-Have you ever accidentally run into someone famous, but you weren’t sure it was them? Airport, coffee shop, dropping your kid of at preschool.

-A few months ago, I was tasked with bringing Calvin to his preschool. Bunch of moms and me waiting in line to check our kids in. 

-Didn’t recognize someone, but thought I had seen him before

-Disciples are finally at the point today where they say Jesus’ nametag, as it were. They recognize who He is, but not completely.

READ/PRAY (pg. 492)

-Everything in this Gospel has been building up to this week’s text!

1. Seeing But Not Seeing (22-26)

-Bethsaida – moving North from where we were last week. Last week, most likely somewhere near Magdala. As they were sailing they had the conversation about leaven, so then they apparently were aiming for Bethsaida on the northernmost side of the lake. Remember: most of Jesus ministry so far has been focused on the Galilean territory. He’s done some traveling to other areas nearby, but He’s about to shift His focus.

-In Luke’s account of this story, he states that after many of the events we just read about, Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51)

-All the Gospel’s can be summarized as “extended passion narratives” They all spend a significant amount of time on the last week of Jesus’ life, everything else just serves to demonstrate who Jesus is.

-Once again, people find Him, can’t get away. Seems the only time He gets with His disciples is when He’s in the boat! 

-Makes sense: His fame is spreading, we’ve already read a story of Herod (ruler of Galilee) hearing about Jesus and wanting to meet Him, the news has been traveling about what to expect from Jesus: healings! 

-If any of you have watched The Chosen, there’s 1 episode from season 2 that stood out to me, titled “Matthew 4:24” which says “²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. ²⁵ And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.” Think about what the significance of that would be! And this is describing the beginning of Jesus’ ministry! It says people brought ALL the sick! It was a fascinating look at what a day of ministry in the life of Jesus would look like. The disciples took shifts managing the line, helping people stay organized, and Jesus got no breaks. He came into camp at the end of the day and collapsed into His tent. No downtime, no breaks, just continually serving those in need. No wonder we have a story of Jesus falling asleep in a boat in the middle of a storm!

-Just as Jesus has healed many people, as His fame and notoriety has continued to spread, the people Bethsaida knew exactly what they needed to do. 

-“Some people” can reasonably guess that this is describing the blind man’s friends. The friends begged Jesus to touch this blind man. Generally it’s the person with the issue who approaches Jesus begging, but in this case the blind man has friends. (The importance of having and being a friend)

-Why touching? Just a couple weeks ago we read a story of a Gentile woman who was healed by Jesus merely speaking. Touching is generally viewed as the way healings happen! It takes a lot more faith to believe God can heal by speaking (as Jesus has demonstrated He can do!) 

-Jesus brings the man out of the village by themselves (most likely with his friends and the disciples still watching)

-Why the secrecy? Yet another issue that has come up repeatedly in this book so far! 2 weeks ago we studied the healing of a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and just as read about here, that man was taken away privately. Don’t forget: the healings aren’t the primary ministry! Teaching is! The healings merely serve as demonstrations that what Jesus is saying is true, the kingdom of God is at hand and everything that has been broken is starting to be fixed again.

-It’s also a reminder that Jesus saves people individually. This fits in really well with our common ideas and perspectives as 21^st cent. Americans: every single one of us needs to be saved! We can’t rely on the faith of our parents, can’t rely on the faith of our neighbor, can’t rely on the faith of our spouse! Every single one of us needs to believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world in order to be saved. What’s amazing about that is as soon as we believe in Jesus, we’re brought into a family called the Church! (which is what 21^st cent. Americans don’t like at admit) Before that we’re alone, living in isolation, separated from God and others, but as soon as you believe in Jesus that all changes. Think of the way Peter (same Peter who we read about today) describes us in a later letter: a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that together we can proclaim the excellencies of him who has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light! Jesus looks for and reaches out to have relationship with individuals, but then through His work on the cross He brings them into His family. Praise God for salvation!

-Jesus’ method of healing seems odd, and it’s the second time we’ve seen it, Jesus also used spit in his healing of the deaf & speech impediment man. Believe it or not, this was a common healing practice in the 1^stcent. 

-Pliny the Elder (published Natural History in 77 AD) where he extolled the virtues of spitting! They would spit on someone suffering from epilepsy, spit to ward off bad luck, spit in their right shoe before putting it on for good luck. Who knew the healing virtues of saliva? Jesus is demonstrating that healing will be coming, because it wasn’t just spitting taking place, it also says Jesus laid His hands on the man.

-First time Jesus asked if he was healed, couldn’t be for uncertainty since He knows everything. Why do you think He asked?

-We’ve seen throughout the healing accounts that healing is connected to faith, do you think maybe Jesus is inviting the man to acknowledge Jesus’ provision in His life? 

-At first glance, it seems like a healing didn’t work.

-He can see, but not clearly. Spider-Man 1 (OG Toby Maguire) glasses to non glasses

-He can see, but He can’t really see. He can see shapes and figures nearby him, which could be because this man was once able to see, so he knows what trees are, or it could just be that people have described trees to him and he’d felt them, regardless, things aren’t quite in focus. He’s starting to be able to see, but not completely. Things are blurry and out of focus.

-Jesus touches him a second time, then Mark bends over backwards to communicate the healing: opened, restored, clearly.

-Notice that Jesus doesn’t spit this time – it’s all Jesus! Spit just served to signify what Jesus was going to do, it wasn’t the cure, it wasn’t needed, because Jesus is enough.

-Is this descriptive of real life? You’ll have to ask Dr. Keith Carlson about the validity of this, but I’ve read stories of those who have had surgery whose eyes take a while to be able to recover or focus. This time it took no time! Hate to break it to Keith, but Jesus is even better with eyes than you are! 

-We’re so close to Jesus revealing himself, but it’s still not time for His identity to be revealed. This man is encouraged to go home, don’t go to the village, don’t spread the word, live your life.

-One of the things I mentioned a number of weeks ago when I preached on Mark 5 was the idea that miracles are meant to serve as living parables: living examples of something more significant

-Example to the disciples of their lack of being able to focus. They can see, but they can’t really see. If you’ve ever seen someone start squinting to try to see what they’re staring at that’s what the disciples are like. Jesus is right in front of them, they see the miracles, they’ve watched the healings, they’ve heard the teaching, a shape is starting to form in their minds, but it hasn’t fully developed yet.

-Timely, because this is exactly what happens to the disciples in the next section!

• Knowing But Not Knowing (27-30)

-Moved about 20 miles north to the villages/area of Caesarea Philippi. On the way made small talk: what’s the latest news about me? What are you hearing?

-This is the theme of the book: remember how it begins: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” No question in Marks’ mind about who Jesus is! Then there’s the recognition of the Father after Jesus’ baptism in 11, and a plethora of demons who know exactly who He is. Even after calming a storming sea, the disciples ask “Who is this, that the wind and sea obey him!” They’ve been dancing around this idea for a while now, and they’ve heard what others have said!

-John the Baptist. Same as Herod thought! Can’t keep a good man down! The prophet has come back from the dead to begin judging others.

-Elijah. Prophecy from Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” Elijah by the 1^st cent. Became associated with God’s final judgment. If Jesus is Elijah coming back, it means the end of time has come!

-And others wouldn’t put Jesus quite as high as Elijah, He’s just one of the prophets. God is speaking once again (after centuries of waiting), and it’s true that Jesus spoke on behalf of God, but He’s far more than JUST a prophet.

-None of these are even close! It’s also surprising that no one anticipates that Jesus is the Messiah! Peter is intentionally supposed to be the first one to recognize this reality.

-That’s all well and good, but what do YOU think? They’ve been following, living, sleeping, eating with Him but do they know who He is?

-Peter speaks on behalf of the whole group: The Christ – Messiah, The Anointed One. Someone who has been set apart for service of God. Remember, Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name: it’s a title!

-1^st cent. Expectations of the Messiah who would come, summarized well by a pseudepigraphal (not written by him) 1^st cent. BC book called the Psalms of Solomon. This was what everyone expected the Messiah to look like! A political savior who would overthrow the terrible Romans and place Israel back in her place of prominence on the global stage! After all, they were God’s chosen people! But that wasn’t God’s plan. 

-Peter passed this test with flying colors! Way to go Peter! But if you start to think He’s got everything figured out, let’s just keep going:

• Hearing But Not Hearing (31-33)

-Now that they have confessed who Jesus really is, Jesus needs to teach them what that means. Right now they’re seeing, but they can’t really see it, so they need to listen to what Jesus teaches. But what does He teach?

-Son of Man: what is that title? Jesus’ favorite description of Himself, fulfills a prophecy from Dan. 7:25-27. At this point, they’re sure they’ve got it right! If Jesus is the Son of Man, look at what his kingdom will look like! 

-But that’s not what Jesus says, He says He MUST: suffer, be rejected, killed, rise again. That doesn’t fit into all the ideas the disciples have about the Messiah!

-Plainly: no parable, no allegory, no story, just explicitly stating what needed to happen. This REALLY isn’t fitting in with what God’s Messiah is SUPPOSED to look like!

-Peter, who passed his first test, decides he’s tired of being on the honor role, and decides to rebuke Jesus.

-First of all, REALLY bad idea to rebuke Jesus. Once again, speaking on behalf of all the disciples. 

-I know we have a tendency to laugh at Peter, but what if Peter thinks Jesus is questioning His calling? All of us have gone through seasons questioning what we’re supposed to be doing with our lives! Maybe Peter’s trying to give him a pep talk: “Come on man, you can do it! You know that’s not what it means to be the Messiah. We totally believe in you! Nothing can get in our way! Let’s take over the world!” Unfortunately for Peter, that’s EXACTLY what it means.

-Jesus needs to correct all the disciples’ misconceptions about what the Messiah is supposed to be like.

-The disciples had sacrificed everything to be with Jesus. Given up their jobs, their families, Peter left his wife, all to become apprentices to Jesus, their hopeful Messiah. They’d studied the Torah, they’d been taught by the Rabbis, they knew what the Messiah would look like, or did they? 

-From Expositors Commentary: “Jesus cannot be pressed…into a 

predetermined spiritual box.” Pictures of cats fitting in weird places, Jesus starts by doing that, but then breaks the box. Our human minds can’t contain what Jesus is supposed to be! If Jesus ONLY came to free the nation of Israel, that wouldn’t be enough to deal with all the broken relationships from the fall (God, self, others, rest of creation). Jesus needed to deal with sin, which is WAY harder to take care of! An insurrection wouldn’t have dealt with enough, a political savior is far too small.

-Just like the blind man in the previous story, the disciples saw who Jesus was, but they didn’t really see. They viewed Jesus purely from a human lens instead of seeing what it would take to begin a true and lasting insurrection in the spiritual realm. The shapes were in place, they were starting to make some connections, but to say Jesus just came to bring political change is like calling people walking trees!

-Jesus rebukes all the disciples (Peter just saying what everyone else was thinking). Where Peter thinks Jesus is being tempted by Satan, Peter is the one speaking on behalf of Satan. 

-What does it mean to set your mind on the things of man?

-Power, recognition, prestige.

-Connects to story from This American Life of the Jews who saw God as a bigger dad  

-Calvin: “Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.” Peter, and the disciples, followed Jesus as a way to get their human needs met, but Jesus came to fill their spiritual needs, and only when our spiritual needs are met can we have hope of getting our spiritual needs met. In order to truly know ourselves, we need to know the God who created us, who sustains us, and who continues upholding all of creation with His mighty hand. 

-Who do you say that Jesus is?

-Short story: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a short story published in The New Yorker in 1939. Been turned into a couple movies, but a fascinating story of a man (Walter Mitty) who lives a life of daydreams. Begins with an account of a Navy plane flying through a terrible storm, only to turn out to be his daydream while he’s driving his wife to town. The story continues with extravagant tales where Walter is the hero of each story, only to be snapped back to reality by someone in the real world.

-Reads a little bit like trying to have a conversation with your kids! They’re only half listening and off in their own world, so lost in their thoughts that they miss what’s going on around them.

-The disciples today are a little bit like that! Jesus is doing these huge things around them to point to a bigger story, and they keep missing it. 

READ/PRAY (pg. 492)

1. Another Miraculous Feeding (1-10)

-Jesus is still in the area of the Gentiles, while he’s there a “great crowd” appears. It’s been a few weeks since we talked about this, so who remembers what Jesus’ primary ministry is? Teaching! Not a stretch to make that leap, as last time a similar story appears, it says Jesus began to teach them.

-I want to take a minute to talk about this again, I was reminded about how important Word centered ministry is this week, and I’ve shared with you all before how tempting it is to either assume or neglect keeping God’s Word the center and focus of everything we do, but I don’t think we always know what that means or what it looks like in everyday life. 

-First, what is ministry? I’ve used it repeatedly, but it’s a word that tends to get assumed without enough thought given to it. Another way of translating the word “ministry” is “serving,” so when we come across a passage like Eph. 4:12 “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” we could translate it “to equip the saints for the work of service.” So ministry is service.

-Second, every single one of you in this room has been given a gift (or gifts) from God for the good of those around you, and my job (and the rest of the leadership of the church) is to equip you to grow in and use those gifts BUT they’re meant to be done in the context of the church, you can’t use your gifts to serve yourself.

-Third, the driving force behind all of us using our gifts of service is the Word. We need regular time in the Word, we can’t grow apart from the Word, and apart from the Word we will die as Christians.

-This gets us to a question: whose job is it to speak the Word? Say it after me: MINE. This is the key to us thriving as a church! We need to be speaking the truths of God’s Word to each other as often as we can. That’s how Jesus has commanded us to make and mature disciples, through God’s Word! We see that in Jesus’ ministry: always bringing things back to the Word, He tells a parable of sowing the Word (no matter the soil). Regardless of the person or their response, our job is to keep speaking God’s Word to them. Let’s think of just a few ways you could do that:

-Today, after this worship service share what you learned! (music, prayer, sermon)

-Find someone to meet with on a regular basis and share with each other what God’s been teaching to you through His Word

-Share with an unbelieving neighbor what God has been teaching you, what you read or heard or sung in corporate worship

-Serve in kid’s or student ministry and share God’s Word with them

-Share with a roommate, spouse, kid from God’s Word and what it means

-The key is that it takes all of us being in God’s Word, and making that Word a high enough priority in all our lives that we can speak God’s truths to each other. Can you imagine being a church where everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing? We do, we just have to do it! 

-Back to the great crowd who is being taught by Jesus. Just as we saw with the last miraculous feeding of a great crowd, a similar idea appears about how Jesus views these people: with compassion.

-Do you have compassion toward people in need? Think of how Jesus describes the final judgment in Matt. 25: whatever you did to the least of these (my brothers), you did to me (hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked)

-One of the things that set the early church apart was their care and concern for others in an inherently selfish culture. Church originally had “not a needy person among them.” How do we live that out? We were talking about this issue before our staff meeting this week! We’re commanded to be hospitable, but what if someone can’t afford to invite someone else over? That’s a legitimate issue! 

-But then taking it a step further: what does outreach/ mercy ministry look like today? (Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence) Our job as the church isn’t to alleviate poverty (if only it were that simple!), our job is to be ambassadors of reconciliation: the fall broke 4 relationships: God, self, others, the rest of creation. How do we help people reconcile with all 4 of those relationships? This is really hard to do! And something I was completely unprepared for as I started ministry! I’ve been chewed out, cussed out, yelled at because we wouldn’t help someone. It’s hard to have a soft heart toward people when you find out you’ve been taken advantage of. 

-Story of 2 people in a car giving gift cards in Cheyenne. Story of Micah meeting with a guy here.

-It’s not just being taken advantage of though: How do we care for someone holistically, not just viewing financial poverty as the primary problem? Sometimes we need to help financially for a short-term need! Unfortunately, that’s not sufficient when we need to care for people, who are complex and thus require complex help. 

-On top of that, there’s an inherent tension too! Matt. 26:11 “You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.” Gal, 6:10 “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” We’re to care for/care about everyone, but there’s a different level of care that we should have for fellow believers. One of the things we need here is a group of people who have a heart for mercy ministries to help us with our benevolence funds! If you’re interested, please talk to me!

-AND there’s all sorts of ways to approach this issue! How many of you sponsor children (Compassion, World Vision, Global Fingerprints)? That’s has proven to be one of the best ways to help those stuck in poverty! Met with someone from Global Fingerprints a week and a half ago and was blown away at some of the ways they’re able to reach to the least of these. I know people who always have a few dollars in their car to give to beggars on the side of the road. Anytime I see someone begging I pray for them. I’ve paid for people’s gas before at random gas stations, it just takes careful observance of the people moving nearby you.

-Compassion is what drove Jesus, and compassion is what should drive us as believers today. When we see a need we cannot turn away from it.

-This great crowd had been with Jesus for 3 days, listening to Jesus teach. Some of them even came from far away. These people were desperate to hear from Jesus!

-What would you be willing to do without to get to Jesus? It’s not hard today! Read the Bible, visit His bride: the church, spend time with another believer (the name “Christian” means “little Christ”), pray. We have no excuse to be distant from Jesus anymore. Jesus actually said it was better for Him to leave because by leaving, the Holy Spirit now lives in all of us! That’s far better than Jesus being constrained by His human body where He could only be in 1 place at a time.

-Last time they were in this pickle, the disciples encouraged Jesus to send the crowd into the surrounding areas, this time that appears to not be an option. This isn’t just a desolate place, this is the desolate place of the desolate place! However, at least this time they have 2 more loaves! 

-Jesus takes charge of the crowd. Similar scene to last miraculous feeding: has the crowd sit down and make themselves comfortable:

-Jesus gives thanks (this is why Christians have typically prayed before meals), breaks the bread, hands it to his disciples. Not just bread, they also had some small fish that were also handed out.

-Everyone ate and were satisfied, AND they had 7 baskets leftover. Does anyone remember how many baskets were leftover last time? 12! Signifies God’s provision for the Jewish people, today’s text signifies God’s provision for the Gentile people. God’s overwhelming provision isn’t just for the Jews anymore, it also extends to the Gentiles.

-This time, there were “only” 4,000 people (last time 5,000 just men, could have easily been double that to include women & children), but after feeding them the true words of life, Jesus fed them physically and then sent them home, and moved to a new place.

-No one’s quite sure where this is, most people believe it to be near Magdala, west. What does Jesus run into when He gets there? 

• Another Hard-Hearted People (11-21)

-The key to understanding this text is seen in the response of the disciples to the previous feeding Mark 6:52 “For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.” What does a hardened heart look like? It’s not believing who Jesus is, or that He can provide for them. Remember, the point of this Gospel is to answer the question: who is Jesus? We’re so close to the climax of this story, where the disciples finally confess who Jesus is, but we’re not quite there. We’ll see 2 groups whose hearts are hardened: the first group is the Pharisees:

1. Pharisees (11-13)

-Pharisees once again looking for things wrong with Jesus.

-Argue is accusatory, blaming, looking for problems with Jesus. Maybe you’ve had a situation come up where you ended up in an argument that you weren’t prepared for, the person had made assumptions and run with them and by the time they actually talked to you it had spiraled far beyond what happened! That’s what the Pharisees are doing here! They’re coming to test and find what other ammo they can use against Jesus. But notice what it says they’re looking for:

-“Sign from heaven.” What would you call all the miracles we’ve read about from Jesus? Micah reminded us that there are some parallels between these feedings of thousands and the manna provided to God’s people in the wilderness wanderings, and both show the ways God provides for His people. If Jesus feeding thousands isn’t a sign from heaven, what is? What do you think it would take for people to believe in Him? Maybe rising from the dead? But even then, people still don’t believe Him!

-2 places in the Bible describe Jesus as sighing, last week in response to the man who couldn’t hear or talk, and in response to the Pharisees.

-Hard heartedness is a problem: a conscious choice to disbelieve Jesus, looking for any alternative option than Jesus being who He says He is: God. This isn’t the only account we have of people asking Jesus for a sign! We see a similar story in Matthew’s gospel:

-Sign of Jonah (Matt. 12:38-42) The Pharisees are revealed to be so hard hearted that even the resurrection wouldn’t be enough for them to believe in Him (which proved to be true LONG after the resurrection!)

-Paul even picks this idea up a couple decades after the resurrection when he writes to the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:22-24). There he says that Jews are still looking for signs, but the Gentiles aren’t any better because they just want wisdom, and Jesus refuses to play by their rules! Christ is both the sign AND the wisdom! Nothing else is needed and nothing else can add to what Jesus has done! The Pharisees miss the point that’s standing right in front of them! But they’re not the only ones who have a hard heart:

• Disciples (14-21)

-Remember the miracle that had just happened (for at least the second time) and how many baskets were leftover? 7. Did anyone go hungry? 

-Do you think they started fighting about who was SUPPOSED to bring the bread? May have been because they viewed it as “unclean” or touched by Gentiles, so they didn’t want to become unclean themselves.

-Jesus uses it as a “teachable moment.” Have you ever had one of those? Story of when I did it to my sister in college and tried telling my dad how he should have done those when I was growing up.

-What is this teachable moment? He uses it to remind the disciples to be careful of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. What is leaven? We have little packets of yeast today, didn’t have refrigeration then so they would save a little piece of dough (with the yeast in it) to mix into the new dough to get it to rise. Honestly, still pretty magical to me!

-Why would they need to watch out of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod? Adding laws, cultural ideas onto Christianity. 

-This is the trend of every generation of Christians: Richard Lovelace: “One of the first effects of spiritual decline among the people of God is destructive enculturation, saturation with the godless culture of the surrounding world.” Adding too many ideas onto what Jesus has commanded us to do and be (legalism vs. licentiousness, religion vs. irreligion) 

-Disciples only focus on the physical, right here and now, and right now they don’t have enough food. What miracle did we just see in Mark, not once but TWICE? Multiplying bread and fish. Who did that? Jesus. Do you think that maybe, just maybe, only have 1 loaf of bread enough for Jesus to take care of them?

-Jesus knows what they’re focusing on, and He wants to move the conversation to a deeper level: what’s really going on in the hearts of His disciples? They still have certain expectations of Jesus (similar to the Pharisees) that Jesus is intentionally challenging. So Jesus goes on a run of questions for them:

-First: Why?

-Second: Don’t you get it?

3 -Is your heart still hardened? Do you refuse to believe me?

4 -As blind as a blind man, as deaf as a deaf man (Jer. 5:21) Jesus is quoting Jeremiah to tell the disciples how they should be responding to Him now, but they still don’t fear Him, they still don’t realize who He is, so the last verse describes where they’re currently at.

5 -Did you already forget the miracles that YOU benefited from? 6 – How many baskets were leftover? Don’t you think I’ll continue to provide for you?

-Last question: don’t you get it? How long will it take? Thankfully, we’re on the cusp of the disciples finally realizing who Jesus is! It won’t come about through legalistic demands (Pharisees) and it won’t come about by a political insurrection (Herod) it comes through a death and resurrection.

-2 things we need to take away from this passage:

1-Where do you look for things other than Jesus to satisfy you?

-These are idols that we need to repent from, and instead turn to Jesus!

2-What do you need to do to learn the truths of what Jesus says?

-Do you need to start reading the Bible more frequently? Do you need to get involved in a small group? Do you need to attend a class on Sunday morning? Do you need to meet with someone for accountability and prayer? Whatever it is, start today! Make a conscious choice to today to take 1 step closer to Jesus. Then wake up tomorrow and do the same thing!

-What kind of food do you like? My favorite foods are pretty much all summed up at Thanksgiving, BUT the turkey has to be cooked correctly (believe it or not, turkey doesn’t have to be dry when you eat it). The weird thing about all the family meals/get togethers is how the tables get separated, has anyone ever heard of the kid’s table? It seems that no matter how old you get, at some get together you’ll still be relegated to the kid’s table. 

-Hi to all the kids!

-We’re going to look today at the difference between getting to sit at the grown up table vs being stuck even lower than the kid’s table!

READ/PRAY (491-2) How to find verses. Why do we stand? Neh. 8:5, Luke 4:16

1. The Pharisees’ Lack of Heart (1-13)

-Last week Pastor Micah reminded us of the way God provides for His people, especially in the wilderness!

-Pharisees and scribes again: last saw them in Mark 3 where Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and the Pharisees went to collude with the Herodians to try to kill Jesus, and the scribes are accusing Jesus of being from Beelzebul.

-Once again they’re fighting against Jesus. Not coming to just chat or learn from Jesus, coming looking for ammunition to use against Him.

-Doesn’t take them long to find an issue! The disciples didn’t wash their hands before dinner.

-How many of you have to wash your hands before you eat dinner? Your parents are very wise! There’s biological reasons for that: you can get sick if you ingest the wrong things. Now imagine that not only would you get sick, but people at church also told you that it would make you sinful to eat without washing your hands. How much worse would that make forgetting to wash your hands?

-“The tradition of the elders” God’s written law and God’s spoken law (Mishnah) Placed a fence around the Torah, stated that God’s law wasn’t clear enough, so needed to add to it.

-This included proper cleaning procedures for individual items in a home. A bowl will retain uncleanness, a plate would not. A soft surface (clothes or a mattress) would retain uncleanness, a hard surface (shovel) would not.

-Pharisees and scribes have their opportunity! They ask Jesus why His disciples are acting this way. Either didn’t see Jesus do it or recognize that He’s responsible for His disciples’ actions.

-Does Jesus answer their question? He hardly even acknowledges it! He takes their question and brings it to its’ underlying issue: where does our authority come from? Jesus uses and appeals to Isaiah 29:13 to demonstrate the unique role God’s written Word should have for us.

-“Tradition” is repeated throughout this section, and here Jesus compares tradition to “the commandment of God.”

-Jesus continues with a statement dripping with sarcasm in vs. 9. Same word used to describe that prophesy against them “WELL did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites” here “You have done WELL (fine) at rejecting.” But it’s just regarding what should be washed or not, Jesus uses a specific example modern to their context:

-Moses (prophet of God, speaking on behalf of God) in a few different places commands honor/respect given to parents (quotes from Ex. 21:17, Lev. 20:9; Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16)

-The Pharisees, however, have changed that idea and allowed people to label specific money as “Corban” (author’s note on this idea). Corban was money that was set aside for a future gift to God, which was then not allowed to be used for anything else, potentially leaving someone’s parents destitute. (Retirement account for thousands of years was having children)

-“Making void the word of God by your tradition.” What an indictment! As is “And many such things you do.”

-Tradition vs. traditionalism. Living means it still matters today and has value today and has been passed down through the generations. A dead faith is useless.

-Altar calls. Stir up emotions so people “ask Jesus into their hearts” every week. Had a season in ministry a few years back where every new person asked why we didn’t do altar calls.

-Clothing (church clothes vs change clothes). The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, or wearing certain clothes.

-Music. This is a funny one! Music is all about personal preference, there isn’t a God ordained style of music, intentionally! Here’s a “prayer request” I received one time. (if you ever have an issue, talk about it! Don’t send an anonymous note!)

-Playing cards. Grandma found my dad and I playing hearts and shared she wasn’t allowed to!

-Dancing. Grandma WAS allowed to dance!

-Watching movies. I remember hearing a retired pastor do a pulpit fill at a church I served onetime who used a movie as an illustration, and then said “I know I’m not supposed to watch movies.”

-Tertullian: “Just as Jesus was crucified between two thieves, so the gospel is ever crucified between…two errors.” Keller: Religion, and irreligion. “Religion says that we have to live a holy, good life in order to be saved. Irreligion says that because we are saved, we don’t have to live a holy, good life.”

-The gospel cuts through both of these problems and can’t be summarized by either of them! Jesus says you can’t save yourself, so come to Him! Jesus then goes on to say because you are saved you can now live a holy and good life!

-Both are problems: we can’t just say we’re saved and live however we’re want (which cuts against some of the hyper-individualism of our culture), but we also can’t say that in order to be saved you have to live/ act/ dress a certain way (which cuts against everyone’s impulses! Just tell me what I have to do, and I’ll do it! The problem with that is that it’s already been done! 

• The Heart of the Matter (14-23)

-Jesus summarizes the conversation with the Pharisees and scribes by telling the crowd nearby that holiness (purity, cleanliness) isn’t a matter of following all the rules perfectly. They have the order reversed! What comes out reveals whether someone is holy or not.

-Walking with a full glass of dirty water, what comes out if someone bumps me? Is it their fault, or mine? Pharisees would say it’s your fault because you were unclean and spilled that uncleanness onto me! Jesus would say it’s my fault, because I don’t have to be unclean!

-Disciples ask the question, and Jesus gives a basic biology lesson. The stomach and the heart are 2 very different systems with 2 very different purposes and functions. (one aspect of which means we get to eat pig now! And if anyone else has had pork, sausage or bacon (not turkey bacon that’s gross), you can thank Jesus for that!)

-Not only can food not defile you, what can defile you is found in the heart (the center of your being) A long list of issues! Once again, Jesus is reminding us that we don’t pursue these sinful traits and then throw up a quick confession and go back to our sinful ways, these external traits reveal the status of our heart, which determines whether we’re clean or dirty.

-The difficulty is it’s WAY harder to diagnose a heart issue, and WAY easier to get what looks like obedience by just following the right rules, which is legalism. Creating a fence around the law so you don’t even get close to breaking the rules. (dog who’s an escape artist, don’t let him near doors that go outside, don’t let him near doors, don’t let him outside his room, don’t let him outside his crate)

-Almost hate to talk about it, but one of the best examples of this took place a few years ago with the Duggar family (stars of 17, 18, 19 kids and counting). It was revealed that Josh had abused his sisters as they were growing up. This shouldn’t have happened! They were sheltered from the bad influences of the world! They weren’t allowed to watch TV shows, the internet was filtered, they were only allowed to wear specific and modest clothing, weren’t even allowed to date (or court) without a chaperone. How could such a terrible thing happen? Because sin isn’t something we need to be sheltered from, sin is something we need to be delivered from. We have a tendency to view discipleship as protection from (don’t do this list of rules), instead we need to view discipleship (parenting is the best place to be making disciples) as equipping and training to overcome the world (through Jesus). A list of rules isn’t enough to transform a sinful heart, for that we need a Savior. Solzhenitsyn. Chesterton: “I am.” 

-If you haven’t ever trusted in Jesus, today is a great day to do that! Throughout the book of Acts, we see people hearing this message and asking: What do I need to do to be saved? The answer: Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

-When you are saved, Jesus’ heart towards you becomes tender and compassionate, and pursuing holiness suddenly becomes a joy instead of a burden, as is demonstrated by the rest of this chapter:

• The Heart of God (24-37)
  • Toward a Gentile Woman (24-30)

-“Region” doesn’t say he’s in Tyre and Sidon, that’s important as I’ll share later. This is a bit of an alarming text, as Jesus appears heartless, racist, and demeaning, He doesn’t seem like the kind compassionate person we’ve come to know Him as. Perhaps Jesus is hangry again, as He was toward the fig tree that we studied on Palm Sunday?

-We need to note the bigger context of what’s taking place: last week we saw a story of thousands being fed by a lunchable, and then Jesus walks on water and Mark says the disciples still had hard hearts about the feeding/bread.

-Bread is a demonstration of God’s provision: we have no spiritual needs, we’ll lack nothing because God has and will continue to provide. But guess what, that feeding is only the first time Jesus provides for the masses, next week we’ll be looking at the only slightly less miraculous feeding of the 4,000, and smack in between those 2 miracles is this woman who has a conversation with Jesus about bread.

-Once again, Jesus is trying to withdraw to spend time teaching His disciples and to recharge. But His fame has spread so far that even Gentiles want to be with Him now! This women isn’t just a Gentile though, she’s a Syrophoenician which is the worst of the worst. And this woman’s daughter is afflicted by an evil spirit who torments her. 

-Remember Jairus from a few weeks ago, who had a daughter in a similar position? He should come into mind now because there’s an intentional comparison being drawn between those who are “in” and those who are “out.” This woman was as far “out” as you can get! A Gentile, living in a Gentile territory, and born as a sworn enemy of Israel. Yet she knows there’s something different about this Jesus that demands a response from her. 

-Before we look at their conversation, we need to go back a few books of the Bible to 1 Kings 17, to a prophet named Elijah.

-Elijah lived in a rough time of Israel’s history: corrupt king who just wanted power, his wife was literally Jezebel who was a vindictive, conniving woman. She brought the worship of a false god named Baal to Israel, and introduced it in Tyre. Elijah heard from the Lord that there would be a 3 year draught in Israel that would wipe out much of the economy of the land, yet the King still didn’t repent! God leads Elijah to Sidon (where we’re at in today’s story!) to a Gentile widow who was used to feed Elijah, and just as God provided for the thousands in Mark, God provided flour and oil for this widow and her family throughout the entire drought. Yet shortly after this provision of food, the woman’s son died, and God provided for her again by Elijah raising her son back to life! Do you think that story may have been passed down through the generations in this “area of Tyre and Sidon,” so this mother knew that if a prophet from God came there was the potential for healing and provision?

-Think of the state of both of these children: in Elijah’s day the child was dead, in Jesus’ day do you think his mother wished her child to be dead to spare her from her misery? JC Ryle: “Hopeless and desperate as her case appeared, she had a praying mother. And where there is a praying mother, there is always hope.” Story of Grandma praying for my dad’s cousin Rick

-With all that background in mind, look at what Jesus says to her (27). Dog is a derogatory way of referring to a Gentile. 1^st cent. Jewish writings would refer to Gentiles as dogs (not house pets, dirty scavengers like rats). Jesus tells her His primary mission and focus is to the Israelites, God’s chosen people. They must be fed first (which they just had in the previous chapter), and it’s wrong to try to feed the “dogs” when the “children” are going hungry.

-The woman is shown to know who Jesus is. In Matthew’s account of this story, she calls out to Jesus 3 times calling Him Lord, the Son of David. There’s no doubt, no confusion, no hard heart. Compare that to the scribes & Pharisees, or the crowd, or even at this point the disciples. Peter’s confession doesn’t come until the next chapter, this woman acknowledges who Jesus really is before the disciples!

-In Jesus’ reply to this woman, He seems to tip her off to an underlying message He’s trying to communicate – kind of like when you pick on someone and wink at them as you say it! Remember who else is with Jesus: His disciples! So as He talks to this woman He’s also using it to teach a lesson to them, it’s like He’s answering the woman while staring at His followers. This is exactly how they would refer to this woman, IF they’d even acknowledge she exists (in Matthew the woman is so persistent they beg Jesus to get rid of her). What’s Jesus’ underlying message that she goes for? “First.” She said “give them all they want! If the only thing available to me is the crumbs I WANT THE CRUMBS! Heard 1 pastor say, she heard Jesus’ reply and said “So you’re saying there’s a chance.” 

-NLT – “Good answer!” 

-Church don’t miss this: even the crumbs God are better than a full meal of earthly goods. The crumbs will last forever, everything else will fade away, and crumbs from God are enough to satisfy the deepest longings and desires of your heart.

• Toward a Deaf Man (31-37)

-Takes the long way around (no one knows why), to end up in the Decapolis: Greek for 10 cities. Similar to the previous story, He’s not going to get a break! As soon as people find out who’s in town, they’ll flock to Him! This time, they brought a man who was deaf and had a talking issue in order to be healed by Jesus.

-Jesus takes Him away privately. Jesus doesn’t see the man as a mere problem or issue, but as a person. Jesus then does some things that seem weird, right? Wet willy in his ears, then spits on his hand and touches the man’s tongue. 

-Ferguson quote.

-What do you think was behind Jesus’ sigh? Could also translate that as a groan. Ears blocked up and inability to talk aren’t the way things are supposed to be. When God created the world, everything was very good. All these other issues is because of the effects of sin in our broken world today.

-The result of this miracle is the same response to God’s initial creation of the world: it is very good! Everlasting peace has been brought back into the world, things are as they should be once again!

-These miracles demonstrate the joy that comes from living as children of God. Because God does everything well, there’s hope for all of our lives to be restored and renewed. It might not happen on this side of eternity, but it’s guaranteed to come. God has provided everything we need, and then some, IF we put our faith in Him.

-What is your favorite story?

-Tortoise and the hare, George Washington and the cherry tree, or even the modern stories of Steve Rogers becoming Capt America, Tony Stark designing the iron man suit, or Harry Potter discovering he’s a wizard.

-We are storied creatures, we live for stories, we even use stories to make sense of our world. I started reading a book this week that talks about how the story of the Bible helps us to see and understand everything around us, and at first glance it appears to be at least contradictory, if not outright foolish!

-If anyone wants to be first they must become last, in order to find your life you need to lose it.

-The reason that we spend so much reading and studying the Bible is because it happens to be the one true story that all other stories are mere imitations of. 

-You want a self-sacrificial hero? How about a damsel in distress? You want stories that seem too good to be true? How about stories where the underdog destroys the champion? It’s all in here! So if we want to learn the true story that we’re a part of and how we should live in this world we need to know what the Bible says, as well as how we then become truly human by becoming more and more of what God has created us to be.

-Today we’re going to read the story of a man who devoted His whole life to serving God, and his life didn’t turn out as what we would describe as a success, at least in worldly terms. Yet this guy is described by Jesus as having no one greater than him! That is HIGH praise! So let’s read this passage and see how we need to reframe some of our thinking to be what Jesus has called us to be.

READ/PRAY (pg. 491)

1. Jesus’ Expanding Ministry (6-13, 30)

-Since we took a couple weeks off, we need to take some time remember what we’ve been studying! If you forgot or are new: we’re walking section by section through the Gospel of Mark! Mark is most likely the first written Gospel, recorded by John Mark who wrote down the memories of the Apostle Peter. Can easily split the book into 2 sections that center on Jesus’ authority: the first 8 chapters are Jesus demonstrating His authority through teaching and evidenced by miracles which culminates in Jesus asking Peter: who do you say that I am? Peter gets it, but he doesn’t get it, because Mark says that right after this confession he confronts Jesus about His upcoming death. Jesus then changes the focus of His ministry toward His upcoming death on the cross and begins moving closer and closer to Jerusalem.

-A few themes to remember:

-Jesus primary ministry/mission is preaching. The healings and exorcisms are just examples of his authority. This is an important note for us today as well! Just as Jesus’ primary focus was on preaching, so our primary focus should be on preaching the good news of what Jesus has done, and then out of that comes acts of love and service towards others. We cannot and should not separate these 2 things that God has meant to keep together.

-Getting a little closer to our passage, we saw multiple healings over a short period of time (storm, healing a possessed man, woman bleeding, and Jairus’ daughter) These healings were meant to serve as living parables, demonstrations of what Jesus’ message leads to: flourishing as a human.

-Finally, the first few verses of chpt. 6 recount Jesus’ rejection at His hometown of Nazareth, which causes His ministry to continue spreading further beyond the borders of Galilee, which means He’s going to need some help! We pick it up in vs. 6 where after marveling at the people’s unbelief, He goes out from there to continue going about His primary ministry: teaching.

-Jesus’ plan to carry out His mission and ministry is to use His followers. It says He called “the twelve.” To understand this reference, we need to look back to Mark 3:14“And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles)” There are some things to note about how Jesus sends them out:

-2 by 2: 

-Support (doing manual labor becomes infinitely easier when you have someone else doing it with you), 

-accountability (it’s easy to give up if you’re by yourself Bonhoeffer: “The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure.”), 

-remember/emphasize different things. (Time at the pastor’s party talking to a new person when I ran out of questions, and Cara just kept going!) This is where we need each other, a body to actually function as God has intended us to.

-What else did He give His disciples? Authority. The same authority that He had was bestowed on His disciples. Once again, remember that the primary focus of Jesus’ ministry is teaching, but the reason that teaching is trustworthy is because it’s backed up by actions, which the disciples are given the authority to do. 

-Then we come to a bit of weird section of instructions for the disciples, as well as the question of how much this idea should remain true today. What are they supposed to take with them? Nothing except a staff, and make sure they have sandals, and just the clothes on their back. In other words, as they pursue teaching like their teacher, they should be marked by simplicity.

-I’ve been contemplating this idea since last summer, when I read a book titled ‘The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry’ (and have since loaned it out to a handful of you, AND there’s a Right Now study on it) The author talked about 4 spiritual practices we need to recover: Silence and solitude, sabbath, simplicity, slowing. But the one that stood out to me was simplicity. How do you process Jesus’ command “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Another way of translating “blessed” is “happy,” but a supernatural crazy happiness. There’s a lot that could be said about this idea, which I don’t have time to go much further in today, so if you’re interested watch for tomorrow’s Sermon Scraps (if you haven’t signed up, you can find it on our YouTube page)

-A second component to this simplicity is that they were to be reliant on others hospitality.

 -We need to be hospitable! Tertullian (African writing in the 2^nd cent.): “We do not hesitate to share our earthly goods with one another. All things are common among us but our wives.” The kind of person Jesus is looking for to follow Him is someone who is hospitable, it is actually commanded in the Bible for all those who follow Jesus! Do you open your home to others? I remember growing up anytime we had people over it was a whole big affair! Every room was cleaned from top to bottom, shelves were dusted, toys were put in their “proper” place (which apparently wasn’t the floor). The meal prepared took hours, that’s not bad, but that’s also not what hospitality is. Hospitality is welcoming people in who may never invite you back over! Get some Papa Murphys pizza, eat some leftovers! The important part is the time together, not what you’re eating. 

-The second thing Jesus tells His disciples is to not keep looking for the best place. The temptation would be to find whomever will bring you in, then as you start to minister, find better accommodations. Jesus is telling His disciples they can’t live this way, instead they’re supposed to be content! Paul even picks up this idea in 1 Tim. 6:8 “If we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” Once again, this idea of simplicity is brought up here as a virtue for the Christ-follower. 

-Some of this was compared to other teachers and philosophers of the day. While teaching about supposed virtue, they would try to make money and get recognition from others instead of looking to serve. Unfortunately, this is also true in ministry today! Pastors using a church to prop themselves up, or serving a church for a season until they can move to a bigger or more well-known church. It seems far too many people care far more about worldly recognition than recognition in God’s kingdom.

-The last thing Jesus tells them is the way they identify an unrepentant community: shake the dust off their feet, that’s all we have to do! It’s both incredibly easy, but also serves as a reminder that the sword isn’t the oversight of the church. We fight not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual realms, which means we use different weapons than the world! This is another reason Jesus’ disciples were so disappointed when He died – He didn’t come in power, He came to be a victim of the power.

-With all that said, they are now ready to go on their first teaching journey, and they begin by preaching what Jesus has preached (repentance) And, to validate their teaching, they were able to perform exorcisms and heal the sick.

-This is preparing the disciples for a lifetime of ministry where they’re doing exactly what they did here. One thing to note, that is both descriptive of them, and true of people I’ve seen in ministry: you’re never completely ready! As we work at helping people take 1 step closer to Jesus, we need to provide opportunities for them to fail.

-The first time I led a song at church I was 13 years old, I was too embarrassed to use a mic (so no one could sing along) and I only knew 3 guitar chords! Things have progressed a little bit for me since then. I preached my first sermon when I was 19. I timed it before I went up front and it was supposed to be 30 minutes. I talked so fast I got it done in 20 (and you think I talk fast today!). It takes time and practice to grow in what God has called us to, the key is to continue doing it!

-This is discipleship! Using your gifts, preaching the gospel to others, and adorning the faith we believe with our good works (Titus 2:10) What does it look like here:

1-Bring someone along, show them what it looks like to minister to others, then encourage them to do it with you watching, and eventually by themselves, then keep going (2 by 2 seen in 2 Tim. 2:2)

2-Just as the disciples have Jesus’ authority, so do we (Rom. 8:11) The same power (Holy Spirit) that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in you and me, so why would act timid or afraid or refuse to use our gifts?

3-As this progresses, the disciples eventually become “living letters” (2 Cor. 3:2-3) of God. Others will start to see the ways we care about God and each other and ask what’s different about us!

-Going to jump ahead a few verses to 30. We need to take time to celebrate and acknowledge the ways God is working. I am not always good at this, I have a tendency to see the problems that need to be fixed instead of giving thanks for what God has done! As you serve, as you preach, take stock and praise God for how He’s working in and through you.

-But it’s not only ever going to be positives, because sometimes following Jesus means you’ll face persecution, which is ultimately where all the disciples will end up:

• An Example of Following Christ (14-29)

-Think of how excited the disciples would have been, coming off the high of ministry! If you ever went to camp in the summer, the “camp high” is a real thing, and these disciples were able to perform unbelievable acts of healing! Mark intentionally contrasted these 2 stories together to show what the consequences are of a life fully surrendered to Jesus.

-“King Herod heard of it” Which Herod is this? Confusing soap opera of a family! Herodian dynasty. Bold names are in the Bible

–Herod the Great the Herod of the Christmas story who slaughtered all baby boys 2 and under in Bethlehem. He had 10 wives (MANY kids) need to know 3 of them:

–Herod Aristobulus (fathered Agrippa 1 and Herodias, who we read about in today’s story)

–Herod Phillip married his niece Herodias and became the father of Salome 

–Herod Antipas – (ruled over Galilee) married his niece/sister-in-law Herodias after her divorce from his brother Herod Phillip. Brought grand-niece/niece/step-daughter Salome to come dance, met with Jesus before crucifixion. Similar to King Ahab in the OT, was far more influenced by his wife, and was frustrated that his brother got the title of “king” so he begged to have the same title, and in response got run out of office by nephew/brother-in-law: 

–Herod Agrippa I (arrested Peter, killed James, eaten by worms)

-Nothing redeeming about this family! Deceptive, lying, power hungry people.

-I mentioned this Herod during Good Friday, and this is where we see Herod first wanting to get to know Jesus. Look at how people are viewing Him: 

-J the Baptist is back from the dead! This would make Jesus nothing more than a ghost, but would also explain why He has the incredible powers He has.

-Others thought He was Elijah. Some prophecies from the first century believed that just as Elijah was taken up to heaven, His return would signal the last days had arrived (2 people in the OT didn’t die: Enoch walked with God and was somehow taken straight to heaven, Elijah found his successor in Elisha, and Elisha saw a chariot of fire come down and take Elijah to be with God).

-The other option was Jesus was another prophet. This would also be miraculous because they were coming out of the 400 silent years, so Jesus’ arrival would mean that God is speaking once again!

-Herod thinks it’s the first option. Why? John’s ghost come back to haunt him.

-What’s fascinating is this story comes right on the heels of Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth, Herod got closer to the truth than they!

-Herod was intrigued by John (just like he was with Jesus as is made clear by both the Good Friday account and this story), but he also wanted to be with his conniving niece/sister-in-law/wife Herodias (really bad with names). Multiple issues with marrying your sister-in-law, not least of which it’s forbidden by the OT, so John speaks out against it.

-Herod attempts to protect John by throwing him in prison because Herod knew there was something special about John, and enjoyed hearing his message. Notice what it says about Herod listening to John: “He was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.” 

-What was John’s message? Mark 1:4 “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” This causes us to ask a question for all of us: how do you respond to the preaching of God’s Word? Does it “greatly perplex” you, or does it transform you? If I didn’t believe in the power of God’s Word to transform us I would stop what I’m doing in a heartbeat! If all I have are words on a page (or screen) to your ears, then I’m wasting time, but if these words are literally the power of God for salvation (which they are) then we need to respond to what we’re hearing together! And here’s the thing: it starts with me! I spend hours reading, studying and praying about these messages, but I first and foremost have to pray that I’m transformed by the words I’m reading! Another paradox: I’m preaching to myself along with you! I need these words that I’m sharing with you because we all need to be encouraged to become more like Christ!

-Notice in vs. 19 that Herodias kept a grudge against John (one commentator quipped that she only viewed the marriage certificate as true if it was written on the back of John’s death certificate) Herod had been trying to keep John safe, but he also enjoyed his sin too much, and that sin was crouching and waiting for Herod to make a mistake. It finally came during Herod’s birthday party. Romans threw lavish parties, apparently Herod was no exception! Lots of drinking, lots of food, there was nothing held back. 

-As part of the frivolities of the birthday celebration, Herod brought his great-niece/niece/step-daughter in to dance for the crowd, and apparently made quite the impact! Both Herod and his crew seemed to have liked her moves.

-After lots of eating and drinking, Herod isn’t thinking clearly, so he vows in front of the whole group to give her anything she wants (hyperbolically) up to half the kingdom. One thing I didn’t mention earlier: Herod wasn’t the king. Herod was a tetrarch who was more like a governor. He couldn’t even give away half the kingdom if he wanted to, but he’s so drunk with power that he makes a foolish promise.

-Mom’s antagonism toward John passed down to her daughter, Salome runs back in and demands John’s head on a platter

-Herod sobered up quickly! It says he was “exceedingly sorry.” 

-We’re supposed to see a big contrast between John and Herod. John’s ministry was in the backwoods. He had nothing, he ate sparingly, yet he wasn’t afraid to proclaim the truth, even when he was brought in front of Herod, and there was something at work in Herod’s heart to see that John spoke the truth, but it stopped there. It didn’t change his heart or lead to a new way of living for Herod. Where John boldly proclaimed just the truth, Herod rashly spoke and lived to regret it.

-However, Herod liked the power and prestige that came from his position, and Mark tells us that despite regretting it, Herod immediately sent the execution order down. Herod wanted to save face instead of saving a righteous and holy man.

-Debauchery of the party culminated in the most gruesome scene yet: John’s head brought in on a platter.

-Who cares for John’s body? His disciples.

-Picture of following after Jesus, may lead to death (church history tells us 10 of the 11 disciples alive after Jesus’ resurrection faced martyrdom)

-But it’s also a picture of another holy and righteous man who would also stand in front of Herod just a couple years later. Unfortunately, Herod hadn’t changed at all, and just as John died a gruesome death, so this second man would die a gruesome death and have his body taken care of by His disciples.

-But the reality is, both of their ministries carried on after Herod’s pronouncement of death. Repentance is still available, and it comes about through the words of those same disciples: repent and believe! Because of Jesus’ death all those things that Herod was trying to hold on to don’t matter anymore! There’s peace and hope and eternal life available to anyone and everyone: so those of us who are saved have the job to proclaim that message far and wide, but realize that doing so will lead to at the minimum losing some social credibility, and at the extreme can lead to losing your life. But as I said at the beginning, that’s the only way you can find it.