Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon on Mark 6:7-30.
“For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an
holy….” (Mark 6:20).
“And immediately the king sent an executioner… and he went
and beheaded him in the prison” (Mark 6:27).
“And… his disciples… came and took up his corpse, and laid it
in a tomb” (Mark 6:29).
The Gospel of Mark begins with the ministry of John the Baptist
as the forerunner of Christ. He prepares the way before the Lord, a voice
crying in the wilderness (Mark 1:2-3).
In Mark 1:13, the Evangelist notes the context for Christ beginning
his public preaching ministry, “Now after that John was put in prison….”
It is not until Mark 6 that the Evangelist relays what had
happened to John (Mark 6:14-29). He died as a righteous martyr at the hands of
wicked King Herod Antipas. Just as John was the forerunner of Christ’s public
ministry, he is also his forerunner in death. The looming shadow of the cross
falls across Mark 6.
Parallels might be drawn between John the Baptist and Lord
Jesus Christ. This comparison is always from the lesser (John) to the greater
(Christ).
Even
wicked Herod knew John was great man, a godly man. He feared him as a man just
and holy (6:20).
Beyond John, however, we see someone greater, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the standard of righteousness and holiness.
John was a great prophet and servant of God.
Christ is our Prophet, Priest, and King, and the
Son of God made flesh.
John stood before wicked Herod to be sentenced to
death by him.
Christ stood before Pontius Pilate and this same Herod
and was sentenced to be crucified, even though there was no sin in him.
John was beheaded. It was a gruesome way to die,
no doubt, but considered by the ancients, at the least, to bring a relatively sudden
end.
Christ was crucified. He died a death of
prolonged and intense suffering. This was the death of a slave and a criminal.
John gave his disciples a godly example. John’s death might even have been an inspiration to them. We read of men who continued to follow him until they became Christians like Apollos of Corinth (Acts 18:24-25) and the twelve young men of Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7).
Christ did something greater for his true
disciples. He died for their sins. It is indeed outrageous for a righteous and holy man
like John to be killed by a wicked man like Herod, but how much more so that Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God, died on the cross at the hands of wicked men. His life and death was something more. He took upon him our sin. This included our failure to keep the law,
our brokenness, our failures in marriage, our lust, our adultery, our pride,
our rash vows, our murders, and all the other sins just as grave as those
committed even by wicked Herod. Christ
still has men who leave all behind to follow him. He still sends them out to
make disciples, baptize, and teach in his name.
John’s lifeless body was placed in a tomb by his
disciples, and his remains are still somewhere today.
Christ’s body was placed in the tomb by his
disciples, but the third day the stone was found rolled away, because he had
risen from the dead.
John was a great man, a martyr. Christ is our
Great Mediator, the God-man, not a martyr. He not only died on the cross, but
he was gloriously raised to life, appeared to his disciples, ascended, and he
is coming again.
To him be all praise, glory, and power!
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
