Introduction
No doubt I now grew very pale; --but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased --and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound --much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath --and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly --more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men --but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! what could I do? I foamed --I raved --I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder --louder --louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror!-this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! and now --again! --hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!
"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! --tear up the planks! here, here! --It is the beating of his hideous heart!"
“The Tell-tale Heart,” Edgar Allen Poe
Yet here’s a spot.
Out, damned spot! out, I say! – One: two: why, then ‘tis time to do’t. – Hell is murky! – Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? – Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.
The Thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now? – What, will these hands ne’er be clean? – No more o’ that, my lord, no more o’ that: you mar all with this starting.
Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!
Wash your hand, put on your nightgown; look not so pale. – I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out on’s grave.
Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Act V, Scene I, William Shakespeare
There is nothing like guilt to haunt a person. Guilt haunts the major character in our passage – Herod.
The Text
Our previous passage related the mission trip of Jesus’ disciples. They had been sent throughout the area of Galilee preaching, casting out demons, and healing, all in Jesus’ name. Jesus’ fame grows even greater and now arouses the attention of Herod: 14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known.
Speculation about Jesus, of course, runs rampant, and Mark gives us some of the alternatives people were proposing.
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.”
John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That seems an odd choice. First of all, John and Jesus were contemporaries. Indeed, they were cousins and surely no more than two years apart, piecing together Matthew’s and Luke’s birth narratives. But though you and I know that, not everyone else at that time did. According to 1:14, Jesus does not begin his ministry in Galilee until after John is imprisoned. As far as many people are concerned, Jesus appears out of nowhere after John’s death, or at least after he disappears. Remember also that there is no news media or modern communications systems. News travels by hearsay for the common people.
Taking this into account, why would they believe that Jesus was John raised from the dead? Resurrections were not common occurrences, especially for men beheaded. Again, not everyone would have known that John was beheaded or at least known for sure. More than likely, the authorities did not send out a public announcement. But this rising from the dead – how do they come up with that? It rises out of Jewish hopes of a new age to come.
All along, the Jews have hoped for the Messiah to come who would redeem Israel from her enemies and establish God’s kingdom in peace and prosperity. But it is in the period of about 200 B.C. to 100 A.D. that their hopes were especially intensified. This period is noted for a particular category of writings called “apocalyptic.” These writings spurred the hope of many Jews in a Messiah who would come in great power to usher in God’s kingdom. The writings were not cohesive; they did not always agree and there were many conflicting ideas about the Messiah and what the times would be like when he came. But they generally agreed that his coming would be preceded and accompanied with miraculous signs. What greater sign is there than a resurrection, especially a resurrection, because the final age included the resurrection of the righteous? John rising from the dead would signify that he is either the Messiah or the one who prepares the coming of the Messiah.
Some thought that Jesus was Elijah. They got this from Malachi: 5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes (Malachi 4:5).
Elijah would return, not as the Messiah, but as the one who prepares the way for him. Some people thought John was Elijah and Jesus even indicated so much. After the transfiguration in chapter 9 Mark records this conversation between Jesus and three disciples:
11 And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things... 13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him” (9:11-13).
Again, identifying Jesus with Elijah reveals the people’s hope in the Messiah coming to usher in a new age.
Finally, others claimed either that Jesus was a prophet along the line of the Old Testament prophets or that he was one of the OT prophets come back. He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago. Each claim, then, revealed a person’s messianic hopes.
Herod also gives his opinion. 16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!” Herod is not revealing, though, not his messianic hopes; he is revealing his guilt. He is a haunted man. Let’s find out why.
Herod Antipas was the tetrarch of two territories: Galilee and Perea. Galilee was the home territory of Jesus, and Perea was the territory that ran down the east shore of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, covering much of the area where John carried out his preaching ministry.
What’s a tetrarch? It is similar to being a governor. Herod governed his territories with powers similar to that of a king, but he was under the authority of the Roman Emperor. He aspired to have the title of king, and eventually his attempts to receive such a designation would lead to his exile. Mark refers to him as king, but it is an honorary, or perhaps even a mocking, title.
Herod ruled his territories for a long period – 43 years, the whole period of Jesus’ and John’s lives. He seemed to rule as well as most tetrarchs. He was not as brilliant as his father Herod the Great, but he was not as ruthless either. He was not as ruthless as his brother Archelaus, who was given the territories of Judea and Samaria and then deposed after a few years. Because of Archelaus’ reputation, Joseph, on returning from Egypt, avoided settling in Bethlehem in Archelaus’ territory and settled instead in Nazareth in Herod Antipas’ territory.
By the way, everybody is called “Herod.” There is Herod Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Herod Philip, Herod Agrippa and so on. The name turned into a title, just like the name Caesar did. Julius Caesar’s successors became known as Caesar Augustus, Caesar Tiberius, etc. It can get confusing reading in the Gospels and Acts, because only the name Herod will be used in referring to different men. The Herod of our story is Antipas.
Now, let’s turn to our story. It all started when Herod fell in love and wanted to get married. There were only two problems: he was already married and she, the lovely Herodias, was already married to his half-brother Philip. (By the way, Antipas had two half-brothers named Philip. Herod the Great had ten wives! This Philip was not a tetrarch like his brothers.) But love knows no obstacles! Herod dumped his wife; Herodias dumped her husband, and they married one another with the hope of living happily ever after.
One problem: this loud mouth prophet comes along who publicly preaches against the marriage. The Jewish historian Josephus says that Herod arrested John because he was afraid that the Baptist would lead an insurrection. That could be true, and certainly it would have been the official reason given, but Mark reveals this more personal motive. 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.”
This is better than a soap opera: a brother stealing another brother’s wife, the sin being publicly condemned. What could the National Enquirer have done with this story? It gets better. 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.
This is interesting. It is Herodias who is described as having a grudge against John, not Herod. Indeed Herod protects John from Herodias who wants him dead. The prison becomes as much a place of protection as it does of punishment. By the way, we know from Matthew 11 that John had contact with his disciples while in prison, because he sends them to Jesus to inquire if he was the Messiah. Herod feared John. Why? Because Herod knew he was a righteous and holy man.
That is good insight. The religious leaders did not think as much of John. Do we have a man with a conscience here? Note that he likes to listen to John. That is rather remarkable. Herod is not a full-blooded Jew and certainly not an observant one of the Law. And yet he enjoys listening to the prophet who bluntly preaches repentance. Mark says though that he was puzzled. He is not puzzled by what John means. John could never be accused of being vague. Herod is puzzled by what to do. He knows John is right; he knows that he has committed sin; what he doesn’t know is how to change.
So Herod remains in a state of limbo, torn between doing what is right and doing what he likes. But Herodias is not puzzled about anything. She knows what she wants and she intends to get it. The opportunity comes on Herod’s birthday. Mark doesn’t tell us, but more than likely she arranges for her daughter from her previous marriage to dance, which would have been unusual for a princess to do publicly. We can be fairly sure that she danced in a seductive manner and probably while Herod is somewhat drunk. Thus, he makes the generous and foolish offer to give up to half his kingdom.
The offer was likely a figure of speech such as when a man today tells a woman he will give her the world or do anything she wants. Herod is expecting no doubt to be asked for jewels or maybe a resort to live in. He certainly is not anticipating her request, which she makes after consulting her mother. Herod’s response is disgusting and he certainly shows himself to be worse than Herodias or the daughter. Here’s why.
Herodias is certainly a wicked woman. She acts with a murderous heart, but one might note that she does act according to her convictions. She kills John because she hates him; Herod kills him merely because he is a coward. The daughter is wicked to play her role, but she at least is merely playing a role for her mother. She is, technically, supposed to be submissive to Herodias. Herod is the head; he is not submissive to his wife or to his daughter. He supposedly is the authority and the one with wisdom and responsibility to know what is right. How sick to show more concern for saving face before his guests than the life of a man whom he acknowledges to be righteous and holy.
Herod has no excuse. What if the girl had asked for the head of one of the guests? Would he have “saved face” and beheaded a guest? Of course not. There is no shame in refusing to murder. This is a senseless tragedy brought about by a weak, cowardly man with a twisted sense of honor. A great prophet of God is brought down because a vengeful mother and her daughter are able to trick a man who liked to regard himself as a king. How ironic that Herod is brought to such grief at his birthday party.
Application
And it all worked out according to God’s plan. What? I just called it a senseless tragedy. It was, from our vantage point. Here is a young man (John is in his early 30s) carrying out faithfully the ministry to which God had called him, and this twisted family cuts off his head. Where is God in that? John had earlier given his own disciples the clue. Jesus’ disciple John records an incident in his gospel in which John the Baptist’s disciples are complaining how people are leaving to go hear Jesus.
27 To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:27-30).
John had completed his calling. He had come to prepare the way for the Messiah. Jesus the Messiah arrived; indeed, through John’s baptism, he received his commission to begin his ministry.
“But what an awful way to end – so short a life and so violent an ending,” someone might say. From our perspective, yes, but from the perspective of eternity, what is another 30 or 40 years? John went on to tell his disciples, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (3:36). John has now eternal life. Do you think he complained to God when taken into glory, “This is not fair; I want some more years on earth living in the wilderness and being persecuted like all the other prophets”?
What then about the manner of death? Wasn’t it a terrible way to die? Yes, it is not a fun way to die, but we need to put death and dying in true perspective. The good or bad death is not measured by the amount of suffering or the tragic circumstances that surround it. It is defined by what comes through it – judgment or redemption. It is better to die violently and alone, but in the saving grace of Christ, than to die peacefully among loved ones and be without Christ. What matters is what takes place in eternity.
There is one other lesson to consider. How many people today are like Herod who never catch on? There are many today who like what the gospel has to say. Indeed, there are many who enjoy coming to church. They like singing the old hymns. They like a good sermon. They respect religious people. They might even acknowledge that the Christian gospel is true and that they ought to change. The only problem is that they can’t, or at least, they don’t think they can. The change would be too hard to make, too painful. They might lose their friends and their reputation. They would have to give up lifestyles that they hold dear – adulterous relationships, the bottle, the drugs, etc. They are attracted to the Christian faith, but they even more so enslaved to what they know is not compatible with it.
So what do they do? Nothing. They just go along appreciating the gospel, but not committing themselves to it. They are perhaps the most miserable of people. They possess enough of a conscience and spiritual sensitivity to keep them from really enjoying their sin, but they lack the will to embrace the truth and know the joy of a committed life. Where is their hope? Are they doomed like Herod? No. They may be the most miserable, but they are also in the best position for salvation. They know that they cannot change, that they do not possess the power of themselves to turn to God. They are in the best position to understand that their hope is not in turning themselves around, but in giving up; giving up and turning to God to do the necessary work.
Can you change and make yourself a better person? Maybe, though the odds are against you. Can you change and become good enough for God to accept you? No, it is impossible. Where is your hope then? In Christ. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25). As Paul experienced, your hope, our hope, is in the promise of Jesus Christ that he has already done the work for our acceptance, and he gives his Holy Spirit to make the necessary change in us. It is Christ who saves and his Spirit who gives new life. Call upon Christ and you will be saved.
