For the Sake of Herodias

                                                    Mark 6: 14-29

 

 

          I don’t watch much television and when I do, it’s usually at some odd time when nothing worth watching is on. The other night, I turned on the tube and this show caught my eye. ABC aired a program called “What Would You Do?” John Quinones, a former TV reporter, emcees this show where actors portray people at their worst, either acting illegally or improperly. Quinones is looking for someone to stand up, to confront the wrongdoer and try to stop the wrong. If you have watched this program, you know what he finds. The odds are about 50 to 1 against interfering. People watch; they shake their heads; they mumble. But seldom do they get involved. The program starts out showing up bad behavior in the actors. What is really being showcased is the bad behavior of the onlookers.

          In the passage today, Mark tells us the story of the beheading of John the Baptist. Really it is a story of a party thrown by a heavyweight and attended by all the rest of the heavyweights in the area, and the absurd result that can happen when someone runs his mouth without first thinking. In this the shortest of the gospel accounts, Mark spends a considerable amount of ink on this story, so perhaps we should spend some time on it as well. What is the real story? Like so many stories in the gospels and all of Jesus’s parables, there is here a story beneath the story. The facts, such as we can see them here, are only the backdrop for a much bigger truth.

          Herod—Herod Antipas to be exact, was the king of the region, appointed by Caesar. He had Jewish roots that went back to the Edomite tribe, but his loyalty was all about Rome and whatever else could advance him personally. His wife, Herodias, was even worse. She was ambitious and cutthroat about it. She had been married to Philip, Herod’s still very alive half-brother. John the Baptist charged Herod publically with breaking the law by marrying her. Not a good political move on John’s part, but John the Baptist was not one to worry about politics.

          Mark tells us that Herod seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias. Because his wife didn’t like John the Baptist, John was arrested and put in prison. Such was the power of this corrupt woman over the ruler of Judea. But the facts are confusing, for later, Mark records that John had been talking to Herod, that Herod feared John, that he knew John to be a righteous and holy man. Never mind that Herod was not known as a religious man himself. He still respected this man of God.

          Mark goes on to tell us that when Herod heard John, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. Herod was in conflict. Can you feel the push and pull going on within him? Herodias had a grudge against John. She wanted him dead. She had the ear of the king—enough to get John arrested and thrown in prison. But Herod kept John safe. He listened to him. Herod was conflicted. The Greek verb that we translate perplexed also means “at a loss,” and it was an ongoing state. In other words, Herod kept on listening, but stayed confused, and “yet he heard him gladly.”

          Sound familiar? Here is a man, like Pilate with Jesus and Festus with Paul, who is torn between good and evil, right and wrong, ethical and expedient. Herod can almost instinctively sense the right thing to do, and yet what he does is for the sake of Herodias, a spiteful, selfish person.

          The story gets worse. It is Herod’s birthday, and there is a party. Salome, the daughter of Herodias, now step-daughter of Herod, is called in to perform. Mark tells us she danced and pleased Herod and his guests. We must not be so naïve as to think that this dance was anything other than a sexual overture. It was not art that Salome was expressing in her dance. Art doesn’t get the promise, the vow, of half a kingdom. And it was Herodias who was behind the trickery. She knew her husband’s weakness and she exploited it, with the help of her daughter.

          Salome consults Herodias and comes back with her request. Not a new car or house or a trip to the Grand Canyon. Not even half the kingdom. Just the head of John the Baptist on a platter—at once. Mark says that the king was exceedingly sorry…but he had made an oath…and important guests were there.

          Look at all the tensions at play here. There is the push and pull of King Herod and his new wife. There is the tension of Herod and Salome. There are the guests. And there is pride, the unseen but very present guest at almost every banquet, public or private. The King has made a promise and he is caught in its web. Religious columnist Jill Duffield argues that at least one more player is in the room, a player in whose existence she did not always believe. Duffield asserts that the presence of evil, of Satan, is alive and well in this scene. It plays out through the machinations of Herodias, the hypnotic dance of Salome and the vacillation and bad judgment of Herod. Jesus is walking the earth and Satan has his back against the wall. He acts like the liar that he is.

          What is the real story? It has to do with Mark’s comments in v. 17. Herod’s actions are for the sake of Herodias. In v. 26, Herod doesn’t want to break his word. No matter that he has been fooled, manipulated into making a promise before he knows what it may cost him. He has made an oath. He must please his wife and his stepdaughter. He must not look bad in front of company. His price has control. He is afraid of losing face. The real story is that Herod has neither the backbone to lead nor the guts to reverse himself when he has been tricked into making an uninformed promise.

          Okay, so now we have our lesson. There is evil in the world. Satan is all around us. The harder we try to do right, the more he pays attention to us. Herod tried to take care of John the Baptist. He had a strange way of doing it, but he did try in his own way. But when the chips were down, Herod chose Herodias and Salome and his political contacts over God. He was more worried about what people thought of him than how God might judge him. Herod sold out to the demands of his culture rather than stand up for what was right.

           That brings us to one last point. There was someone else in the room when Herod was making this bad decision. In fact, there was a room full of people, probably both men and women. It was a party and the room was full. Everyone heard Salome request the head of John the Baptist. And no one said a word, at least not according to Mark. Why didn’t someone speak up? Why didn’t someone, anyone, say something?

          Jill Duffield puts it this way: “Who’s sitting at your table? And subsequently, who isn’t? When have you been silent when you should have spoken up? What do you need to speak up about right now?”

          First, we need to sit at the right table. We choose our alliances, and we should choose them wisely. But regardless where we sit or who we sit with, life is going to come at us. When bad things are happening right in front of you, what would you do? Will you stand up for what is right.

          Don’t make your decisions for the sake of Herodias or Salome or any so-called important people in your life. Make your decisions based upon what God would have you do. You may not be a king or queen. You may not be the boss. You may just be sitting at a table watching it all unfold in front of you. That doesn’t let you off the hook. When wrong is happening right in your face, what will you do?

          Herod acted not for God, not for right, but for his own gain. He acted like a coward. How will you act?  Will you stand up for what you believe, for what you know is right? The choice you make could be huge. You may do nothing and seem to have no repercussions. Don’t count on it. You may just not know not know at the time how much you actions have meant…how much they may affect not only the actions of others, but also the very course of your life.