Mark 6:17-20 - A woman and a grudge

6:17,18

We now get the story of how Herod came to have John the Baptist beheaded. Originally Herod had had John arrested. Herod had married Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. This was explicitly forbidden in Lev 18:16 and 20:21. And John the Baptist had told Herod so. This would put him in a difficult position with the religious leaders. When the powerful are questioned on their sexual morality they will tend to react, just as today there is a reaction when the LGBT agenda is questioned.

6:19

Here it was the wife of Herod who was most offended, and she nursed a grudge. There is a tendency today with things like the MeToo movement to view sexual sins and abuse as a largely male problem, and of course men have a lot to answer for. However, women are just as sinful as men. She wanted to kill John but up to this point had been unable to do so.

6:20

Herod was highly unrighteous, yet he still recognised that John was a righteous and holy man, so he feared him. There are two points to learn from this. The first is that ungodly men and women can still recognise holiness in people. Someone may be vehemently opposed to the gospel, but can still recognise something of God in us. Secondly, the end result was that Herod still had John killed eventually. So we need to hold both of these things together, not giving into fear or despair because we are dealing with unrighteous people, but neither becoming complacent. We may still be called to suffer for Christ. Herod also liked to listen to John, this is even though John was telling him that he was sinning against God. Reactions will be complex!