ONEFAMILY Outreach

ONEFamily Outreach exists to "Connect Kids to Community and Communities to Kids."

Have you considered having a mission week for your church? This is one of my favorite "in-depth" ways of reaching out with the Great News of Jesus Christ. Activities can include:

  • Interactive and participative praise concerts for children, youth, and families;
  • Morning staff studies on Servant Leadership
  • Soup lunches for the community with a gospel-study focusing on our scriptural call to justice;
  • In-service for your volunteers or teachers on reaching today's youth and families with the vibrant, living, message of Jesus Christ;
  • Evening parent seminar on "Significant Conversations: The 21-conversations you want to have with your child before they leave home";
  • Local networking with other groups to talk about starting a "Character-Based Mentoring Program" for at-risk youth in your area;
  • Humorous and thought-provoking assembly for local schools (secular or religious).

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“Herod Was Afraid”

Mark 6:14-29

Proper 10B

Mark 6:14-29 

[Mk 6:14] 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.” [15] But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” [16] But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

[17] 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. [18] For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” [19] Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so; [20] 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. [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; [22] 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.” [23] And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.” [24] And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” [25] 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.” [26] And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. [27] Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison, [28] and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. [29] When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb. (NAS)

Study Overview for July 13th, 2003

[Mark 6:26] And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her.

Herod the Great was a malevolent man.  It was said of him that it was better to be his pigs than his sons (because - as a Jew - he would not eat his pigs).  He killed his own sons if they threatened his throne and the one’s that were left (including Philip and Herod Antipas) were conniving, weak rulers who seemed bent to rob scraps from Rome from each other.

Herod Antipas - the focus of this story - was a sniveling overseer of a quarter of his father’s region who saw the only purpose of his rule.  Under his nose the focal point of history assembled and his response was to behead the Messiah’s prophet and to mock the Messiah himself.

It would have been one thing to commit such heinous acts out of determined hatred or threat to his rule (as when Herod the Great wiped out the children of Bethlehem).  Yet, Antipas killed and mocked God’s Messengers because he feared what other people might say.

I can not look at Antipas and detest him for his weak-willed behavior.  Instead, I look at myself and am embarrassed at the many times I have made decisions - not based on my love for Christ - but based upon my desired to be liked or accepted. 

Forgive me, Jesus.

Herod Antipas was given a little power for a short period of time.  Yet, within that time the history of humankind collided.  Forever Antipas will be remembered for knowing that something special was happening in his very presence; yet, he gave the moment away in lust for his niece/stepdaughter and in fear over what others would say.

“Oh Lord, please save us from the Antipas within us all.”

Mark 6:14-16 

[Mk 6:14] 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.” [15] But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” [16] But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!” (NASB)

And People Were Saying 

I love what Matthew Henry once stated about these verses: “Where there is idle faith, there is commonly a working fancy.”1 What Mark portrays for us is a world unable to explain the miraculous when it appears in their very presence.  In their idle chatter and unwillingness to accept the claims of Christ they instead attempt to make Jesus fit their own fancies. 

1.       The people of Nazareth chose to see Jesus as Joseph’s illegitimate son; they were blinded by their pride. 

2.       Herod chose to see Jesus as John the Baptist returned from the dead; he was blinded by his guilt. 

3.       Others saw Jesus as Elijah or an Old Testament prophet; they were blinded by the law.

Why didn’t they just go to the source and ask plainly, “Who are you?”  Instead of talking to Jesus, they talked about him. Is my relationship with Jesus based on speculation and idle fancy or have I gone right to the Master?

Our Jesus is faithful; he will reveal himself at ever-deepening levels if we just ask him for revelation:

Matthew 7:7-8

[Mt 7:7] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Mark 6:17-28 

[17] 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. [18] For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” [19] Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so; [20] 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. [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; [22] 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.” [23] And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.” [24] And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” [25] 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.” [26] And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. [27] Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison, [28] and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. (NASB)

Herod Himself   

One of the greatest services Mark does for us in this “oh, by the way” story of Herod is to compare the capriciousness of human authority with the consistency of God’s power.

The Herod that is spoken of in this reading is a son of Herod the Great, a cruel and hated despot who oversaw the entire Palestinian region.  When Herod the Great died (in 4 B.C.); Rome split his region into four areas and Rome placed the Northwest area of Galilee under the rule of Herod Antipas.

Herod the Great was a maniacal manipulator of whom the Romans said; “It is better to be one of Herod’s pigs than one of his sons.”  This was both an insult to Herod as well as the Judaism he practiced by convenience, for while (as a Jew) he would not touch a pig, he had no difficulty killing his own sons if they moved too close to his throne

Antipas was the cowering survivor who outlived his father.  A brief study of his character reveals that he maintained his position not with strength but by appeasement and manipulation.  The historian, Josephus, tells how he won his seat by sniveling before Rome and later lost it in like manner.  Scripture tells us that he stole his half-brother’s wife (she was also his cousin) and appeased her by sinking to her frivolous whims while simultaneously lusting for his stepdaughter (who was also his niece).  What a contrast this man was to the daring and committed John the Baptist whom Antipas ordered beheaded.  What a sad excuse for the use of authority compared to the power of Jesus Christ’s love, whom Antipas scorned and mocked in the mid-morning hours of our Lord’s crucifixion.

This is the story of one of the greatest juxtapositions in the whole bible: The Herald of the Lord sacrificed for the whims of a deceitful woman and her spineless husband.  It is a story at the vortex of human suffering in which we are sucked into when we choose to live by deceit and manipulation instead of service and love.

Perhaps the most revealing fact in this story is this: “Self-importance is the greatest enemy of community.”

As we study this reading, let us ask God for the ways in which we strive for self-importance instead of self-sacrifice. Let us abandon our lives completely for his sake that our communities might have leaders who model the leadership of Christ’s command: “But the greatest among you shall be your servant [Matthew 23:11].”

If you have time this week, read Chapter 3 of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Perhaps no letter in the world better describes the humility that empowers community than this letter in which Paul states:

Ephesians 3:8a

8 To me, the very least of all saints…

Human Rulers

Herod provides us with a sorrowful example of a human ruler at his worst.  It gives us a stark contrast to the reign of God.  Yet, it also shows us how God can use even a despot to his own ends.  Herod Antipas played a key role in both the deaths of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.  Herod believed that the play of life revolved around his obsessive lusts; little did he know that he was merely a bit-part in a drama much wider than his greedy paradigm could envision.

Let’s contrast the rule of Herod, with the reign of our Lord, Jesus.

1.       Antipas sought only to promote himself;

His rule did nothing to further his own people.  He left them subservient and downtrodden pawns while he himself lived in luxury.

2.       Antipas had no vision and lived a reactionary life;

Antipas stayed alive in his father’s house by both hiding from and reacting to his father’s whims. It must have been a precarious existence.  As an adult, Antipas continued to react to the whims of those around him (Rome, Herodias, Salome).  Herod’s vision was limited to reaction and avoidance of Rome. His modus operandi for leadership was to get what he wanted without getting caught. That is perhaps, the greatest temptation of power—one Jesus was accustomed to—Satan himself used the same temptation on our Lord in the wasteland of Gehenna.

3.       Antipas was ruled by his own lusts;

Herod sold out the prophet of the Messiah for his own illicit lusts!  First, Herod arrested John because he confronted Herod’s wife publicly with her sinfulness.  Then, Herod killed John because of a promise made to his step-daughter in front of his associates and military leaders.  Herod’s agenda was dictated by lust and pride.  His power was limited by his avarice. 

The inability to control immediate gratification is one of the most limiting factors in life.  The less we can control our desires the more enslaved we are by the present and the immediate and the less we will be available to God.

4.       Antipas would do anything for respect and wound up respected by no one;

Antipas killed John the Baptist because he worried about what his guests would think if he reneged on his lustful promise to his niece/stepdaughter.  However, Herod’s associate’s only respected what they feared and only craved what they didn’t possess.  The truth is that leaders like Herod are never respected by their overseers and peers or by their underlings and subjects.  Like crocodiles in a muddy river, Herod’s associates respected whoever was the strongest and fed on whoever was the weakest.

5.       Antipas over-inflated himself and promised what he could not deliver;

Herod promised his stepdaughter/niece up to half of his entire kingdom.  Herod was grossly overstating his position for he actually had no kingdom of his own.  He managed Galilee at the whim of Rome.  To promise any part of “his” kingdom would be like a man selling a rental car.  Any of Herod’s guests would recognize that he was either drunk with lust and self-importance or taking advantage of his stepdaughter.  His pride and stupidity failed as Herodias, Herod’s own wife, used his lusts for her own daughter to publicly demand the immediate execution of John the Baptist.  Trapped by his own belligerence, Salome’s abrupt request forced Herod to do something that haunted him for the rest of his life.

This is power according to the world. It is a spider web of manipulation; of peers using peers, associates and leaders using each other, and even family members maneuvering each other. This is the forever that Satan offers his followers.

6.       Herod Antipas killed the only man who would tell him the truth;

Herod was intrigued by John’s message and power; which is as close as a man like Herod could come to experiencing a sense of respect.  He feared John for his boldness, yet admired John for his authenticity.  To Herod (as with Pontius Pilate), truth was relative to political correctness; if the actual truth was politically inconvenient than it was the truth that would have to change, not his beliefs. 

Conversely, John spoke in absolute truth with scripture and the Holy Spirit as his foundation.  Truth did not change for him merely because it was inconvenient.  John told the truth about Herod and Herodias.  Neither of them was formally divorced and they were first cousins, their marriage was wrong on multiple accounts. John inconveniently and publicly challenged the two on their sin.  Herodias would not stand for John’s public tongue-lashing but the best she could do was force Herod to arrest John.  Herod would publicly silence John but he could not bring himself to kill a man he suspected might actually be a prophet.

It is clear that Herodias never let go of her hatred and then, even used her own daughter to avenge her wounded pride.  This royal family was not bound by love but by manipulation and deceit.  Where there is no truth, there is only deceit.  Where there is inconsistency in character, there is only sickness in relationships. Our households, churches, and nations will not be healthy as long as we have a relative truth.

7.       Finally, Herod Antipas left no legacy and was stripped of power and title before dying a miserable death in exile.

Herod’s life is a story of tragedy and sorrow; it is the story of a man who was given some power for a short span of humanity but who used it only to his own gain.  It is the story of a man who was eaten by his own lusts and died worthless and forgotten. Remembered by history only as a model of depravity.

In the end, Herod Antipas was deposed by the Emperor Caligula who took back Herod’s title and wealth and sent him into exile in the mountains of Spain.  There, Antipas died in disgrace and poverty; haunted by the bloodguilt of both a prophet and a savior.

Herod models a life of avarice.  It is tragic to have so much and yet use it only for personal gain.  Herod ended his life as a bitter and angry man, blaming others for his tragedies and weeping over a life of “what-if’s.”  Herod is an example of a man who started to forge his own hell while on earth, never availing himself of God’s intimate offer of salvation even though salvation was close enough for him to physically embrace.

The Power of Jesus 

1.   Jesus lived only to serve God;

Satan tempted our Lord with immediate gratification, popularity and worldly rule; Christ rejected them all choosing instead to lay his complete trust in God.  Only when we give up our selfish desires do we become available to Christ.

2.   Jesus lived a visionary life and others had to respond to him;

When someone lives by a vision they are not victims of the immediate or the inconsequential.  They are far less likely to ‘react’ to the actions or whims of others and far more likely to live in such a way that others must instead respond to their lead.  Is my day ruled by the whims of others and daily circumstances or am I directed by the vision of God’s call?

3.   Jesus did not seek human respect he demanded a response of intense love… or hatred;

A person stands out as a visional leader if the way they live demands a response from others.  You can never be too comfortable around a saint or a prophet for their lives demand a response.  Those who follow Christ intensely do not pander to casual conversation about sports figures or lewd jokes; they do not attempt to ‘fit in’.  Christian leaders stand out as different - not by belligerence but humility, service and honesty.  They have an intense mission and drive and feel pressed to accomplish all they can in the time that God has given them.

4.   Jesus made himself into a servant and was vividly clear about the rewards and costs of being his follower;

Jesus never left his disciples - or his opponents - doubtful about his mission.  He explicitly informed them of both the rewards for following him and the costs of that decision.  He told people that there was nothing harder than following him, that it would demand everything, and that it might lead to contempt and even death.  Yet, he modeled a life that exemplified the intense and unwavering joy that comes from devotion to God.  It was not a life of giddy laughter and frivolity; it was a life of devotion to a cause - a life of intense trials and substantial rewards.

5.   Jesus never wavered from the truth as found in Scripture and under the direction of the Holy Spirit;

Herod could not tolerate truth because it clashed with the way that he lived.  However, a Christian leader constantly seeks truth as based in the example of Christ and the heart of scripture.  If the way that a leader lives is not in agreement with scriptural truth; than the leader changes their behavior - he or she does not attempt to change the truth when it is inconvenient.

6.   Jesus could not be manipulated because his center was in God and not himself;

Throughout Jesus’ life there were multiple attempts to prompt him to change his mission.  First there was Satan in the wilderness, then there was Nicodemus, Peter (when Christ turned towards Jerusalem) and Pontius Pilate (who offered Christ freedom if he would just tone down his message).  However, Jesus could not be manipulated because this world held nothing that he desired.  All that he longed for was in the hands of God - and man could not offer him that reward.  The person who seeks only to please God cannot be manipulated by man.  When one chooses humility in service to God all of life comes together to take him or her closer and closer to salvation.

Psalm 86:11-13

11   Teach me Thy way, O LORD; I will walk in Thy truth; Unite my heart to fear Thy name.

12   I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Thy name forever.

13   For Thy lovingkindness toward me is great, and Thou hast delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. (NAS)

7.   Jesus never left anyone behind.

Jesus lived the model of scriptural leadership.  Since the days of Abraham and through John’s last letter to the churches the measure of scriptural leadership is to leave no weary one behind.  While our culture measures leadership as how ‘far ahead we can get’; God’s model of leadership is measured by compassion for the lost and weak. 

Sadly, our economic system is measured by the creation of wealth and not the alleviation of poverty.  Even our churches are often measured by the size of their membership as opposed to the effectiveness of their outreach.  Yet, our God has a radically different standard by which to measure success:

Isaiah 40:1

[40:1] “Comfort, oh comfort my people,” says your God. (NAS)

Mark 6:29

[29] When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

When his disciples heard

John had many followers who had been attracted to his laser-sharp vision and his radical response to God (which was modeled by a lifestyle liberated from worldly needs).  We know that some of John’s disciples immediately followed Jesus the moment John pointed at Jesus and said; “Behold the Lamb of God.” [John 1:36]

Still other disciples of John seemed to be confused about Christ’s role (as we see when they ask Jesus on behalf of John if he is truly the Messiah [Luke 7:20-22]).  We also know that—following his death—a sect formed around John the Baptist that focused on his austere lifestyle and the ritual of baptism, but not on the Lord.

All of this tells us that even our best desires to follow the truth can be misdirected if they do not lead us to serve Christ.  It is sorrowful to think of these disciples of John who came so close to the truth and yet were instead caught up in the rituals of John the Baptist. Instead of finding the joy of relationship with Jesus Christ, they found a life of strict rules and asceticism for asceticism’s sake. Austerity, devotion, and piety are irrelevant if they only lead us to ritual and not to the object of John’s dedication.

I am a firm believer in the habits of prayer yet, how often I have seen ritual take precedence over relationship with God.  Ritual had often become a God in itself.  The means can become the end and the end can be completely forgotten.  Let’s make sure that all of our rituals draw us closer to Christ and not more into mere ritualism or even asceticism for its own sake.  Let Christ be the aspiration behind all of our actions.

Youth Supplement

“What shall I ask for?” - Mark 6:24

Salome was a young teenager in an emotionally sick household.  Her grandfather was Herod the Great who ordered the slaughter of all the babies in Bethlehem in order to try and kill the infant Jesus.  Herod the Great was known for following the rituals of his faith while killing off his own sons if they became too powerful. 

Salome’s real father was Herod the Great’s son, Philip, who inherited a quarter of his father’s kingdom to manage for Rome when his much-hated father died.  However Salome’s mother, Herodias, left Phillip and ran away with his brother, Herod Antipas.  Here is where the whole thing gets really weird; for Herod Antipas was the first cousin of Herodias, both were already married and neither divorced their spouse to wed the other.  That made Herod Antipas both the illegitimate stepfather and the uncle of Salome.  If you think that is weird, read on!

Herod Antipas threw a party for his military leaders and associates and—for entertainment—he had his own step-daughter/niece do an indecent dance in front of them.  Now, it gets even worse!

To say that Antipas had bad intentions and the inability to control his urges would be an understatement.  However, in addition to being weak-willed, he was also a liar who overestimated his own place in the world. He publicly promised his stepdaughter up to half of his kingdom for her dance.  The problem was that Herod Antipas actually had no kingdom.  He managed the property for Rome; he had no personal ownership over the territory whatsoever.  To make such a promise to Salome was extreme arrogance at its worst.  It would be like giving your parent’s car to someone you were just trying to impress.  He promised what he did not own.

Salome had no idea what to ask her Uncle/Step-Father for, she may not even have known that she was being manipulated by both her mother and her stepfather.  So Salome went to her mother—who was as emotionally crippled as her stepfather—and asks; “What shall I ask for?”

Salome’s mother uses her daughter’s to satisfy a personal grudge.  John the Baptist had confronted Antipas and Herodias publicly and she wanted him dead for embarrassing her with his prophetic honesty.  Herodias uses her own daughter to ask for the head of the Messiah’s prophet!

Salome never really stood a chance.  She was a pawn in a larger game of deceit and indecency.  Sadly, I meet a lot of young people who can identify with Salome.  Their lives feel so out-of-control under the oppressive hands of abuse or neglect.  They often make sorrowful choices to get the attention that they would otherwise never receive.

Do you think that John the Baptist hated Salome for what she did?  Do you think that Jesus would have condemned her?

I don’t.

Everything that I read about our Lord and our God tells me how much he loves the lost, the abandoned, and the abused.  He would leave 99 sheep in someone else’s care to find one that is lost.

Matthew 18:12-14

[Matt 18:12] “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? [13] “And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. [14] “Thus it is not {the} will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”

Perhaps you know someone like Salome.  Perhaps you might feel like her at times.  You might feel like your life is out of your control and that you are used by those around you.  There is an eternal promise given to Salome that her parents never gave her… but Jesus does.  “I will seek you, I will scour the mountains until I find you.  My little lamb, I will bring you home!”

Going Deeper

1.                  There are many people like Salome in our schools and even our churches.  Do you know how to help them if they confide in you?

2.                  Ask your youth minister to bring in someone who can talk about helping friends who are experiencing abuse.

3.                  Can you find verses in Scripture where Jesus promises to reach out and find the lost?

4.                  Can you find verses in Scripture where Jesus tells us that we must also reach out and find the lost?

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2005 Jerry Goebel. All Rights Reserved.  This study may be freely distributed, as long as it bears the following attribution: Source: Jerry Goebel: 2005 © http://onefamilyoutreach.com.

Scripture taken from God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society original work copyright © 1995.

1 Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition electronic database.  Copyright © 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.

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