GUILT UPON GUILT
King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, ‘John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in Him.’ Others said, ‘He is Elijah.’ And still others claimed, ‘He is a prophet, like one of the prophets long ago.’ But when Herod heard this, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!’ For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he married (Mark 6: 14-17).
What a puzzle Jesus was turning out to be! Deny the truth and you’ll come up with every ridiculous invention you can think of. The evidence was staring these people in the face but their verdicts, every one of them, were ludicrous. Had any one of their prophets ever come back to life years, even centuries, afterwards although many of them had died as violently as John had? Elijah? Oh, as far as they knew Elijah wasn’t dead since he had gone up to heaven in a whirlwind. Perhaps Jesus was Elijah come back or even Enoch since he hadn’t died either. Any other offers?
Herod was the only one who knew for certain that Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead! After all, he was the one who had him killed. He saw his head on a platter. It had to be John because John because it was John who gave it to him straight like the other prophets who were martyred for their honesty. If John could rise from the dead, then he could do the all miracles Jesus/John was doing.
It’s amazing what people will come up with when they refuse to come face to face with the truth. Herod’s guilt screamed at him morning, noon and night. He had silenced John and now John had come back to haunt him. He thought that, if he shut John up, first in prison, and then in death, his guilt would go away. How wrong he was! Jesus was not John, but He had the same effect on Herod as if He had been John because the truth was inescapable.
For John had been saying to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled, yet he liked to listen to him (Mark 6: 18-20).
If Herod was puzzled about John, what about Herod? He was just like the soil Jesus spoke about – the footpath where the seed fell but never germinated because the ground was too hard. Why did Herod like to listen to John? Did he think that John’s word alone would appease his conscience without his doing anything about it? In the end it was Herodias who ruled Herod. He feared John but he feared Herodias more. What she said went, even if he knew she was wrong.
This is the definition of a fool – one who knows what is right but does wrong anyway. The Bible calls this “a divided heart”. God or me, me and God? And “me” usually wins. We can judge Herod and call him a fool but how often don’t we act just like him. We fear man more than God and follow our fears rather than the truth.
“The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” ― OswaldChambers
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/233515-the-remarkable-thing-about-god-is-that-when-you-fear (retrieved 01/07/2105)
Take the theory of evolution, for example. It is taught in schools and referred to in every natural history programme on television as fact. Really! Has anything ever just “happened” without a designer or creator, say in a car manufacturing plant? A half completed vehicle stands on the floor awaiting the next day’s additions. When the workers arrive, they are surprised to find the buds of wings which began to sprout overnight. How did that happen? Well, the car decided it wanted to be an aeroplane after all. Give it a few million years and it will become a plane.
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? What happens to the car-becoming-a-plane in the meantime? Will it drive on the road or will it fly? What will it do in the interim while it is changing from a car to a plane? After millions of years it will probably be a heap of oxidised metal. What about all the creatures who are supposed to be becoming? Where are they? Why don’t we see some half-way ones, neither this nor that. Even the weirdest and most bizarre creatures function perfectly as they are because they were created that way.
Why have scientists come up with such a ridiculous theory, and why do gullible people believe it? Like Herod, they refuse to face the truth. God is inescapable and, as our Creator, we are accountable to Him. We can kill John, or Jesus, or burn the Bible or make up as many of our own rules as we like, but the truth will just not go away.
In the end we are our own judges. Do away with the truth and we stand condemned by our own fabrication of lies because the truth will still stand when we fall. God has a solution. Change your mind about the truth and give over the Him. He is merciful. He has already provided forgiveness for all our stupidity and rebellion. And He promises real life if we follow Jesus.
Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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