FBCWest 654 | The Greatest and Others Beheaded
Recorded On: 04/13/2025
Bulletin
Hymn # 454 “Down at the Cross”
SCRIPTURE READING – Romans 3:21 - 26
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate
Praise and Worship
“Your Promises”
“How Great Is Your Love”
“At the Cross (Love Ran Red)”
Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
The Greatest and Others Beheaded
“Echo Holy”
Sermon Notes
Mark 6:14 – 16 Herod mistakenly thins Jesus is John the Baptist
Mark 6:17 – 20 Herod had John arrested because John had criticized him for his new wife
Mark 6:21 – 26 Herod makes a stupid promise, as a result to avoid breaking his promise orders John to be beheaded
Mark 6:27 – 29 John is beheaded and his head is put on a platter. His disciples take his body and places it in a tomb
Mark 6:30 – 32 Jesus tell His disciples for them to go to a secluded place for rest
Revelation 20:4 Christians beheaded and rewarded
Scritpures
Transcript of Service
(Music)
can come at a great cost.
The prophets who prepared the word of God, who presented it, oftentimes suffered,
oftentimes were rejected and opposed.
If I were to ask you,
who do you think the most significant prophet would be? Some of you might say, Elijah.
Some of you might say it was Isaiah.
Others may be Jeremiah.
Probably a lot of Jewish people would say Moses.
All of those people were at some point opposed, rejected, persecuted.
The funny thing is the person you and I probably would leave out is the one that God, who Jesus,
made the most significant compliment to.
He said, of all men born of women, which means everybody except Adam and Eve, of all those people who ever lived, there was no one greater than John, who we call the Baptist. There was no one greater than John, who we call the Baptist.
Can you imagine that?
That the one who created the heavens and the earth,
the ones that can perform miracles, the one that heals, the ones that can raise the dead said, the greatest one who has ever lived is John the Baptist.
But then he makes another statement that is even more amazing.
He goes, even though John is the greatest,
the person who is the least in the kingdom
is greater than John.
Now, I'm not so prideful to say that I am the least in the kingdom, but I'm probably ranked in the bottom quarter of the people who are significant, which means even though John, who came to prepare the way for Jesus,
those of us who no one pays any attention to is considered greater than that. But John, given this ministry of preparing the way
and presenting the word of God,
found himself being opposed, rejected, persecuted,
and eventually his earthly ministry will end. So we're gonna take a look at that ministry. Now, Mark is gonna do something that we kind of are used to in movies. You'll see where a movie where something will take place either in the past or in the present, and then they do it, then all of a sudden they'll say, well, three years ago, this happened. And you go, well, why are we going back there? This is kind of, John is, I mean, Mark is gonna be talking about the ministry of Jesus,
but then he's gonna kind of go back and talk about where John was because it's not about John, it's about Jesus, but he wants us to understand the ending of John's ministry. So if you have your Bibles and you should, turn to Mark, the gospel of Mark, chapter six, and we're gonna start with verse 14.
And it says, "And King Herod heard of it." Now, Mark is being somewhat generous to Herod. Now, this is not Herod the Great, the one who was involved in the beautification of the temple or the one who attempted to kill Jesus when he was born. This is his son.
And he was, while he was a ruler, he was considered a tetriarch.
When Herod the Great died, they divided up his kingdom into a multiple of locations. And this son Herod ruled over Galilee and a portion of Perea. So he has been given a portion of that, but Mark calls him a king because he was a ruler. So, and King Herod heard of it, for his name had become well known. And the people were saying, "John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him." So the world is out there. They're seeing all these great miracles and healings and resurrections and all this happening. And kind of similar as when Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" This is kind of consistent. Everybody's going, "Well, one of the answers is, it's John the Baptist who's raised from the dead." Now, Mark has got to now explain
because we haven't talked about John the Baptist's death. So he's going to now recount that. So he's going to go back in time to discuss it.
But others were saying, "He is Elijah." Another were saying, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." Well, if he's, the reason why they think he's Elijah, because the scripture said, before the Messiah comes, Elijah has to appear. And so that's why they're saying that that's this. And other sayings, "He's a prophet." Well, if he's a prophet, he's being treated like all the other prophets, ignored, persecuted, and done away with, or like one of the prophets of old.
But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, "John, whom I beheaded has risen." So it doesn't matter what everybody else says, Herod decides that the reason that these things are happening is that John was resurrected from the dead.
And notice that this Herod takes responsibility. He says, "Whom I beheaded."
But I know he's dead. And you're gonna see why he now knows he's dead.
For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. Now this is the situation.
While in Rome, this Herod came to know Herodias,
came to know Herodias, who was the wife of his brother.
He, she divorces Philip,
Herod divorces his wife, and they get married.
That violates the Jewish law.
You're not to do that.
Now, another thing that this doesn't tell us, not only was Herodias Herod's sister-in-law,
she was also his niece.
So basically John has said, "You, as a part of my message that the world "that we need to repent, Herod, you need to repent "'cause you violated the scriptures."
But instead of Herod repenting, Herod has John arrested.
That way he can't speak and rile up the people and get everybody all upset. He just minimizes the situation by having him arrested.
For John had been saying to Herod, notice, "To Herod, it is not lawful for you "to have your brother's wife.
"Maybe you should change. "Maybe you should repent." And again, he's directing it at Herod. It's not a matter of gossip. It's Herod, you need to repent, as I've talked about the kingdom of God is at hand.
Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. He could not do so, because she didn't have the power.
She didn't like what he was saying.
Because she liked her life the way it was.
She's married to this guy who's in charge of things, who's been to Rome and all these other things. And she likes her life just the way it is. She doesn't want to change it, which is very much like most of us. We are totally content in our sin.
For Herod was afraid of John.
His wife wanted him dead, but Herod was afraid of John.
The one who had the quote unquote power is afraid of the one who represents the word of God,
and rightfully so.
Knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, so you don't mess with John because he was a righteous and holy man.
So at least Herod had enough sense at this point to say, I'm not messing with him. I've kind of gone as far as I ought to go. I had him arrested. What he should have done is repented and said, John, you're right.
What can I do to make it right?
Is it good for me to divorce this wife? Or do I not? What do I do? He should try to find out what it is that he needs to do to get right with God, but instead of listening to the man,
he makes it minimal for his impact.
And he kept him safe.
So he made sure that no one harmed John because he was a righteous and holy man.
And he was very perplexed, but he used to enjoy listening to him.
I want you to picture this. Here's this guy, John, who is preaching proclaiming that, Herod, you need to repent.
He's afraid of him, so he doesn't want to harm him. But he finds amusement at listening to John.
He's not going to change his life. He just likes listening to him.
Now, I don't know if you have, but I have run into those type of people in two types of contexts. One is in politics, and I don't care about that. And the other is doctrine. There are some people who I will have a very clear and concise view and convinced of my position in this particular doctrine.
And I'll have this other person who wants to talk to me about the doctrine because he thinks he holds a different position. And I talk to him about it and talk to him about it.
And whatever. And then the next time it even possibly comes up or he makes the conversation turn to that point, he wants to debate it all over again. Then he wants to debate it all over again.
I'm not interested.
If we can have an honest conversation and you're interested and you want to see why you're wrong, then I'll be happy to talk to you. But I don't want to keep talking to you over and over and over over the same subject because all it's doing is irritating me and you're not changing.
But Harris finding entertainment at John's conversation.
Kind of like that joke where the parents send the young boy to church for the first time and he comes back and they gave him some money to put it on the offering plate. And when they asked him how the church was, he goes, "It's a pretty good chill for a dollar."
And that's kind of what Harris is going. John's a pretty good show.
He's a holy and righteous man, so I'm not gonna harm him. I'm not gonna change my life, but I like listening to him. And that's kind of, sometimes people come to church
if they like to listen, they don't want to change.
That's exactly where Harris is.
And a strategic day came when Harris on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. It's my birthday, I'm inviting a bunch of important people to come.
So they all can tell me happy birthday. And we're having this really nice party and I'm just gonna, everybody wish me a happy birthday.
And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. So apparently whatever dance she did, everybody gave a thumbs up too. They thought it was great.
Don't know what kind of dance it was. Don't know if it was suggestive or it was just, you know, whatever.
I've never enjoyed dance all that much. Back when I was a kid and I wouldn't watch like Red Skilton, they would have the June Taylor dancers. I would go get something, I could care less about the dancing. Yeah, they were talented and I can't do it, but I don't find it entertaining. But apparently these people, whatever her dance was, it must've been really great. So much so that not only was Herod pleased and she's kind of related to him because she's his second niece.
The wife, his wife, this is niece and she's the daughter of his niece.
And the King Herod said to her, to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you."
And he swore to her, "Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you up to one half of my kingdom."
This is a stupid comment.
You don't give an, well, I guess it's not a,
it's a check that has a maximum amount, up to half of the kingdom.
But in a world of very selfish people, narcissistic people, you might end up not having half of your kingdom. Maybe you should say, "What can I give you?"
That would have been a much smarter statement. I'm really, that was an awesome dance. What can I give you in return for this awesome dance?
Then if she says whatever, you can say yes or no. But not only does he make a stupid statement, he then swears to it. And she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?"
And she said, "The head of John the Baptist." And she hates it.
And she's been preaching that they need to repent.
And her husband, the Tetriarch, is afraid of him. So now she's going to be a little bit more confident and now's my opportunity to get rid of my enemy.
And immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked saying, "I want you to give me at once, immediately, the head of John the Baptist on a platter."
This is a pretty bloodthirsty girl.
She didn't say, "I just want you to behead John.
I want you to behead him. I want you to take his head, put it on a platter and bring it out to me."
Boy, you hear this statement, "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn."
He wants his head.
Notice what Herod's response is.
"And although the king was very sorry yet because of his oath and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her." Now, let me tell you, I'm not a Philadelphia lawyer, but I am a lawyer. And I can give you a couple of reasons he could have said no.
He could have said no because he goes, "I ask you to give you a gift, not commit murder."
Second, he could have said,
"I asked you what you wanted. I didn't ask what your mother wanted.
This is what your mother wants, not what you want. And I'm not giving it to you because that's what your mother wanted. And I asked you what you wanted." So he could have refused it. The third thing he could have said was, as I frequently say, because people say, "Well, all sin is sin."
I beg the different, "Sin is sin and it's terrible and whatever."
But if I tell an ugly woman who's a bride, she's beautiful, I lied.
What is the impact of that lie? She now has a greater self-esteem of her looks than she ought to have.
Not a lot of harm.
If I kill her fiancé husband,
I harmed her greatly because now she's now widow.
Yes, they're both sins, but they're different categories of sin and have different impacts. So he could have said, "I'm not, but I would rather lie. I would rather say, well, I made a sworn statement, but because now you're asking me to commit murder, I'm not doing it because a lie is not as bad as murder.
But because Herod is more afraid of Herodias than he is of God." And his guess is more afraid of their opinion than God.
He can sense.
"And immediately the king set an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in prison
and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl and the girl gave it to her mother."
Look at mommy, my gift to you, the head of a prophet,
the head of a person that Jesus himself said, "Of everyone born of a woman, here's the greatest."
"Because you refuse to repent." Here's his head.
You hear the news a lot of times about people will do terrible evil things.
And you go, "We don't understand that."
And even though Adam and Eve were, well, Eve was fooled and Adam did it with full knowledge, decided to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we seem not to understand evil,
even though we seem to participate in it a lot. Because someone said, "You're wrong.
And now I want your head on a platter."
The one that you knew was a holy and righteous man.
But we're not going to be so lucky. Now I want you to notice what his disciples did. And when his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.
Just like in a short amount of time, Jesus's disciples will do the same thing. They take away his body and give it a burial.
They honor his life.
And the apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught.
And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest awhile, for there were many people coming and going and they did not even have time to eat."
And they went away in a boat to a secluded place by themselves.
Jesus understood his disciples had just gone out and done ministry and had healed the sick and had preached the gospel and had driven out demons. And I'm sure they were excited about what Jesus knew that this was a critical time. And sometimes it's necessary to withdraw to a secluded place to understand what's going on.
To be prepared for the opposition and the hatred and the persecution that will come.
This story does not have a happy ending, but ultimately will.
For you see, John the Baptist is not the last one to be beheaded
for his testimony, for his following what the Word of God says and to do his ministry.
His earthly ministry came to a very abrupt and violent end.
When we get to heaven someday, if we were interested at that point, I bet his answer would be, "It was worth it."
I would rather have my head beheaded than my heart captured by evil.
I would rather one moment serve the Lord God in prison and then have my head removed than to be in the counsel of the wicked forever.
But John is not going to be the last one.
In Revelation, chapter 20, verse 4, it says this,
You see, John the Baptist is not going to be the last one to be beheaded.
There are going to be brothers and sisters in the future during the tribulation who are going to lose their heads because they testified of Jesus,
because they refused to take the mark of the beast, because they proclaimed the Word of God.
That's the end of their earthly ministry, but that's not their end.
Not only are they in glory with the Lord,
it says that they will come to life and reign with Him for a thousand years.
Herod thought he had great power. He had the power to take John's life. When those judgments happen, I'm sure they would gladly give up that power
to be now for the people who have been beheaded off.
The history of mankind is when the Word of God is presented, many people hate you.
And they persecute you and they reject you and they're opposed to you.
If they did that to John, they'll do it to you. If they did that to Jesus, the Son of God, the one who loved them more than we could ever love them and yet rejected Him and hated Him and wanted to see Him crucified because of His testimony of the Word of God.
We're in the same boat.
So when you think, "Well, I've tried to live a good life. I've tried to have a good testimony."
You just put a target on yourself.
It's not a matter of how wonderful your testimony is. Actually, the more your testimony is, the more the target's on your back.
But being a messenger for God is far better than being a king now.
Herod gets to rule for a while.
These people get to rule for a thousand years.
Last I checked, since the flood, most people don't make it past 120 years.
These get to live forever and rule for a thousand years. Which is better?
A little bit of pain for a lot of glory or a little glory and to see God, not as the one who saved you, but the one who says, "Depart from me. I never knew you."
I take a little pain because His Word is true, unlike the Word of people today.
It used to be a man's Word was his bond. Then we had the shake on it. Then we had to write contracts of multiple pages to make sure we did what we say.
God says, "I said it. That settles it. Therefore I believe it." We're going to sing a song that you're going to sing. It's called "Echo Holy." Why are we singing this song as a song of reflection because it doesn't have anything to do with witnessing?
Yes, it does. Or getting beheaded.
One of the great prophets, Isaiah, saw God high and lifted up.
The angel is saying, "Holy, holy, holy."
When God says, "Who shall I send?" He goes, "Here I am. Send me."
When we see the holiness of God, we won't care the risk.
Because we see Him who He is, who we are, and He calls us anyway.
Because He's holy, holy, holy. There will come a time when we will bow and confess Jesus as Lord.
Either voluntarily because we believe it or because we're required to because of who He is. "Here I am. Send me." All God's people said.