me ask you girls sitting here today you women what would you do if someone handed you anyone's head just recently taken from shoulders on a platter you'd fake, you'd shriek oh the mother had done such a job on this girl look at the text and the damsel gave it to her mother without any the reward of obedience to her mother and the text closes by saying and when his disciples that is John's disciples heard they came and took up literally the thing that was fallen his corpse, his remains and they laid it in a tomb now dear people you know why I felt nauseous this week I haven't embellished the passage with imagination I've simply sought to expound the sense of the words of the text

The Torture of an Awakened Conscience

53:31 and I said I wanted to bring one word of application this morning and I will have time for just that one and it's this it's not enough dear people to point the finger of pity to confess our sense of nausea that we need to see in this passage a message that is part of the gospel part of the good news of Jesus Christ the son of God the one point that I want us to see this morning is the main point of the passage in terms of my present understanding and I think you will be convinced that this is also your understanding or that your understanding will join me in that conviction and here's the point of the passage there is no torture like that of an awakened conscience willfully rejecting light and refusing to submit to what it knows to be true there is no torture like that of an awakened conscience that willfully rejects light and refuses to submit to what it knows to be true where did the passage begin go right back to the beginning with me now King Harry and what is his assessment of his identity

54:58 John the Baptist from the dead just over his shoulder day and night to be true that John the Baptist was raised from the dead in this one called Jesus was the bursting forth conscience torch when he went to Rome a business trip and first catties upon her road another man's wife his own commit

56:21 felt not uncover the nakedness of one in that close blood relationship when he came back to Palestine and then contracted an adultery and then contracted an adultery and then contracted an adultery marriage with her no doubt conscience went from a whisper to loud then when word reached him that his scandalous behavior was being openly condemned as incestuous and adulterous by John the Baptist conscience went from a whisper to a firm distinct modulation to reverberating thunders then when John is imprisoned and he sees his life and knows that behind those denunciations was a man who lived under the eye of God, and by the law, every thunder that came to his conscience from the report about John, now embers of his mind and of his spirit.

57:32 And then, when the request of distress that filled his first whisper of revelation, the pressure of the word of John the Baptist, the color red spattered on that charge, every time he heard the Palestinian name of John,

58:55 there's a mighty miracle worker, he can only draw one conclusion, God has pinned him. Oh, dear people, do you see the message of the passage? There is no torture like the torture of an awakened conscience that rejects light and refuses to submit to what it knows to be right. But I'm speaking this morning to someone in this building.

59:29 His conscience, like Herod's, has known everything. From the first whispers, to the point where even this sermon this morning has become God's thunderclap in your own ears. And those consciences pressing, you know what you're doing?

60:17 It is the heart, the worm that never dies.

60:27 That all the hell will never consume and survive.

60:35 In his worth, the worm that never died. The torture of an accusing conscience.

60:44 The ghost that you knew if only you'd written. And for some, which of scripture could be purged by the, the blood of Jesus.

61:17 The head you go off with a torch. In my pastoral experience, a time ago, I spoke to a man who had the benefit of being reared in a Christian home. Taught his Bible,

61:33 Reared in a church where, with all of its, their least was Bible preaching. The preaching of the law and the preaching of the gospel. That man indicated that as a boy, there were many, many manifestations of a tender conscience. Conscience sensitive to a harsh spoken, a little dishonesty, a no rest until those who are confessed and made right with those involved.

62:04 That man went on to turn his back on all of that and to abandon himself to a lifestyle of total loss.

62:14 He went mad in his pursuit of sin. And when God was pleased to arrest him, we had opportunity to speak about that horrible experience. I, I said, why such doubt about the reality of the claims of his law. And as long as I was. So.

63:05 And I couldn't kill myself because I knew I'd send myself to hell.

63:28 You young people. And the ashes coming into puberty, running into her mommy and asking the questions a girl does when she's beginning to become a woman. You think she ever thought she'd take those well-formed hips and breasts and then carry in on a platter, the head of a man of God. Oh, I, she'd stoop that low.

64:06 Never.

64:08 By degrees, she dulled and seared her conscience and her audience. She was somebody's little baby once, but she dulled and seared her conscience. And though there was much more hope for Herod for a long and personally convinced that he crossed the line at that point, when though deeply troubled he could pitch. And you don't hear anything about any turning in repentance.

Warning Against Playing with Conscience

64:44 My dear young people, hear me, hear me. Will you? Go on with the torture, torture. I lived with it for 18 years of having a conscience under the pressure of light while refusing to embrace God of light and his son, Jesus Christ and child of God was in principle.

65:12 The same is true of you and me. You don't believe it. Read Psalm six on 32 and Psalm 51. Read about a man who violated his conscience against the light of grace and the power of grace within.

65:26 And the, the miseries of David being chased around the wilderness of Judea, like a dog were nothing compared to the miseries he had sitting in the palace with a bloody conscience.

65:39 Am I speaking to a Christian in whose life all the means of grace are being totally neutralized? Why? Because your conscience is defiled.

65:50 There's an issue. There are issues that you will not learn the lesson from Herod sometimes abandons a Christian to horrible, horrible depths to convince him he ought never to play with his conscience. He lets King David stoop to adultery and murder. Sound familiar?

66:15 We just been talking about adultery and murder one in an unconverted pagan King, the other in a man after God's own heart. Who do you think you are?

Call to Flee to Christ for Forgiveness

66:26 Don't play with conscience. There is no torture like the torturer conscience that has light and will embrace it. Flee to Christ, whether for the first time, or the 100th time that found an open for sin and uncleanness there, find peace through the blood of his cross or father. There are portions of your word that are not pleasant to our flesh and were it not for the conviction that it is your word given for our good, we would shy from reading much less ever expounding such portions. Thank you for giving grace to my own heart, not to, to recoil in horror and in disgust from this passage. Oh Lord, you know, you know, you read the motion of every heart in this place. This morning, we pray that this word will not be preached in vain, but that you would lay hold of the Herod's amongst us, that they may not go in the direction of Herod Antipas, but may they this day under the light of conscience illuminated by the word and under the, the pressure of the spirit may they flee their sins,

67:54 whatever that sin may be. May they find forgiveness in the blood of your son be with any of your children who even now have a controversy with you. May they not go on tempting you wondering what you will allow them to do, to convince them that they dare not toy with a guilty conscience. Oh God, help us help us.

68:15 We pray. Don't allow this word to fall to the ground. But may it be used for our salvation and our progress in grace. May not that foul, evil, wicked one who like the birds that hover behind the soul, may he not be permitted to snatch away this word, but may we buy grace and folded in our hearts by prayer and meditation.

68:42 And may you Lord make it germinate by the mighty influence of the spirit. We ask these mercies in Jesus name. Amen.