The Head At The Table

A sermon about John the Baptist's death and the yeast of Herod (with a special guest appearance from Jerry Springer).

“(The Twelve) went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” Others said, “He is Elijah.” And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.” But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!” For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison…” (Mark 6:12–17, NIV)

Mark pauses his fast-paced narrative here to tell the story of John the Baptist's death. It’s one of the few stories Mark tells, in which Jesus is not the focus.

It begins with King Herod hearing about the ruckus Jesus's disciples are making as they travel through Galilee preaching, healing, and driving out demons.

As Jesus becomes more well known throughout the region, everyone is wondering: Who is this man? When King Herod hears about Jesus, he thinks he knows exactly who he is.

Don't confuse the Herod in this story, with Herod the Great, Rome's puppet king who ruled over all of Judea. Herod the Great had ten wives and even more children. He was paranoid about threats to his power. He is the one who slaughters the babies in Bethlehem around the time of Jesus's birth. He also had several of his own sons executed. When Herod the Great died, the Romans split his realm among three of his sons

Antipas, the Herod in this story, is one of those three sons. He’s appointed to rule over Galilee where Jesus and his disciples are active throughout Mark’s gospel

Mark uses the title "King" in his description of Antipas ironically. While he fancied himself as a king, it was never his official title.

In fact, later in his life, Herod Antipas asked Caesar Caligula to give him the title "King." Caligula instead exiled Antipas to Gaul.

Antipas's half brother Philip was married to Herodias.

She was the daughter Antipas's half-brother, Aristobolus.

So when Antipas took Herodias to be his wife, he not only stole his brother's wife, he also married his niece.

When Herodias left Philip for Antipas, she was trading one uncle for another.

Jerry Springer would have loved to feature this family on his show.

In the midst of this mess of adultery, divorce, and incest, Antipas wanted the people of God in Galilee to recognize him as their king.

John the Baptist, who was sent to announce the coming of the true King of Israel, could not let this pass.

He confronts Antipas's brazen immorality. While it may have been par for course for a son of Herod the Great, it disqualified from being the king of God's people.

This is a bold and risky thing for John to do, but John is more interested in speaking the truth than in currying favor with a wannabe king.

So Antipas has John arrested. He can't have John out there stirring up opposition against him.

Herodias understandably hates John. He keeps pointing out how her marriage is illegitimate.

But Antipas likes listening to John preach. He recognizes there's something holy and right about him. He doesn't want to kill him. He just wants to shut him up. So he locks him away in prison.

And that is where John would have stayed, had it not been for a dance and a drunken oath. I'm assuming Antipas was drunk. It happened at a birthday part Antipas threw for himself, to which he invited all the important people of Galilee so he could show off his wealth and his power.

Antipas's step-daughter, Salome, from Herodias's first marriage, provides entertainment for his guests by dancing before them.

Her dancing pleased Antipas and his guests so much that he lets her name her reward, promising to give her whatever she wants.

This is the opportunity Herodias has been waiting for. She tells her daughter to ask for John's head on a platter.

Now Antipas faces a dilemma. He doesn't want to kill John, but he also doesn't want to look weak in front of his guests. His ego has written a check his heart doesn't want to cash.

“The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter.” (Mark 6:26–28, NIV)

This ambitious man who wanted everyone to call him "King" doesn't have the power to say no to his step-daughter. He's more worried about what all of these important people will think about him than doing what he knows is right.

He was brazen enough to take his brother's wife, but not strong enough to spare John's life.

Which is why he has a guilty conscience and why he  assumes that this mysterious man named Jesus has to be John the Baptist raised from the dead.

Strobel the Younger, Bartholomäus, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist and Herod’s Banquet

Why does Mark take the time tell us this story?

The first answer is he's foreshadowing Jesus's death. There are parallels between this story and Jesus's interactions with Pilate in Mark 15  Like Antipas with John, Pilate had no interest in executing Jesus, but in the end, he lets a crowd make the decision for him

The second answer is that Mark is showing some of the first Christians to whom he's writing how they can be expect to be treated by those in power. If, as many scholars assume, Mark is writing to Christians who are shocked by how badly they're being treated because of their allegiance to Jesus, then it makes sense for him to slow down and tell the story of how God's faithful prophet and forerunner of Christ is executed by a corrupt, immoral "King."

If it happened to John, and if it happened to Jesus, then don't be surprised if it happens to you, says Mark.

A third answer answer comes when we see that immediately after this story Jesus feeds 5000 hungry people. It's a different kind of banquet than Herod's. By placing these stories next to one another, Mark invites us to compare the table of Herod to the table of Christ.

Later after feeding another large crowd, Jesus warns his disciples, "Be Careful. Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." (Mark 8:15)

We'll have to save the yeast of the Pharisees for another time, but assuming yeast in this context refers to a corrupting influence, what does Jesus mean by "the yeast of Herod"?

I think the description of Herod's birthday party gives us a clue.

It was an honor to be invited to Herod's party. It was something to brag about on social media. Herod's table was where all the politically ambitious people sat. Though the disapproved of his immoral behavior they were willing to overlook it if it meant having a seat at the table.

At Herod's table, gaining and maintaining power was the number one priority. (It may have been the only priority.) After all, at the head of the table, sat a man who desperately wanted everyone to call him "King" and who was willing to behead a good man to keep from looking weak.

Jesus understood that his disciples would be tempted by the yeast of Herod.

It's still tempting to think that the kingdom of God or the legitimacy of the church or the future of the Christian faith depends on securing a seat at Herod's corrupt, morally compromised table where the ambitious will say and do anything to gain and maintain power over others.

Mark slows down to make sure we see that while all the ambitious, power-hungry people were sitting at Herod's table, John was languishing in a prison because he had the guts to speak the truth to the most powerful man in the land.

This story is a reality check, a sobering reminder that while the goal of those seated with Herod is to move closer to the head of the table, God's faithful prophet, whose death foreshadows Christ's death on the cross, ends up being the head AT the table. Sometimes faithfulness to God, faithfulness to the truth, faithfulness to the gospel requires great sacrifice.

May we hear in this story a call away from the yeast of Herod and an invitation to the way of the cross.

May we hear in this story a call away from the corrupt, morally compromised table of Herod and an invitation to take our place at the truth-telling, self-giving, sacrificial, cross-shaped table of Christ.