News travels fast, even more so in our 24/7 Internet-connected world. While much is available, little actually comes to our attention. The news we choose is a mix of what we believe is essential to us and what various gatekeepers, editors, and algorithms push according to their agenda. That’s been the nature of news for the entirety of human existence.
In today’s passage from Mark, news about Jesus has reached King Herod. “King Herod heard about it, because Jesus’s name had become well known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He’s Elijah.” Still others said, “He’s a prophet, like one of the prophets from long ago.” When Herod heard of it, he said, “John, the one I beheaded, has been raised!”” (Mark 6:14–16, CSB) Herod implicitly asked the important question: Who is Jesus? His conclusion was born of a guilty conscience.
The story of John the Baptist’s death is recorded in Mark 6:17-29. Herod had mixed emotions about John. He hated being called out for his sin concerning taking his brother’s wife. He was intrigued by John’s message and his person. But Herod was a political creation, called a king but only exercising authority from Rome and Caesar. His job, like that of Pilate, was to keep the peace. To maintain order so that the taxes flowed into the Roman treasury.
That is the vice Herodias, the real villain of the story, used to force Herod into executing John the Baptist. Herodias was the former wife of Phillip the Tetrarch, whom John had spoken against. Herodias’s daughter danced before Herod. Knowing this would please Herod, she instructed the daughter, when asked, to request the head of John the Baptist. Because of the public nature of the king’s offer before those in attendance, he couldn’t refuse without risking his standing in Rome’s court.
So, when news of Jesus about the crowds and miracles reached Herod, his guilty conscience answered. This must be John raised to life again. He was wrong, of course. And that is where things get interesting for us.
How much of what we understand about Jesus is often driven by our experiences instead of seeking after the real Jesus? There are people who have only encountered judgmental Christians, so their view of Jesus is twisted. Others see Jesus through the lens of religion and the activities and traditions of the church. Perhaps we feel God let us down somehow, which twists our view of Jesus. The list of lenses we put between ourselves and Jesus is endless.
Jesus is who He says he is. What we think, believe, or imagine doesn’t change that. In the end, “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” (Philippians 2:10, CSB) Our picture of Jesus will always be incomplete in some ways. As we abide in Him, and He (and His word) abides in us, our understanding of who Jesus is becomes clearer. Who is He to you?
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