Tertullian, who lived as a Christian preacher and theologian in the second century, is credited with the expression, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” He wrote this phrase in a treatise which he sent to the governors of the Roman Empire, in to hope to quell the persecution of the early Christians. What he was basically saying is that the blood of Christians is a seed which multiplies the converts to Christianity, so rather than their persecution stopping Christianity, it causes the church to flourish.

That’s a counterintuitive thing to consider, that persecution makes the church stronger, not weaker. But a study of the history of the church makes that clear. Jesus said that the Jews had from ancient times murdered the prophets in His denouncement of the Pharisees and scribes and that such persecution would continue. He said in Matthew 23:29, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been [living] in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in [shedding] the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure [of the guilt] of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall [the guilt of] all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.”

Today we are looking at the account of yet another prophet of God that was martyred for the sake of the gospel. John the Baptist was considered the greatest prophet that ever lived up to Jesus Christ. And yet in the wisdom and providence of God, He allowed one of His greatest servants to be decapitated at the whim of a hateful, spiteful woman. And of course, we know that not long after this event, they crucified Jesus, the greatest prophet, the Lord God Incarnate. We also know that of His twelve apostles, eleven of them were martyred for their faith. And yet the church of Jesus Christ continued to multiply, to grow and spread so that it was said that from this tiny seed of the apostles, the gospel had spread throughout the entire world.

Now Mark’s account of the death of John the Baptist does not lend itself very well to a three point outline, but our purpose is to preach the word and let God take care of the application of it. But I think there are some instructive points that we can take from it as we work through it.

Let’s pick it up in vs 14, “And King Herod heard [of it,] for His name had become well known; and [people] were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” The context demands that we must connect this verse to the preceding verses which describe the ministry that the apostles were doing as the emissaries of Christ.

In the preceding passage which we looked at last week, Jesus had sent His disciples throughout Galilee two by two, to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom and had given them authority to cast out demons and perform miracles. The gospel of the kingdom is that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One from God, the King of the Kingdom of God, and that by believing in Him, and believing His word, you would be saved from the wrath to come.

And the apostles were so successful in their ministry, that King Herod heard of it. He heard of the mighty works that were being done in the power of Jesus’ name. Perhaps Herod perceives this as threat to his own power and position as king. However, Herod was not really a king. He wants to be a king, and the people under him refer to him as king, but in actuality he is the tetrarch, which is more like a governor of Galilee.

This Herod is actually one of four sons of Herod the Great, the same Herod that was king when Jesus was born. You will remember that bloodthirsty tyrant had all the Jewish baby boys murdered who were under the age of two, in an attempt to put Jesus to death, because he was worried that Jesus might be a threat to his throne.

That same bloodthirsty, demented type of personality seems to have been passed on to his sons as well. Herod the Great had many sons with many wives, but upon his death his domain was split into four sections, with each section being ruled by one of his sons. The King Herod we are looking at today was one of his sons, whose name was actually Herod Antipas. He was the ruler over Galilee, but each of these four sons answered to the emperor of Rome. They had very little power and authority other than what was extended to them by the emperor. So even though Mark calls him king, which was the popular title, Herod was not really a true sovereign in the full sense of the word.

But when he hears about Jesus’ ministry and mighty works, his guilty imagination wonders if it’s possible that John the Baptist, whom he had put to death, had come back from the dead and now possessed supernatural powers. Vs.15 But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “[He is] a prophet, like one of the prophets [of old.]” But when Herod heard [of it,] he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

So everyone was speculating about Jesus, some saying He was Elijah, who was prophesied in Malachi to come before the coming of the Messiah to turn the people’s hearts toward the Lord. Others thought that some great prophet of old had come back to life. But Herod thinks it’s John the Baptist, whom he had beheaded.

Then in vs 17 Mark recounts how it came about that Herod had beheaded John the Baptist. Vs17 “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. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not [do so;] for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.”

A little background on Herod’s marital situation might help us understand what was going on here. Herod had a brother named Philip, actually he had two brothers named Philip. But one was in Rome who had taken a wife who was the daughter of another mother but was technically his sister. So Herod Antipas came to visit, he has an affair with his brother’s wife and the two agree to divorce their spouses so they can get married. And that’s what they do.

But everyone knows about it, and everyone knows that it was wrong. John the Baptist somehow has an opportunity to preach to Herod, presumably with his new wife Herodius there with him, and he denounces Herod for taking his brother’s wife in an adulterous and incestuous relationship. John doesn’t refer to Herodius as Herod’s wife but as Philips wife. He said, “”It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

You know, it’s entirely appropriate for a preacher to call out sin, and to call sin, sin. It’s not popular, and people might get offended by it, but that is what God has commissioned us to do. If people don’t come to understand that they are lost, that they are sinners, then they will have no need for salvation.

But for the most part, people are not sorry for their sin when you confront them with it, but they end up hating you for telling them they are sinners. That’s the response you see so often in our culture today. They don’t want to think that what they want to do is sinful, and so they hate those who say that it is sin. Herodius has that same response towards John the Baptist. Mark says she had it in for him, and wanted to kill him. That’s the same response that the Pharisees had towards Jesus. They plotted to kill Him. And Herodius wants to kill John the Baptist but she lacks opportunity. But finally she convinced her husband to arrest John and put him in prison.

Mark says Herod her husband was afraid of John the Baptist. I actually wonder who he was most afraid of. I believe he was more afraid of his wife. But he is afraid of John because he knows that John is a prophet of God, that he is a righteous and holy man. And so he kept him safe in his prison. And by some accounts, he was probably kept in prison for about a year.

That was probably longer or just as long as John had been in ministry. That’s one of the hardest things for me to understand about the wisdom of God. That God allows His prophets and preachers to often undergo incarceration or something like that for a long time, when it would seem to us that it would serve the kingdom purposes much better if that man of God were able to continue in ministry. I think of Joseph, who spent 13 years in prison. Or Moses, who lived in exile in the wilderness for 40 years. Or the Apostle Paul, who spent most of his final years of ministry in prison. Or the Apostle John who was exiled on the isle of Patmos. It doesn’t make sense to us, but in the wisdom of God, it must somehow serve His purposes.

A couple of interesting things though happened while John was in prison. One was his disciples were able to visit him. And the other interesting thing was that he regularly preached to Herod. Of course, Herod’s court, his government officials, would have also been that audience. God doesn’t just want the gospel preached to those who will repent, but also to those who won’t repent. And that is so that they will have no excuse. Contrary to what those who hold an extreme view of the doctrine of election might teach, God desires everyone to be saved.

1Tim. 2:3-4 says, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And another passage in 2Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

So God wants the gospel preached to everyone, but of course, not everyone will come to repentance. In fact, not many will come to repentance. And one of the reasons is that they don’t see their sin as sinful. We might read between the lines and assume that perhaps Herod had some remorse about his sin. His conscience bothered him about it. Mark says he enjoyed listening to John but greatly disturbed. But not so with Herodius. She just became more prideful and more hateful and wanted to add to her sin by killing John the Baptist.

Well her desire to kill John gave birth to a plot to kill John, and then one day came a strategic opportunity to bring her plan to pass. Vs.21 “A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee; and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said 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 half of my kingdom.” And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” And although the king was very sorry, [yet] because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded [him] to bring [back] his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison.”

Herod threw a birthday party for himself. That shows some of the extent of his vanity. He invites all the dignitaries of Galilee, all the military commanders and all the lords in his realm. it’s the equivalent of a state dinner which he throws in his honor. And when they had eaten their fill and were drunk with wine, the daughter of Herodius came out and dance for them. This was really a depraved situation. I think Herodius was complicit in sending out her daughter to dance for these men. It would have been a men only dinner. And she was probably only a teenager, who danced provacatively and was more than likely at least partially undressed. She’s not Herod’s true daughter, but his niece. However such a family relationship was not ever a hindrance for the Herod’s. They seemed to have no problem with incest.

Herod and his guests are obviously pleased with the girl’s dance. And perhaps because of his illicit desire or intoxication or both, he makes a foolish offer to the girl. He says whatever you want I will give you, even up to half the kingdom. It was foolish because he really didn’t have a kingdom to give. But perhaps he meant it monetarily.

But the girl begs leave of the king, in order to speak to her mother. And that’s another reason why I think Herodius was behind it all along. Herodius is watching and waiting in the wings. Salome goes to her mother what shall I ask for? And her mother said, “the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” She wants John’s decapitated head served to her on a plate. This was not only a hateful woman, but a barbaric one. No wonder Herod was afraid of her.

And Herod, weak, fearful man that he was, immediately did what she demanded. He was afraid of what she might do, and what his dinner guests might think if he didn’t fulfill her demand. I guess in some respects that’s what we would call peer pressure today. I can’t help but wonder how many people ended up in hell because they were afraid of peer pressure.

You know, it’s not cool today to be a Christian. The culture thinks eastern religions are cool. If you’re into transcendental meditation or Zen or some sort of spiritism, then that’s cool. You can talk about it all you want. You can openly try to convert people to your philosophy and that’s acceptable. But if you believe in the God of the Bible, if you believe in the gospel of salvation, then you’re a kook or worse, you’re a fascist. At the very least you will be ostracized from society. And I think the day is coming soon when you will be imprisoned for believing in and speaking about the gospel. It’s already happening in Canada and Western Europe and it’s starting to happen in America.

Well, Herod sent an executioner to the prison cell of John the Baptist and he had him decapitated and his head brought to to Herodius on a platter. He went against his conscience and against God in order to save face in front of his wife and peers, but in so doing he condemned his soul to eternal hell.

What about John though? What must have he been thinking as he went through this ordeal? How unjust must he have thought this whole thing was working out. I wonder if he expected God to deliver him at the last moment as God had done with Daniel or other prophets. I wonder if he was disappointed in God that after all he had done for the Lord, the Lord would let him die in such miserable circumstances. After all, the bad people seemed to win. Evil seemed to win over good. Doesn’t God care?

Well the Bible teaches us that in heaven we will receive rewards commensurate with our works here on earth. Jesus gave a parable explaining that principle in which he said in Matt. 25:21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’”

John the Baptist was faithful unto death. And he will receive a martyr’s reward, which I think will be the highest reward given in heaven. I’m reminded of Jesus’s last message to the 7 churches in Revelation. And he said to the church of Smyrna, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

John was faithful unto death and he entered into his eternal reward. I hope that we do not count the temporary pleasures of this world as worth holding onto, or the acclaim of friends as more important, and thus end up rejecting Jesus Christ. I hope that we are willing to follow the example of the prophets and the apostles, that we might declare as Paul did, saying in Phil. 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9\ and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from [the] Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which [comes] from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

I don’t believe that John the Baptist was doubting the goodness or fairness or justice of God when he knelt to receive the axe upon his neck. But I think he was rejoicing that he had been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. John had said to his disciples earlier, that “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

God has purposed in HIs divine wisdom that as the children of God, we should share in the sufferings of Christ, that we might be exalted in heaven. Rom 8:16-18 says, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with [Him.] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”