St. Mark 6:1-29: "1 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, 'Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?' And they were offended at Him. 4 But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.' 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. 7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. 8 He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts--9 but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics. 10 Also He said to them, 'In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!' 12 So they went out and preached that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. 14 Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known. And he said, 'John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.' 15 Others said, 'It is Elijah.' And others said, 'It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets.' 16 But when Herod heard, he said, 'This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!' 17 For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her. 18 For John had said to Herod, 'It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.' 19 Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. 21 Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. 22 And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, 'Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.' 23 He also swore to her, 'Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.' 24 So she went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask?' And she said, 'The head of John the Baptist!' 25 Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, 'I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.' 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb."
Our Lord Jesus is not without honor except in His own country, among His own relatives, and in His own house. Therefore, He sends out His disciples to preach in His own country, and among His relatives, and in His own house, that is, the house of Israel. There are three things to point out about this sending. First, that our Lord Jesus gives them authority to cast out demons. They will do this through preaching His Word. Second, they are to take nothing with them, except a staff. They are to rid themselves of the trappings of this world. And they are to carry only a staff, the symbol of a prophet, as we see from Moses the first prophet, who carried the "rod of God." This staff is also a symbol of their role as shepherd to the lost sheep of Israel, just like the staff of Moses, was his rod that he used in his vocation of shepherd. Third, the preaching of the disciples is the same as the preaching of Jesus. We can see this from St. Mark 1:15, where our Lord starts His preaching by saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." This is in fact that same preaching of St. John the Baptist, who is beheaded by Herod in this pericope, or as the ancient Church referred to it, the decollation of St. John the Baptist.
This preaching of the Jesus and the disciples, going out into the entire territory of Herod, causes him to think that St. John the Baptist is not dead. This causes the Evangelist St. Mark to relate to us the events leading up to the decollation of St. John the Baptist. Herodias is none to please with the preaching of St. John the Baptist, she doesn't like having her sin pointed out to her, she refuses to listen to the preaching of the Law. The same can be said about Herod, for he is after all the one who puts St. John the Baptist in prison. However, it is different with Herod, for we are told that he enjoys listening to the preaching of St. John the Baptist, and "heard him gladly." Herodias on the other hand shows no sign of the fear of God, instead we see from her the control and manipulation which she has over Herod, or as we say in the vernacular, "She wears the pants." Herodias plays the role of the devil, who stomps out every seed planted by the preaching of our Lord Jesus, so that it can never grow.
For this reason Herod is a poor character, for we get the sense from the Evangelist St. Mark that Herod if he was allowed to continue to listen to the Word of God would repent. However, Herodias will have none of that, and in the end, through her daughter, she brings St. John the Baptist's earthly life to a close.
One may wonder why the sending of the disciples, and the decollation of St. John the Baptist appear in the same pericope, or for that matter why in the Gospel of St. Mark, they are lumped next to each other? The answer is an easy one, when one remembers the Words of our Lord Jesus at the beginning of this pericope, "'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house." The reality of this revealed to us when we consider that our Lord Jesus was crucified for His preaching, and that all but one of the disciples who were sent out as His apostles were killed for their preaching about our Lord Jesus. St. John the Baptist, we are shown, is killed for his preaching of our Lord Jesus, and even the some of the prophets of the Old Testament were killed for their preaching of the Messiah, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. We are shown here by the Evangelist St. Mark, what happens to the preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The devil, through various means and people, tries to silence their voice. Herod perhaps thought that he would never hear the preaching of St. John the Baptist ever again, but our Lord shows His grace and mercy, by sending replacements for St. John the Baptist, His disciples. They go into the entire territory of Herod, and proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Word reaches back to Herod so that he thinks that St. John the Baptist is raised from the dead, and in a sense, that is, according to his preaching, he has been raised from the dead. New preachers of the Gospel have replaced him. Our Lord continues to send us preachers of the Gospel, so that we might hear what He has done for us. And there are still people who play the part of Herodias, who try to silence these preachers, who are offended at the preaching of repentance, who refuse to repent of their sin. Some of these are even within the Church, which we see when ministers of the Gospel are unjustly removed from their calls.
However, our Lord is abundant in His mercy for He keeps on sending ministers of the Gospel to these hard-hearted people with stopped up ears, so that they might repent. And even if they do to these preachers of the Gospel, what they did to the last one, our Lord Jesus will still send them more. There may be one or two preachers in the mix who will tickle their itching ears, and preach the ways of the world, and not the Word of God, but our Lord will continue to be gracious, and find a way for these individuals to hear the Gospel.
This is why this pericope is such good news for us, for we see the work of our Lord in providing ministers of the Gospel. We even have an example in Herod who even after he is forced to kill the one preacher he was willing to listen to, is given the opportunity to hear the Gospel preached again, through the disciples. We do not know from holy Scriptures, nor from history if Herod ever did repent, and from what we do know it doesn't look promising. But if Herod did continue to refuse to repent, it serves for us as a warning to heed the Words of the ministers of the Gospel who have been sent to preach to us, for they have been sent by our Lord Jesus Himself, to preach to us about Him. And if Herod did repent, then we have a shining example of how efficacious our Lord's Word is, for it has the power to convert even someone as hard-hearted as Herod. May the Lord God continue to send you preachers of the Gospel who will preach the Word of God in its truth and purity and administer the Sacraments of God according to Christ's institution.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
This preaching of the Jesus and the disciples, going out into the entire territory of Herod, causes him to think that St. John the Baptist is not dead. This causes the Evangelist St. Mark to relate to us the events leading up to the decollation of St. John the Baptist. Herodias is none to please with the preaching of St. John the Baptist, she doesn't like having her sin pointed out to her, she refuses to listen to the preaching of the Law. The same can be said about Herod, for he is after all the one who puts St. John the Baptist in prison. However, it is different with Herod, for we are told that he enjoys listening to the preaching of St. John the Baptist, and "heard him gladly." Herodias on the other hand shows no sign of the fear of God, instead we see from her the control and manipulation which she has over Herod, or as we say in the vernacular, "She wears the pants." Herodias plays the role of the devil, who stomps out every seed planted by the preaching of our Lord Jesus, so that it can never grow.
For this reason Herod is a poor character, for we get the sense from the Evangelist St. Mark that Herod if he was allowed to continue to listen to the Word of God would repent. However, Herodias will have none of that, and in the end, through her daughter, she brings St. John the Baptist's earthly life to a close.
One may wonder why the sending of the disciples, and the decollation of St. John the Baptist appear in the same pericope, or for that matter why in the Gospel of St. Mark, they are lumped next to each other? The answer is an easy one, when one remembers the Words of our Lord Jesus at the beginning of this pericope, "'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house." The reality of this revealed to us when we consider that our Lord Jesus was crucified for His preaching, and that all but one of the disciples who were sent out as His apostles were killed for their preaching about our Lord Jesus. St. John the Baptist, we are shown, is killed for his preaching of our Lord Jesus, and even the some of the prophets of the Old Testament were killed for their preaching of the Messiah, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. We are shown here by the Evangelist St. Mark, what happens to the preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The devil, through various means and people, tries to silence their voice. Herod perhaps thought that he would never hear the preaching of St. John the Baptist ever again, but our Lord shows His grace and mercy, by sending replacements for St. John the Baptist, His disciples. They go into the entire territory of Herod, and proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Word reaches back to Herod so that he thinks that St. John the Baptist is raised from the dead, and in a sense, that is, according to his preaching, he has been raised from the dead. New preachers of the Gospel have replaced him. Our Lord continues to send us preachers of the Gospel, so that we might hear what He has done for us. And there are still people who play the part of Herodias, who try to silence these preachers, who are offended at the preaching of repentance, who refuse to repent of their sin. Some of these are even within the Church, which we see when ministers of the Gospel are unjustly removed from their calls.
However, our Lord is abundant in His mercy for He keeps on sending ministers of the Gospel to these hard-hearted people with stopped up ears, so that they might repent. And even if they do to these preachers of the Gospel, what they did to the last one, our Lord Jesus will still send them more. There may be one or two preachers in the mix who will tickle their itching ears, and preach the ways of the world, and not the Word of God, but our Lord will continue to be gracious, and find a way for these individuals to hear the Gospel.
This is why this pericope is such good news for us, for we see the work of our Lord in providing ministers of the Gospel. We even have an example in Herod who even after he is forced to kill the one preacher he was willing to listen to, is given the opportunity to hear the Gospel preached again, through the disciples. We do not know from holy Scriptures, nor from history if Herod ever did repent, and from what we do know it doesn't look promising. But if Herod did continue to refuse to repent, it serves for us as a warning to heed the Words of the ministers of the Gospel who have been sent to preach to us, for they have been sent by our Lord Jesus Himself, to preach to us about Him. And if Herod did repent, then we have a shining example of how efficacious our Lord's Word is, for it has the power to convert even someone as hard-hearted as Herod. May the Lord God continue to send you preachers of the Gospel who will preach the Word of God in its truth and purity and administer the Sacraments of God according to Christ's institution.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
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