Mark 6:17,18 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.
Amongst the beatitudes we read, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12). John the baptizer paid the ultimate price of persecution and righteousness because he rebuked Herod for his ungodly and immoral relationship with Herodias. The Lord Jesus told the suffering saints in Smyrna, “… be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10) Those who born twice will only die once. John will receive the crown of life.
The other man in our study of Mark 6:14-29 is King Herod. He was anything but godly. He was an immoral man, who was ruled by his passion instead of his conscience. Herod had John beheaded at the bequest of his step daughter Salome, who was influenced by her wicked mother Herodias, who had it in for John because he had the audacity to say that her relationship with Herod was ungodly and against the moral law of God. Unless there was an act of God that brought Herod to saving faith in Jesus Christ, he, like all who reject the gospel of Jesus Christ, will be lost for all eternity, for those who are only born once, will die twice.
May writer and reader alike be amongst those who can say, “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:20,21)
