June 10-14

For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. — Mark 6:20 ESV

People Fear What They Don’t Comprehend
A university student was seen with a large "K" printed on his T-shirt. When someone asked him what the "K" stood for, he said, "Confused." "But," the questioner replied, "you don't spell "confused" with a "K." The student answered, "You don't know how confused I am." (Source Unknown)

We learn in Mark 6:20 that Herod was confused and afraid. Rumors about the works of Jesus had spread far and wide and people were trying to explain the things that Jesus had been doing. Herod was afraid John the Baptist has come back to life. Herod “fears” John the Baptist while he lives, and is troubled about him after he dies. A friendless, solitary preacher, with no other weapon than God’s truth, disturbs and terrifies a king. The Bible teaches that someone who has never been saved can’t understand the things of God and they often fear what they can’t comprehend.

Reflection
Who do you know that struggles to comprehend God’s work because they aren’t saved? Do they also seem to fear the work of God?

Praise/Prayer
Thank God for the clarity He has given you to understand spiritual truth and to recognize Jesus as God’s Son. Pray for the people you know who are spiritually blind to receive sight and understand the gospel.

For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.  - Mark 6:17-18 ESV

People Fight What They Can’t Control
Three guys were talking. Two of them are talking about the amount of control they have over their wives, while the third remained quiet. After a while one of the first two turned to the third and said, “Well, what about you, what sort of control do you have over your wife?” The third fellow said “I’ll tell you. Just the other night my wife came to me on her hands and knees.” The first two guys were amazed. “What happened then?” they asked. “She said, “Get out from under the bed and fight like a man.” (Source Unknown)

John the Baptist could not be controlled. He told King Herod that he had no right to have Herodias as his wife because she had divorced his brother to marry him (Mark 6:17, 18). Herod and Herodias had committed adultery and John called them out on it. Herodias didn’t like it so she fought him and wanted John arrested.

Reflection
As a believer, we need to recognize the times when someone is responding to us out of their own frustration of not being able to control us and keep us quiet about the gospel. When has someone tried to quiet you about speaking the truth?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for the freedom you have in Christ to not be afraid of conflict you face because you are living for Jesus. Pray that God would deal with those in your life who are trying to quiet you down about your faith.

For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. -  Mark 6:20 ESV

The Gospel Demands A Life That Is Different
In a NCAA cross-country championship held in Riverside, California, 123 of the 128 runners missed a turn. One competitor, Mike Delcavo, stayed on the 10,000-meter course and began waving for fellow runners to follow him. Delcavo was able to convince only four other runners to go with him. Asked what his competitors thought of his mid-race decision not to follow the crowd, Delcavo responded, “They thought it was funny that I went the right way.” Delcavo was the one who ran correctly. (Michael Fordham)

John the Baptist was running on a different course. It was a godly course. It was the right course. Even Herod knew that John was “righteous and holy.”  Herod knew beyond a shadow of a doubt about John's character. “Righteous” speaks of John's blameless relation to other men and “holy” speaks to his total separation to God.

Reflection
The gospel enables us to live a different life. We are called to run on a different course than those who don’t know Jesus. What are a few examples in your life of how you are living differently because you are saved?

Praise/Prayer
Thank God for showing you the road to saving grace. Ask God to guide your steps to the next major decision He would like you to make.

And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not. -  Mark 6:19 ESV

Expect Hatred And Opposition
Police say a 30-year grudge boiled over when a former elementary school teacher littered the driveways of former co-workers and bosses with roofing nails and splattered paint on their garage doors. Thomas R. Haberbush, 72, pleaded guilty to one count each of stalking, criminal mischief, and criminal tampering, all misdemeanors. Police said that three former school board members, a retired principal, and a retired assistant principal at Caroline Street Elementary School were among the nine victims Haberbush targeted over two years. Their car tires were damaged by roofing nails that Haberbush threw in the driveways, police said. "It's very bizarre to carry around a grudge for nearly 30 years," said Saratoga Springs police investigator John Catone. " (Fox News)

Herodias "nursed a grudge against" John the Baptist. Which means to harbor persistent and continual resentment or ill feelings toward one, especially for some slight or wrongdoing one committed in the past. Herodias never let up on her fury toward John the Baptist for calling out her sin. When we stand for righteousness, we should expect conflict.

Reflection
What’s the longest you’ve held a grudge? What good and what bad came out of holding that grudge?

Praise/Prayer
Thank God for forgiving you of your sin and not holding a grudge against you. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work on anyone holding a grudge against you and to bring reconciliation.

And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison. - Mark 6:27 ESV

Living For Jesus Is Worth It
Initially, it may have seemed like evil was the winner in John’s death. But ultimately, John won and entered heaven. Pastor John MacArthur writes: “Presumably, with one deft stroke of the executioner’s blade, John the Baptist entered into his glorious eternal rest, to receive his full reward for uncompromising faithfulness to God. He was not only the greatest and last of the Old Testament prophets, he was also the first martyr for Jesus Christ. His entire life pointed to the coming Messiah. Even in death, he remained faithful to his God-given task.”

Death is like the sailing of a ship. The watcher on the seashore sees her spread her white sails to the morning breeze and start for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. We stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Someone says, "There--she’s gone," and we find ourselves asking, "Gone where?" "Gone from my sight--That’s all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the places of destination." Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, "There--she’s gone," there come other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "There she comes" And so it is when one passes from this life into the Great Beyond. (Rev. Morris C. Robinson)

Reflection
Think about Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Why was this true about John the Baptist? Why is this true about all Christians?

Praise/Prayer
Praise God for the hope of heaven. Thank God for the Christians who gave their life for the sake of the Gospel. Ask God to help you live for Him and die daily to yourself.