Mark 6:14-29
Perplexed
You can only ever watch a movie for the first time… once. There’s only one time that you get to be surprised and amazed by the twists and turns of the plot without knowing what comes next. Watching a movie for the first time will fill us with all sorts of emotions: confusion, frustration, joy, and amazement. I remember watching many movies for the first time and really getting to enjoy the filmmaker playing with my expectations in ways that truly enhanced the story. Now, take that same movie on the tenth time you’ve watched it, or let’s go ridiculous level, the hundredth time you’ve watched it. You don’t get the same emotions… because it’s familiar. Perhaps we already know every word in the movie at that point so nothing really surprises us. That doesn’t mean we don’t still enjoy it. We still love the movie if we’re willing to keep rewatching it that much. For it’s much the same way with faith. As a lifelong Christian, even Lutheran, I know I can be pretty unemotional when I read, or reread parts of Scripture that I’ve known since I was five. I don’t have the same reaction to scripture that someone brand new to faith would have. For the new converts, it’s like watching a movie for the very first time. For I say all of this for the simple point that for those of us who have sat in these seats for years, even decades at this point, it would serve us well to try to recapture some of the emotions that come with experiencing something for the first time. Our faith, reading the bible, should get us emotional. We should be frustrated, confused, happy, and joyful.
For in our Gospel lesson, I want to focus on someone abnormal in our story today… Herod. Herod has done a lot of bad things in his life, one of which is called out today by John, the marrying of his brother’s wife. While Herod is no example of faith to us, may he at least teach us this:
MAY WE BE PERPLEXED AND MADE GLAD BY THE LOVE OF GOD!
I.
If you had stumbled upon this story while reading through Mark, you’d probably be confused by the progression that happens. Our story begins with Herod hearing about the things Jesus has been doing, believing that Jesus is John raised from the dead. Yet, up to this point, there’s been no mention of John being killed. Mark, thus, gives us a flashback to fill us in on these details that we missed. John has been calling out Herod for his unlawful marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife. John wasn’t afraid to call out every sin he saw, including Herod’s. For so we read, “For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her,” Mark 6:17. John won no favor with Herod, nor Herodias, for drawing attention to their unlawful and sinful marriage. But even in prison, that didn’t hinder John from still speaking. For so we also read concerning Herod, “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly,” Mark 6:20. Herod would come and visit John in prison and there, John would continue to speak to Herod about his sinful behavior.
For I want you to consider Herod’s response to John. Do you think anyone else has spoken to Herod as John has? I doubt it. Yet, Herod has an unusual response to John. He listens to him. He’s perplexed… He’s perplexed that John would speak in such a way to him… “King” Herod. John called for Herod to repent. Repentance is an admission of wrongdoing and also a desire to change. Repentance is also perplexing to those who don’t yet understand their sinfulness. This is what sparked Herod’s fear with Jesus. He spoke the same as John. He spoke about repentance and sins. He was bold to call all people to repentance. This is often what perplexes us. Jesus speaks about our sinfulness. He calls us to repentance just as John did for Herod. And yet, the shame isn’t that our sinfulness perplexes us. Our perplexion is often that someone calls us out for it. For like Herod and Herodias, we try to hide our sins under a blanket and then are surprised when they are uncovered.
II.
Herod’s response is interesting not because he’s perplexed… but because he’s also glad! Glad to hear sins called out? Not quite… for this gets us to the core of this reading. John spoke about not just Herod’s sinful marriage, but also the remedy for all of Herod’s sins. John told Herod that even though he was sinful, someone loved him dearly enough to forgive him, to cover over his sins so that those sins need never be revealed. John spoke about Jesus! For this is where Herod’s and our perplexion should come from. We’re confused not to hear that we’re sinners. That much is self-evident. We’re confused and perplexed to hear that the almighty judge has declared us innocent for them! Repentance isn’t just our admittance of wrongdoing. Repentance means that we lay our sins on Jesus. It means that Jesus has assumed our sins so that they may be removed as far as the east is from the west!
Let us not ignore either the tragedy of John either. For as interesting a response as Herod has, there’s also the response of Herodias. Herodias plotted with her daughter to rid herself of John. For so the daughter of Herodias entertains Herod by dancing for his *lower* sensibilities, to which Herod offers a reward, up to half of his kingdom (Mark 6:21-23). As had been plotted, Herodias convinces her daughter to ask for John’s head (Mark 6:24). Herodias shows us that many people refuse to ever admit their sinfulness, to acknowledge their own evil. Thus, John dies, in a sense, for the sins of Herod and Herodias. He prefigures the death of Jesus. For Jesus dies because we didn’t want to admit our sinfulness. We didn’t want to acknowledge our evil. So, Jesus had to die. He died for our sins. He died to show us the true depth of our evil… but he died so that we could be forgiven! As Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” Ephesians 1:3. This is a truth that should never become old for us. Our perplexion should always remain at the greatness and depth of the love of God and the very cross of Christ! For by this perplexion, God makes us glad… glad that our sins have been removed. Glad that our death has been defeated. Glad that we can now stand in the presence of God, as those declared holy and righteous!
There may be only once that we get to hear this truth for the first time… but may we hold fast our joy and amazement every time we hear this truth… Jesus has died for our sins so that we may be forgiven and live before him in holiness and righteousness forever! In Jesus’ name! Amen!