Mark 6:14-29 deals with the death of John the Baptist. This story is between the sending out of the Twelve in 6:7-13 and the return of the Twelve in 6:30-32, an example of the tendency of Mark to use intercalation. Mark is making a point in separating one story into two parts by inserting a quite different story. In this case, his point is that the fate of John the Baptist foreshadows the fates of Jesus and those who follow him.[1] John the Baptist prepares the way of the Lord not only in announcing Jesus' ministry but also prepares the way in announcing his fate, one similar to his own fate -- death.
At some point in the ministry of Jesus, Herod placed John in prison and executed him. The question among many students of the New Testament is whether the arrest and execution of John the Baptist changed the preaching itinerary of Jesus. Mark does not suggest that Jesus is in flight from Herod. According to Mark, Jesus preached in the district around Tyre and Decapolis.
14 King Herod heard of it. The title of king for Herod is interesting here. The desire of Herod to be king earned him banishment in AD 39.[2] Herod Antipas, Herod the Great's son, was probably referred to as king by the common people as indicated here, but technically he was a tetrarch who ruled Galilee and Perea (4 B.C.-A.D. 39), not a king.[3]Herod heard of the mission, for Jesus’ name had become known. The ministry of Jesus is what alarmed him. Jesus is at issue, not the mission. “Name” suggests the personality of Jesus is revealed in word and deed. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” 15 However, others said, “It is Elijah.” The idea that Jesus may be Elijah corresponds to the idea in Jesus' day that Elijah would return and usher in the day of the Lord (Malachi 3:1-2; 4:5-6). Others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” Mark has already told us about Elijah and John, as we find in Malachi 3:1, 4:5, as well as Mark 1:6, 9:9, 13. One might also think of the prophets restoring others to life. There were popular opinions that connected Jesus with the Baptist or the prophets. The rumors concerning Jesus' identity parallel similar speculation that Mark documents in 8:27-30 (cf. 6:3). The miraculous deeds performed by Jesus cause people to wonder whether he is John the Baptist or Elijah come back to life. Such speculations suggest that many people considered John a prophet like the Old Testament prophets who raised the dead. Yet their reasoning expanded to include the idea that he himself was resurrected and consequently able to perform such deeds. The reader, however, knows from the prologue and the previous narratives the identity of Jesus and that speculation about his identity is incorrect, but the question of Jesus' identity appears in different places in the gospel (6:3; 8:27-30; 11:27-28; 15:2, 39). 16 However, when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”This notion of resurrection is interesting, especially related to the significance of the empty tomb. However, the re-embodiment of a dead person in someone else is different from an eschatological resurrection of the dead and transformation into a life that is very different from a human life on this earth.[4]
The reference to Herod allows Mark to incorporate a flashback for his readers in offering a description of the execution of John the Baptist in verses 17-29.[5] In reading this account, we get psychological insight into the character of Herod. Historical difficulties with the account by Mark arise because of the account by Josephus, in which Herod arrested John because he was suspicious of his popularity among the Jews and imprisoned him in the castle Macherus for two years, at the end of which Herod had him executed.[6] I will note some of the historical problems with the account of Mark. I will not try to explain it. For some persons, the challenge is to their view of scripture. I do not share that concern. If the reader has a comment on some of the difficulties here, I am open to some comments. However, my primary interest is elsewhere. 17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. Herodias was the niece of Herod Antipas, the daughter of Aristobulous, and the granddaughter of Herod the Great and Masiansne, in contrast to Mark’s statement, which cannot be accurate. Herod is defeated in AD 36 by his wife’s father in battle. Salome did not marry Philip until 34 AD. 18 For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. Herodias is similar to Jezebel in I Kings 21 and seeks to kill John. However, she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. Perplexed was not the response for which John was looking. He was looking for repentance. 21 However, an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. The Jewish people did not celebrate birthdays, but Greeks and Romans did celebrate birthdays. Herod wanted to ingratiate himself to the Romans with the party. His parties were legendary. 22 When his daughter (actually his grandniece) Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. The historical difficulty is that a Herodian princess would not dance before court of Antipas. The girl was Salome and would have been about 20 in AD 28-29. According to some scholars, a party of the nobility mentioned here would more likely be at Tiberias than at Machaerus. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” 23 And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” This account seems to have the influence of the story of Esther in the background. 24 She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” Normally, Roman citizens and individuals with status were executed by beheading while those of the lower classes were crucified. In this instance, it seems that the beheading of John the Baptist, who was incarcerated in the prison below, along with the request that his head be brought upon a platter, provides a gruesome irony to the dinner taking place. Salome's asking for John's head on a platter means that she wants it served up as part of the dinner menu -- a ghastly touch of ridicule."[7] Moreover, although Herod's promise was not binding, it would not have been proper for him to renege on his oath. In addition, although Judean Jewish rulers needed permission from Pilate to carry out executions, Herod Antipas experienced no such restrictions. He had the power to perform executions in his region.[8] 26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. We might refers to this as Herod’s dance with death. He is so tragically flawed and messed up that he cannot escape from his own misdeeds. He is his own worst enemy. Notice how utterly incapable he is of refusing to do that which he knows is wrong. His marriage is wrong, but his order to execute John goes against everything he feels about this special case. Herod is grieved but powerless. That is the dance of death. This is the dance we step when we grieve over our decisions or actions but seem powerless to change them. We are doing a dance, and we cannot get the bandleader to change the tune. 27 Immediately, the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb If the intent is to offer a parallel to 15:46, this means Mark again paints the disciples of Jesus in a poor light by contrasting their behavior with the disciples of John. According to customs during this period, if a man had sons, the oldest son buried his father. Ironically, the actions of John's disciples contrast greatly with that of Jesus' disciples.[9] None of the disciples whom Jesus sends out on a mission comes to bury Jesus after his crucifixion. Joseph of Arimathea, who is not named as one of the 12 disciples in the gospel, takes on the task of burying him. This action by Joseph demonstrates that although he may not have been part of the Twelve, he too was a disciple of Jesus whose dedication became more evident in the time of death and crisis. Thus, Mark may be paralleling the actions of John the Baptist's disciples with that of the disciples of Jesus.
The call in this text is a call to conversion. Our sinful behavior is not biologically determined, culturally required or morally necessary. We can drop out of the death dance and begin the dance of our lives.
The story of John the Baptist prepares the way for the story of the destiny of Jesus. Both are killed by men who see their goodness (15:9-10, 12, 14) but eventually cave in to public pressure. Both Jesus and John boldly proclaim their message, despite the consequences of the message (14:58, 60-62; cf. 8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34). However, one of the most significant contrasts is that while John's disciples take and bury his body, his body remains buried while Jesus, although buried, rises again, illustrating that while John the Baptist prepares the way, he is not the way (cf. John 14:6). Yet the interweaving of these two stories demonstrates further the theme of discipleship that appears throughout the gospel.[10]Discipleship may mean death in which Jesus' call to "follow me" (1:17, 2:14) may mean a call to follow him even into death. Tradition refers to the difficult like and death of the Twelve.
1. John died of extreme old age exiled to the island of Patmos.
2. Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, hanged himself.
3. Peter was crucified head down during the persecution of Nero.
4. Andrew died on a cross at Patrae, a Grecian colony.
5. James, the younger, son of Alphaeus, was thrown from a pinnacle of the temple, and then beaten to death with a club.
6. Bartholomew was flayed alive in Albanapolis, Armenia.
7. James, the elder son of Zebedee, was beheaded at Jerusalem.
8. Thomas, the doubter, was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel, in the East Indies.
9. Philip was hanged against a pillar at Heropolis.
10. Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows.
11. Simon died on a cross in Persia (what we now call Iran).
12. Matthew was first stoned and then beheaded.
Thus, discipleship does not merely mean partaking in the spectacular or the miraculous which the 12 disciples participated in in their mission of casting out demons and healing the sick (6:7, 13). Discipleship also means participating in every aspect of the call, the miraculous as well as the dangerous in which one literally loses one's life for the sake of the gospel (8:34-35).
As we step back from this story, we see that tyrants do not treat well those who speak the truth to them. Thus, when Jesus says that persecution means blessedness for followers of Jesus, and when he urges them to rejoice because of their eternal reward and their identification with the prophets in their persecution (Matthew 5:11-12), we see that Mark has a realistic view of what disciples of Jesus can expect. In persecution, followers of Jesus can receiving divine blessing and can rejoice largely because they adopt an eternal perspective.
[1] (Raymond Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, [New York: Doubleday, 1997], 135-36)
[2] (Craig Keener, IVP Bible Background Commentary, [Downer's Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 1993], 150)
[3] (Francis Moloney, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary, [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002], 126)
[4] (Pannenberg, 1998, 1991) Volume 2, 357.
[5] (Francis Moloney, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary, [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002], 126)
[6] Antiquities xviii, 5.2.
Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God's displeasure to him.
[7] (Craig Keener, IVP Bible Background Commentary, [Downer's Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 1993],151)
[8] (Craig Keener, IVP Bible Background Commentary, [Downer's Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 1993], 151)
[9] (Craig Keener, IVP Bible Background Commentary, [Downer's Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 1993], 151)
[10] (Francis Moloney, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary, [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002], 128).
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