This week again, we follow the thread in Mark\u2019s Gospel about Jesus\u2019s identity. As I\u2019ve mentioned several times before, the Gospel keeps on asking who is Jesus and it seems to be digging deeper each time. We have seen that Mark presents Jesus as a teacher and a healer, then shows us that Jesus is actually a savior (the resurrection of Jairus\u2019 daughter, the calming of the storm) and then Mark narrows down the question to find out what kind of savior Jesus is. Last week passage was about demonstrating that Jesus wasn\u2019t a rescuer \u2013 as he expects openness and collaboration in his ministry (see last sermon). And today, we are heading even more closer the cross \u2013 Jesus is a savior, and not a rescuer, and rather a \u201csuffering servant\u201d as John the Baptist was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– This long and detailed story about John the Baptist seems to be interrupting the narrative flow about Jesus\u2019s ministry, and yet it gives us important cues to understand what\u2019s coming next. This story does not mention Jesus, or the disciples and yet we see the point. It is, if you will, a little bit like the story of Esther in the Old Testament. Not only because Herod offers to Herodias\u2019 daughter \u201chalf of his kingdom\u201d as did the King for Esther \u2013 an explicit reference – but also because the Book of Esther never mentions God, although we understand it is all about God. In the same way, we have to understand that if the story never mentions Jesus, it is all about Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it looks like a \u201cmoralistic\u201d story, and at some level it is, but if we look more deeply, it is also theological story – a story about Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First of all – what is it with this story as a moralistic story?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, I think we can comfortably say that it isn\u2019t moralistic in a traditional sense because in the end, the evil ones aren\u2019t punished. Rather, they win and the holy man loses. Yet, their victory probably does not sound good to any of us. So it\u2019s this kind of story that, instead of telling us directly that something is right or that something is wrong, it\u2019s the kind of story that provides a moral teaching by showing us a situation, handing us a mirror in which we can look at ourselves and question our own lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how can we see ourselves through the lens of this story?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Well, first of all, Herod is presented as a complex character instead of being just singled out as a \u201cbad guy\u201d<\/strong>. He is first of all conflicted. He likes John actually, he likes his teaching, and maybe there was some kind of religiosity in Herod: He was a Jew, he knew the Torah, he probably had admiration and respect for the prophets. We understand his desire to be good or even to be close to God \u2013 certainly because we also have this desire inside of us. Yet we quickly discover that, for Herod as it is for us, doing the right thing is uncomfortable.<\/strong> To really \u201chear John\u201d instead of just listening to him, Herod would have to separate from his wife \u2013 but it was no easy. It\u2019s not sure that he was insanely in love with her, rather it looks like she was a dominating person and he was under his influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To me, we can certainly relate to this very human side of Herod. Like him, we may like to hear about justice and righteousness and God\u2019s will, but of course when it comes to put it in action it\u2019s rather uncomfortable, mostly because doing the right thing is likely to displease people we would like to have on our side.<\/strong> And it\u2019s something that is easy to forget when we preach love and the love of neighbor: We have a tendency to think that it means we should make everyone happy. But we see in the story that it is hardly the case, and that, in order to do the right thing, Herod should have taken the risk to displease his wife and his hosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More deeply, the story mentions that Herod had John killed \u201cout of regard for his hosts\u201d, but also \u201cout of regard for his oath\u201d, and I think it\u2019s even more interesting. It looks like honoring an oath is the right thing to do, correct? Yet in this case, do you think that Herod should have honored his oath? No, we understand that he should have acknowledged in front of everyone that it was not a good idea to offer Herodias\u2019 daughter whatever she wanted. I find it interesting because we see that, contrarily to what we often assume, leading a moral life is not just about following rules or sticking to some principles.<\/strong> Rules are there to guide us, but they should not be an excuse to do something awful! We have to use our own judgment all the time to do the best thing in any given circumstance<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But then the story asks another question: how do we use our judgment? Certainly there are situations where our judgment is impaired \u2013 and this is exactly what happens to Herod here<\/strong>. He is surrounded by the wrong persons, everybody is getting drunk and excited, included himself. It is to be noticed that the story does not seem to condemn the party itself, or even the drinking, or the sexual attraction Herod experiences, but it shows us that this context leads him to make bad decisions. I think this is certainly something we can relate to. If we want to make moral decisions, we have to remove ourselves from situations we know can impair our judgment. It may be different for each one of us. Many situations in themselves aren\u2019t sinful <\/strong>or that sinful<\/strong>, but they can lead to sin because we are weak.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To me, this is really the point the story makes about Herod\u2019s character \u2013 he is not a bad guy, but he is weak, makes bad decisions, and since he is the king, his bad decisions have terrible consequences. The story shows us that we need to be aware of our own weaknesses so they don\u2019t take control of our lives.<\/strong> If you think about it, all Herod had to do was to say no<\/strong>…to declare that he promised more than he could afford, that John was off limits. But he doesn\u2019t do that because he does not want to look stupid. How often do we do the same? We do something stupid and to hide the fact that we have done something stupid, we do something even more stupid? Leading a moral life requires humility and the ability to acknowledge that we need to change and to change our minds.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In this we find ourselves at the frontier between morality and theology because we see in action what it is to \u201crepent\u201d \u2013 the very thing John was teaching and Jesus taught after him. Change your minds from what you are currently doing to follow God\u2019s righteousness.<\/strong> Herod incarnates the tragedy of not being able to repent, to turn back to God.<\/strong> Herod gets caught in a situation where he ends up having no choice (He was \u201cgreatly perplexed\u201d actually means \u201cHe didn\u2019t know where to turn). And so in the end John the Baptist loses his life, but Herod loses his soul<\/strong>. This story is a scary story, to say the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Now a few words about the theological aspect of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, we talked about Jesus\u2019 \u201cmighty deeds\u201d and \u201cpowerful words\u201d in Mark\u2019s Gospel and in this sermon series, but our theme is also a \u201crising opposition\u201d, and the story shows us where the Gospel is heading. John appeared first, opening the way, but he is also the first to leave, and we can guess that\u2019s the way things are going to be for Jesus too. Jesus is a savior, but also a suffering servant. He does not promise victory in this world, he just calls people to do the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing as did John.<\/strong> John was willing to speak truth to power, just because it was what he had to do, even at the cost of his life. The scene of John\u2019s burial is very powerful to me. There is a poverty and a vulnerability in doing the right thing<\/strong>, not knowing what the consequences will be \u2013 it includes John, his disciples, but it will also includes Jesus himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet \u2013 and this will be my conclusion \u2013 in all of this there is a promise of a Resurrection<\/strong>, oddly spoken by the mouth of Herod himself, who fears that Jesus is \u201cJohn raised from the dead\u201d. Jesus is not John reincarnated (that would be impossible since they are the same age), but it is the same spirit of truth working in him. It is scary to Herod because he fears judgment and condemnation for what he has done, yet there would have been for him another chance for repentance \u2013 even when all seemed said and done. We know that Herod didn\u2019t take this opportunity to repent and that, a few years later, when faced with Jesus he will also let Jesus be put to death. Herod had sealed his fate. The evil ones win and the holy man loses, but only in this realm. Jesus\u2019s story is not complete if we don\u2019t look all the way towards the Resurrection.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week again, we follow the thread in Mark\u2019s Gospel about Jesus\u2019s identity. As I\u2019ve mentioned several times before, the Gospel keeps on asking who is Jesus and it seems to be digging deeper each time. We have seen that Mark presents Jesus as a teacher and a healer, then shows us that Jesus is … <\/p>\n