Head On A Platter

Mark 6:14-29
July 12, 2009


This is a tough story
One of those embarrassing stories
that doesn’t often get told in Sunday School
It’s not a G-rated, family-friendly movie
After all, you got lust, you got a drunk politician
who also committed adultery,
you have a vengeful queen
with a sultry daughter who is dancing
for her stepfather and getting his hormones raging
And, you have a good, religious man
in prison for no good reason
who gets executed for no good reason
How DO you explain this one to the kids?

I’m exactly sure why Mark included this story
Unless he’s like my husband
who, when he’s telling one story,
he gets sidetracked, takes a detour
and goes off on a whole nother tangent
until you forget what the original story was …

People are scratching their heads
about who this Jesus person is
who’s wowing the crowds
He’s healing people, he’s blowing them away with his speaking abilities
and he is teaching his disciples to do what he does
and they’re proving to be pretty good at it

So, who is he??
Some say, well, he must a reincarnation of Elijah,
it’s the only explanation
or that John the Baptist himself was raised from the dead
Although, to this point, we didn’t know that John the Baptist was dead
so of course Mark has to take a moment
to explain how it happened….

I have to admit every time I read this story
I get an image of Christopher Plummer
who played King Herod in the movie, “Jesus of Nazereth,”
and I must say that he did a very good job
at convincing us that Herod was a sleaze
He was a weak man in a strong position
He was a powerless man in a position of power
He was yet another politician who acted as if
the common rules of morality did not apply to him

Herod liked John the Baptist
he didn’t know what it was about John that fascinated him
but he liked him
John was passionate,
maybe Herod secretly wished that he could be more like John
passionate in the things that matter
brave, for John was brave
It was like there was a fire inside of him
put there by God
and it drove him to urgently proclaim God’s message
He didn’t seem to have a choice
it was like the message would burn inside of him
if he didn’t get it out
I think it’s true that someone with that amount of unearthly passion,
energy, focus, and drive
tends to be a social outcast
They’re not someone that we usually admire
as someone we want to be like
Most mothers would have prayed
that their sons would not turn out like John
that they wouldn’t even listen to him or follow him
Because a man like that burns out in this world
if the world doesn’t get to him first
and shut him up
John the Baptist knew the danger of his passion
that it could burn him up
He knew that his intense commitment
and his relentless preaching
would ultimately be his demise
because the world does not tolerate that kind of passion well

Maybe Herod envied him
and yet also thanked his lucky stars
that he wasn’t like him
Because Herod was on a throne
and John was in prison

John would never have made it past today’s media scrutiny
he would be torn apart
psychologically analyzed, criticized,
scandalized, and people would start rumors
to explain his bizarre behaviors
What’s with the camel skin?
What’s he trying to do?
And someone said he eats bugs and wild honey
what’s up with that?
Did his mother not properly nurture him as a baby?
Was he beaten as a child?
Is that why he’s so angry??
Back then, they had executioners with sharp axes
today we have the media….

Herod had a birthday party
It was a pretty extravagant birthday party
he invited all of his wealthy, important friends
Well, maybe not friends
but people he couldn’t afford to alienate
The important people whom he had to please
to keep up a good impression with
so they would keep him in power

There was a lot of drinking, dancing, music,
and a lot of food
Herodias, his new bride, who used to be his brother’s wife --
but of course when you’re king,
you can get what you want
and so Herod did
John the Baptist did express his opinion on that, of course
he didn’t like it
but so what, I mean, it’s what politicians do
why couldn’t John just be quiet about it?
Why did he insist on expressing his opinions?

Anyway, Herodias hated John the Baptist
she hated him for his criticism of Herod
for taking her away from her first husband
She wanted him dead
but Herod like John
He was perplexed by his preaching
it made him think
but it didn’t make him change anything
He just liked listening to him
He didn’t want to hurt him
he kept John in prison to make his new wife happy
but he wouldn’t kill John

Ah, but that was before he got drunk at his party
he was full of good food and lots of wine
and there was dancing and music
and he was having a good time
when his step-daughter came in and danced
Apparently it was some dance
for it made the men a little crazy
perhaps it was pretty seductive and provocative
for King Herod and all his important official guests
were mesmerized, spellbound
And in his drunkenness and lust,
Herod dreamily said to the girl,
“Ask me anything and I will give it to you…”
he said, and he couldn’t just keep it at that,
he went on, “Whatever you want, even if it’s half my kingdom,
you may have it..”
He was feeling quite good, quite sauced, you might say

One wonders what kind of relationship
the girl had with her mother
because she knew to take a time-out
and ask her mother what she should ask for
This was a big opportunity, after all,
the king had just sworn an oath
and she couldn’t be small in her request….
Of course, her mother saw an opportunity
to get what she wanted

“Ask for the head of John the Baptist,” her mother said,
her eyes lighting up with the power…
This at last was the queen’s chance at revenge
against that big-mouthed preacher
she’d shut him up forever
and her husband could not argue now
He had given an oath!
And she knew Herod was essentially a weak man
He felt he had to please the people
he had no firm convictions of his own
none that he would give his life for
none that he would even endure any discomfort for
He worked very hard to not displease anyone
to not ever cause controversy
He was not like John the Baptist
and he must have known that
He knew he was a coward
He didn’t have the passion of John
the conviction and commitment of John
Herod was a Jew
but the god he worshipped was the god of empire
of the world, the government, the power
The god of wealth, prestige, domination
Not the God that seemed to drive John the Baptist with purpose
When the beautiful girl came to Herod
she said simply, “I know what I want…”
“Anything, darling, anything,” the drunken king implored
“I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter…” she said
as if she were asking for a new dress

Herod’s heart sank
and then filled with utter horror
He sobered up quickly
What had he done?
His eyes were wild with panic
and it says that he was deeply grieved
Deeply grieved
I wonder
he could have changed things
he could have made a difference
he could have spoken up
he could have been strong and said no,
and spared a good man’s life
But all eyes were on him
All the officials of the court
He could NOT lose face in front of them
He could not appear weak in honor
He could not displease the court
He could not appear weak to his people

It was barbaric and horrific
The guard was sent to the prison,
and right there in the prison
he cut off John’s head
And then, at the time of the final course of the meal
the guard came into the crowded room
and handed the platter to the girl
a platter with the head of John the Baptist on it
The girl handed it to her mother,
who was satisfied at her revenge

And still I wonder, why did Mark have to tell us this?
He could have easily left this out
But the story is right before the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000
out in a remote part of the wilderness
where he’d been teaching and preaching
It was as if Mark had to tell us the conditions in which
Jesus went on with his ministry
under the tension of knowing what happens in this world
to people who speak truth that is not pretty
Truth that must be spoken
but most people opt for the easier way

This story shows us that it is dangerous to tell the truth
in this world
It’s dangerous to be passionate,
it’s dangerous to care
it’s dangerous to go against the status quo
or public opinion
Jesus says in the Gospel of John,
“you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…”
But according to this story,
the truth will also get you killed

Beth Neilson Chapman is a folk singer
and songwriter
who writes songs for people like Martina McBride
and other big stars
And she recorded a song called, “Beautiful Fool”
In it, she says,
“Oh, you beautiful fool,
swimming upstream, kicking up waves
dreams weren’t meant to come true,
that’s why they call them dreams,
oh, you beautiful fool.”
She mentions Martin Luther, who challenged the Roman Church
during the Reformation
and got into a lot of trouble
She mentions, Mahatma Ghandi
who worked for peaceful, non-violent strategies
in a world so bent on violence
She mentions Jesus Christ, another beautiful fool
who got himself killed for speaking the truth
in a world that would rather speak what’s popular
and be comfortable
She celebrates the beautiful fools of the world
who of course look like fools to most people
but who live with passion, commitment
and a driving spiritual sense of purpose
that gives them courage to face opposition
to go against the flow
to be labeled a traitor or a heretic

We have a whole history of beautiful fools
people who were burned at the stake
excommunicated from the Church,
shot down on a hotel balconies
or riding in a car
or giving a speech at a hotel,
Fools who were executed alongside convicted criminals
scorned by good religious people as deserving of death
Fools who were beheaded
on a lustful whim
imprisoned wrongfully for a few decades
or simply crucified by public opinion

Some of our most creative geniuses who ever lived
were the most troubled,
the most depressed, the most socially scorned
or publically humiliated
So many beautiful fools cut off much too young
because the world doesn’t handle them well
and it’s not socially prudent to be a fool

I think maybe Mark told this story
because he wanted to contrast the cruelty
and foolishness of our world
that crushes the passionate
with the power that comes from God
who seems to find the unlikeliest, weirdest people
to speak God’s truth of love, mercy, passion and grace

In the end, we have to wonder,
what is it that we want in this life?
To live with purpose and passion for a cause
that is eternal
that is empowered by the very one who creates
and sustains us?
The one who calls us by the power of Jesus Christ
who lived, taught, healed, and died for love
and never compromised his mission, his purpose
even if it killed him?

Or do we want to make sure everyone likes us?
Do we live for the approval of other people
Do we go along with the crowd
so that we won’t get hurt?
This world always proves its fickleness
and whatever pleasures we get in this world
are always temporary
I’d rather live for the eternal purposes of Jesus
I’d rather spend my life living and speaking truth
for the sake of mercy, justice, grace and love
as I know it from the one who wasn’t afraid to die
knowing that even death
is just a temporary inconvenience
That we are people of eternity
sent here to live out the truth of Jesus’ life, teachings,
death and resurrection
I’d rather be a beautiful fool for Christ….