Jump Start # 415 

Mark 6:21-22 “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.” 

  Birthdays—I was thinking about them. Someone I know is having a birthday. There are only two “birthday parties” that we read about in the Bible. Pharaoh had one back in Genesis. At his party the butler was released from prison and the baker was hung.

  The other birthday party is where our verse comes from—it’s Herod’s. He gives a banquet, someone dances before him, he offers her whatever she wants. Now the text doesn’t give us the details, but I don’t think it’s stretching things to make these assumptions. Herod wasn’t a nice man. He was base and immoral. History shows that. We can expect that there was a lot of drinking at this banquet. Then Herodias’ daughter comes and dances before these drunken men—we can expect that she wasn’t a cute little ten-year-old who has gone to dance classes, but rather old enough to be provocative, suggestive, and sensual. Why else would he make an oath to give her anything she wanted?

  As the story continues, she asks her mother and the request is made to behead the prophet John, better known as John the Baptist. He was in prison because he rebuked Herod’s marriage to Herodias. She was married to Philip and Herod took her. It was wrong. John told them. He was thrown into prison, and now on Herod’s birthday he is executed.

  There are lessons here.

1. A “strategic day” is no reason to do wrong. It’s a birthday…it’s a holiday…we are on vacation…what happens in Mexico, or Vegas or any other place is no reason to do wrong. People think that it is. Sometimes God’s people think that way. It’s our anniversary…we are in Europe… and they use those occasions to do things they would never do any other time. Is that good thinking? Is this where wisdom leads us? Interesting, two birthday parties found in the Bible and someone is killed at both of them. Temptation knocks wherever you are. There is no place that is free from Satan. He’ll be at your vacation spot, he’ll be at the meeting at work, he’ll be waiting for you when you get home—he’s everywhere. Peter says to “be sober, be on the alert” he prowls like a lion seeking…seeking you! Don’t help Satan by excusing wrong behavior because it is a special day.

2. Booze and lust can make a person not think straight, nor reason wisely. What a terrible combination but one that is so common. People who are shy and reserved become a different person when given enough drinks. It is this recipe that is found on so many college campuses. Binge drinking is a real problem. The sex follows. Young people who are away from home, experience things for the first time that has the potential of messing up the rest of their life. Some begin a regular pattern of drinking in college and it follows them, ruining relationships, health, and the good that God intended for them to do. Parents of college kids need to warn them about the problems of alcohol on the campus. It is serious.

3. God allows the righteous to suffer. That’s the hardest lesson here. Herod is wicked fool. He kills some of his own family members because he is jealous. He is heartless and living without God. It shows. John sits in a prison. He did no wrong. He is fearless and courageous for speaking out about the king’s immoral marriage. He will now die. God doesn’t intervene. The good dying at the hands of the wicked. The good dying for something that is right. The wicked crushing the righteous. It’s not right. These things mess with our faith. We think God ought to step in and do something. He does sometimes. Remember the fiery furnace or Daniel in the lion’s den? But other times He doesn’t. John knew that he must decrease and Jesus increase. This was a means of doing this.

  The righteous live in a world with the base and immoral. In many ways they are the swine. Jesus said in his sermon not to cast the pearls before the swine. The pearls are of value and importance. A pig doesn’t know that. A pig has no appreciation for the finer things in life. A pig is a pig. It’s hard to imagine, but there are people who have no appreciation for what God has done for them. They have no love for God’s word. Given the choice, they’d rather be at a drunken party where women may be immodest and immoral than praising God in worship. Lot’s soul was “vexed” everyday by the ungodly behavior of the people of Sodom.

  Some things are not right. Some things do not make sense. And at the top of the list must be sinful behavior. God’s people must continue on. We’re marching to Zion. Pray for all. Let your light shine where you can. Don’t be overly “vexed” and keep your eyes on Jesus. Someday this will be over. Someday we will surround the throne. Someday we will be in Heaven.

Roger