Herod
(based on Mark 6:14-29)
Today’s scripture reading from Mark requires a
bit of a history lesson in order to fully appreciate the story. The original listeners to this story would
have understood it, as they weren’t far removed from its events. But today, we have a more difficult time with
it. Let’s go over the characters in this
reading because, as you’ll see, names and relationships get a little confusing.
Let’s list the obvious and less
confusing ones first. Beginning in Mark
6:17 we have a flashback to help explain the rising popularity of Jesus. And I don’t think it’s necessary to do any
explaining of Jesus, at this point, other than to point out that he is now
becoming known not only to the commoner and the religious rulers, but his
reputation is beginning to get the attention of the aristocracy and government
rulers.
John the Baptist is in prison. And we know John the Baptist. He’s been around since Christ’s entrance onto
the scene. He is Elizabeth’s son, the
child who leaped within her womb when cousin Mary came to visit at the
beginning of her own pregnancy. If you
enjoy following genealogy, you’ll really love this whole story. But here we know that Elizabeth, John’s
mother and Mary, Jesus’ mother, were cousins and that makes the relationship of
their children – cousins once removed.
So, Jesus and John are cousins once removed. And John is that odd cousin no one likes to
mention at family reunions. He wears
camel hair tunics, eats locusts and wild honey, and yells at people in the
marketplace to repent and turn to the Lord.
Even so, this odd cousin of Jesus isn’t just a strange freak with little
or no following. John the Baptist has
gathered quite a reputation for himself in his own right. And he has even had the ear of the
aristocracy.
And thus, the reason for his imprisonment, because
now we get to the more confusing characters: Herod, Herodias, Philip, and the
daughter of Herodias. How many of you
have heard the name Herod before?
We’re familiar with the idea that many people,
particularly during this time period, held the same name, right? So, try to stay with me. We first came into contact with the name
Herod when Jesus was born? King Herod
was visited by the Magi and asked about the baby Jesus. To set the record straight, this is not that
Herod. That Herod is known as Herod the
Great, for he reigned as King of Israel for 33 years, and was this Herod’s
father. Herod the Great had 5 wives and,
at least 7 sons through those wives.
Herod was extremely suspicious of being overthrown and had his eldest
sons killed, afraid that they were plotting against him for the throne. We see this suspicious nature of his even in
scripture when he called for all the boy babies in Israel to be executed based
on the information that had come from the wisemen from the East. Before he could have his last three sons
killed, he died. Archelaus, or Herod the
Ethnarch as he was called, was refused by Emperor Augustus to be given the
title King, but reigned over Judea in his father’s place for 10 years. This Herod was in power when Mary, Joseph and
Jesus were about to return to Israel from Egypt. Joseph was afraid that this Herod would be
just like his father and therefore took Mary and Jesus and settled in the
Galilee area in a town called Nazareth which was not under Judea’s rule. You’ll hear him mentioned in that story from
Matthew.
Archelaus was such a repressive ruler, that
messengers were sent to Emperor Augustus in Rome and warned that there would be
a full-scale revolt from both the Samaritans and the Judeans if he were to
remain in power. So, Emperor Augustus
deposed Herod the Ethnarch and named the next in line, Herod Antipas or Herod
the Tetrarch. (See how confusing it can
be!)
Herodias is the second wife of Herod the
Tetrarch. She was the daughter of one of
his older brothers. But Herodias first
married Herod the Tetrarch’s youngest brother Philip. So the niece, Herodias, marries her uncle,
Philip. At some family gathering, Herod
the Tetrarch likes what he sees in his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias, and
divorces his own wife and has Herodias divorce Philip who he then marries. So, Herodias ditches the inferior uncle
Philip for a more prosperous uncle Herod.
However, prior to divorcing Philip, she has a daughter by the name of
Salome.
John the Baptist bursts onto the scene and
says, “Herod, you are a bad boy marrying your brother’s wife who is also your
own niece. God is not happy with
you.” However, it’s not really Herod who
is bothered by this, but rather it is Herodias and wants John killed. In order to protect John from his wife’s
anger, Herod has John imprisoned. I
suppose this way he could keep an eye on John and know who was going and
coming, protecting him from anything that Herodias might think of doing. Because even though John had told Herod that
he was going against God’s wishes or desire, Herod still liked to listen to
him.
Now, here’s another confusing part to
the story. In some ancient Greek
versions of Mark it reads "Herod's daughter Herodias", like we read
from the New Revised Standard Version this morning, rather than the "daughter
of Herodias". To scholars using
these ancient texts, both mother and daughter had the same name. However, the Latin Vulgate Bible and the same
exact story in Matthew translates the passage as "Herodias's
daughter". Historians like Josephus
outside Biblical Scripture refer to Philip and Herodias’s daughter as
Salome. So, having cross-referenced all
the available scholarship, we could say that this is a mis-interpretation of
the ancient languages here in Mark.
Now that you know who all these people
are in this story and their entangled relationship with one another, let’s get
down to the story itself. It all centers
around the actions, reactions, thoughts and desires of one particular
character: Herod.
Alexander Maclaren, Biblical scholar,
in his commentary on Mark had this to say about Herod:
“Herod alternated between lust and
purity, between the foul kisses of the temptress at his side and the warnings
of the prophet in his dungeon. His mind
and conscience approved the nobler voice, but he staggered along, with religion
enough to spoil some of his sinful delights, but not enough to make him give
them up.” (pg. 168).
Having read that, I pondered what
Maclaren was trying to say. I think
Herod stands in for all of us who wrestle with right and wrong choices. He is the quintessential character with (as
we’d put it) an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. Each of them whispering in our ears telling
us what we want versus what we should do.
In that sense, all of us are Herod.
We’ve all wrestled with those inner demons who want us to walk away from
truth and right living. To turn our
backs on difficult choices, even if they are the right ones. We’ve all wrestled with wanting something we
simply can’t have or shouldn’t have because the consequences of our desires can
be devastating.
Herod couldn’t give up Herodias even
though he knew it was wrong to have her as his wife. What is worse, he couldn’t even stand up to
her requests. As a result, John the
Baptist is beheaded.
Most of us would probably say; well,
I’d never let my desires go that far.
I’d never let my need of (whatever) cause such a horrible outcome. Are you sure of that? If you give in a little, what’s just another
tiny step. How do you know when the line
is crossed? Will you recognize it before
it happens? Or only in hindsight when
it’s too late?
I can only speak for myself, but this
became an emotionally charged realization when I stepped on the scale one day
and registered the full extent of my weight problem. It did not happen all at once because of some
depressive issue, I did not have a catastrophic life event that caused me to
gain an enormous amount of weight overnight, I did not have a medical problem
that created weight gain as a side effect.
No, it came bite by bite in indulgences. Step by tiny step over the course of 30
years. I knew with each extra bite, with
each bag of potato chips, with every piece of cake or cookie, with every sip of
my grande caramel macchiato.
Just like Herod knew when John told him he was
wrong, yet he couldn’t stop himself. I
knew it, too. That morning on the scale,
it all suddenly clicked for me and I knew that I had crossed the line. At what moment did that line-crossing
happen? I have no idea. Maybe the foundations for it were laid a long
time ago. But somewhere in the distant
past – a line got crossed and I didn’t even know it happened until that morning
when I stepped on the scale and the other voice I had refused to listen to,
finally said “Enough”!
What rights and wrongs are you dealing
with today? What demons are sitting on
your shoulder and telling you that it’s okay, while the other voice says,
“Stop”?
May today’s story about Herod be a
guiding influence for you today.
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