There are some statistics regarding Christianity that rather startle us. We are told that the Christian faith is spreading today at a faster rate than at any previous time of church history. That figure doesn't include the earliest times - on the day of Pentecost when the number of disciples increased from 120 to 3000 (2500%)! We don't see this increase in Australia or other "Western" countries. The increase is taking place largely in the developing countries. On the other hand, more Christians have been martyred for their faith in recent years than in all previous times put together.
There are those who believe the soft affluent West may have to be evangelised again by vigorous fearless Christian missionaries from the Third World.
Jesus taught us to pray, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Mt. 6.13) - the Good News Bible translates, "Do not bring us to hard testing…" We shouldn't be foolhardy and deliberately rush into danger. But in times of trial God is with us to protect us. We are to be strong and uncompromisingly faithful to him, no matter what the consequences. At the end of the Beatitudes, Jesus said, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (5.11-12).
Too often we opt for "peace at any price" - compromising the truth of the gospel to avoid personal pain and embarrassment. We hardly face real persecution in this country - just an occasional verbal jab. To what extent is that because we have "gone soft" on our mission?
Today's reading tells the story of the brutal end of John the Baptist's life as an explanatory digression to the main theme of the identity and authority of Jesus. The successful mission of the Twelve - preaching that people should repent, casting out demons, healing the sick - came to the notice of King Herod. The disciples themsleves weren't claiming credit for the healings - "for Jesus' name had become well-known" (Mk 6.14a).
For everyone the issue was, "Who is this Jesus?" That seemed to be one of the questions in his home-town Nazareth, as we saw in the first part of the chapter. They at least had seen him grow up. In one sense, they already knew him. In another, his words and actions completely baffled them.
The present group clearly weren't from Nazareth. Some were suggesting, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him" (v. 14b). Others thought he could be Elijah (v. 15a). The very last words in the Old Testament - Malachi 4.5-6 - are, "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…" When John the Baptist was asked directly whether he was Elijah, he denied it (Jn 1.21). Jesus, however, saw John as the fulfilment of that prophecy (Mk 9.11-13). Still others in the present crowd thought Jesus must be "a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago" (6.15b).
For King Herod, the issue wasn't an academic curiosity. He had a guilty conscience. He was convinced that "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!" (v. 16)
When people are married in our country, they fill in a Notice of Intended Marriage. The final question is, "Are the parties related to each other?" If they are, the law is very strict about who can marry whom - there is a detailed list of permitted and prohibited relationships.
Ray Stedman comments, "The marital entanglements of this whole family of Herods are incredible. They started with Herod the Great, who married five different wives, and had children by all of them. Then the progeny began to marry each other, and each other's progeny! So there were cousins marrying, and, in the case of this Herod, Herod Antipas, he married his niece, Herodias, who had been the wife of his half-brother, Philip. Now, to further complicate the story, there was another half-brother also named Philip!" (sermon, Who is this?).
John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife" (v. 18). We are told that "Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man" (v. 20). But "Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him" (v. 19). Under pressure from Herodias, "Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison" (v. 17). It all led to the grisly execution when "the opportune time came" - Herod's birthday (v. 21).
When Communism crumbled in East Germany and the Berlin Wall came down, stories began to emerge about the ways people had betrayed even closest relatives because of fear. People were living a lie and, with the fall of Communism, the truth of their deceptions caused immense personal pain.
In March 2002, information from eastern Indonesia indicated that over nine thousand Christians had been killed since January 1999 and that, on account of the Islamic Jihad movement in Maluku, there were six hundred thousand internally displaced people. Houses and churches had been burnt and whole villages that were predominantly Christian had been force Islamised. At the present time there is a belated attempt to bring some of those responsible to trial.
How important is it that we speak and live the truth? On one occasion, we hear Jesus saying to some Jews who had believed him, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (Jn 8.31-32).
Faith in Christ is sometimes viewed as an optional extra - take it or leave it. But it is a core need - and the very essence of human truth and freedom.
A few weeks ago, a dear friend from the church where we served for ten years on the Sunshine Coast was knocked down on a pedestrian crossing and killed. This week we received a letter from his widow. She says, "Life can be hard sometimes, but we, as Christians, are not exempt from LIFE, and we have our Lord's presence, love and comfort. How do people cope without HIM?"
Paul wrote to the Romans, "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8.39-39).
We aren't guaranteed a life free of suffering and pain and death. We are promised his presence and support throughout this life - that's why he has given us the Holy Spirit. We are promised that, at the end of this life, he will gather us into the life to come - free from pain suffering and death. No matter what happens here in this life, his Word is true - we can know his freedom and peace within.
Trust him now! Receive him now! Live and speak on the basis of his grace and truth!
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