WEBVTT 00:00:00.649 --> 00:00:03.149 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.209 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.849 --> 00:00:08.750 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.189 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:14.150 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.449 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in 00:00:16.449 --> 00:00:18.809 the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.329 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.609 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:32.939 sermon. God Bless. Oh, Lord Godden, you are the 00:00:32.939 --> 00:00:35.100 light of the world. In your light, we see light. 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:38.159 We ask now that you would shine your light into 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:40.659 our hearts, that we would be able to perceive 00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:44.560 the truths of this word, that we would go out 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:48.240 from here changed and loving you more. We pray 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:55.060 these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well, 00:00:55.140 --> 00:00:59.909 friends, life is strange. We come here hopeful 00:00:59.909 --> 00:01:04.569 and trusting in God, even though we come on this 00:01:04.569 --> 00:01:07.930 day which commemorates one of the saddest days 00:01:07.930 --> 00:01:13.209 in our shared history. I refer, of course, to 00:01:13.209 --> 00:01:15.769 Malcolm Butler intercepting Russell Wilson with 00:01:15.769 --> 00:01:18.650 less than a minute to play in Super Bowl XLIX. 00:01:21.710 --> 00:01:26.269 Give it false stop heresy giving the Patriots 00:01:26.269 --> 00:01:29.530 their fourth championship and extending Tom Brady's 00:01:29.530 --> 00:01:33.409 reign of terror So as you know, the Super Bowl 00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:36.650 is later tonight The Seahawks are playing the 00:01:36.650 --> 00:01:40.829 Patriots. So it's a rematch of that game That 00:01:40.829 --> 00:01:44.530 game honestly was it's right up there with the 00:01:44.530 --> 00:01:47.250 worst moments in my life as a sports fan I'm 00:01:47.250 --> 00:01:50.579 trying to learn to distinguish between Sports 00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:53.819 fan life and regular life. I'm getting there 00:01:53.819 --> 00:01:59.599 When that game happened I was teaching down in 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:03.219 North Carolina and The very next day the Monday 00:02:03.219 --> 00:02:06.519 afterwards. I was giving a quiz and one of my 00:02:06.519 --> 00:02:10.300 ninth graders said Man, I need to do a Russell 00:02:10.300 --> 00:02:14.360 Wilson and pass when I shouldn't still too soon 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:19.310 Anyway We heard today the Super Bowl is happening. 00:02:19.330 --> 00:02:23.449 I just looked up It's probable that somewhere 00:02:23.449 --> 00:02:27.229 between 65 and 80 percent of Americans will be 00:02:27.229 --> 00:02:29.289 watching at least a portion of tonight's game 00:02:29.289 --> 00:02:33.189 Which is somewhere between two to four times 00:02:33.189 --> 00:02:36.250 as many people as will attend church this morning 00:02:36.250 --> 00:02:39.650 So interesting stuff if you're interested at 00:02:39.650 --> 00:02:41.669 all in sports, you're probably thinking about 00:02:41.669 --> 00:02:46.280 the game right now will Seattle put a spy on 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:48.360 Drake May the whole time? And if so, how will 00:02:48.360 --> 00:02:51.539 they disguise their coverages? This is important. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.740 Or maybe you're just wondering what kind of commercials 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:57.900 we're going to see tonight. I read that the average 00:02:57.900 --> 00:03:00.439 cost for a 30 -second commercial tonight is $8 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:04.819 million, so they better be good. So you're thinking 00:03:04.819 --> 00:03:08.379 about that, and then you come to the House of 00:03:08.379 --> 00:03:12.120 the Lord, And you hear the texts that we read 00:03:12.120 --> 00:03:14.340 together today, and it's a little bit of emotional 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:17.719 whiplash, right? The death of John the Baptist 00:03:17.719 --> 00:03:22.219 is startling. But even though it is startling, 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:25.180 I think this is the right text for us as a church 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:27.800 today, and I think it's good for us to be startled 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:33.180 by the Bible. So what we've got here is shocking 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:39.360 political violence at a birthday party. So, my 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.680 title today, Get Ready to Party, is supposed 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:45.099 to be doing a few different things. So first 00:03:45.099 --> 00:03:47.900 of all, it's referring to this banquet that Herod 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:51.379 throws for himself, which turns deadly. It seems 00:03:51.379 --> 00:03:54.659 to me that Herod was not prepared for the party, 00:03:54.740 --> 00:03:57.099 even though he was the one throwing it. And it 00:03:57.099 --> 00:03:59.800 seems to me that John the Baptist was prepared 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:02.139 for the party, even though he was not exactly 00:04:02.139 --> 00:04:08.009 invited. I also want my title to do double duty 00:04:08.009 --> 00:04:11.270 and remind you that your Super Bowl party tonight, 00:04:11.310 --> 00:04:14.409 which I hope will be a lot of fun, will go better 00:04:14.409 --> 00:04:16.829 for you having come and worshiped the Lord in 00:04:16.829 --> 00:04:19.250 his holiness here today. When we come to the 00:04:19.250 --> 00:04:22.829 Lord's table regularly, all the other tables 00:04:22.829 --> 00:04:25.029 take their proper significance in our lives, 00:04:25.230 --> 00:04:28.350 I tend to think. So with that said, what can 00:04:28.350 --> 00:04:33.709 we learn from the unpleasant end of John the 00:04:33.709 --> 00:04:39.720 Baptist's I think we can look at John's story 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:42.139 with three sort of different lenses, and those 00:04:42.139 --> 00:04:46.100 will be my three points today. Those are confusion, 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:54.199 clarity, and confidence. Let me explain. When 00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:59.470 we From inside our own stories, as the Lord in 00:04:59.470 --> 00:05:03.089 His providence is directing, when we try to understand 00:05:03.089 --> 00:05:05.550 what God is doing, it can be very confusing. 00:05:06.790 --> 00:05:10.829 The big picture is difficult to understand, so 00:05:10.829 --> 00:05:15.129 that's point one. But in the particulars of our 00:05:15.129 --> 00:05:17.389 lives, no matter what's happening, big picture, 00:05:18.089 --> 00:05:21.230 very often we can know what to do. We can have 00:05:21.230 --> 00:05:24.430 clarity as to what our next action should be. 00:05:24.449 --> 00:05:28.889 So that's point two. And then finally, we can 00:05:28.889 --> 00:05:33.189 rely on God to reconcile all of it, fix what 00:05:33.189 --> 00:05:35.769 appears to be broken at the end of all things. 00:05:35.810 --> 00:05:38.790 We can have confidence that the judge of the 00:05:38.790 --> 00:05:42.129 world will do what is right, as Abraham said 00:05:42.129 --> 00:05:45.649 way back in Genesis. So that's point three. Let's 00:05:45.649 --> 00:05:51.970 jump in. Point one, God in his providence is 00:05:51.970 --> 00:05:54.490 confusing and John the Baptist is maybe the prime 00:05:54.490 --> 00:05:57.910 example of how it's confusing to try to follow 00:05:57.910 --> 00:06:01.370 the Lord or how, you know, the work that you're 00:06:01.370 --> 00:06:05.029 putting in and the faith that you have and the 00:06:05.029 --> 00:06:07.589 expectations that you have based on the Word 00:06:07.589 --> 00:06:10.329 of God and the character of God can still sometimes 00:06:10.329 --> 00:06:12.790 turn out very differently from what you had expected 00:06:12.790 --> 00:06:17.889 or hoped. I think we can see that in sort of 00:06:17.889 --> 00:06:21.870 concentric circles as we look at John here. I 00:06:21.870 --> 00:06:24.089 want to stress that John's a big deal. Did you 00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:26.709 know that Jesus' public ministry in all four 00:06:26.709 --> 00:06:33.589 gospels is initiated or introduced by John? In 00:06:33.589 --> 00:06:36.709 all four of them, it's John who's linked with 00:06:36.709 --> 00:06:38.670 the prophecy from Isaiah, prepare you the way 00:06:38.670 --> 00:06:41.610 of the Lord, and then the Lord, Jesus, shows 00:06:41.610 --> 00:06:47.069 up. Mark begins with one introductory verse, 00:06:47.129 --> 00:06:49.990 and then it says in verse two, it is written 00:06:49.990 --> 00:06:53.310 in the prophets, behold, I send my messenger 00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:56.209 before thy face, which shall prepare thy way 00:06:56.209 --> 00:06:59.470 before thee. That's a prophesy from Malachi chapter 00:06:59.470 --> 00:07:01.769 three. That's right before what we read earlier 00:07:01.769 --> 00:07:03.629 today. Then verse three, the voice of one crying 00:07:03.629 --> 00:07:06.470 in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the 00:07:06.470 --> 00:07:09.370 Lord. That's the prophecy from Isaiah. And then 00:07:09.370 --> 00:07:13.069 verse four, John did baptize in the wilderness. 00:07:13.290 --> 00:07:17.230 There he is. That's how this gospel begins. It 00:07:17.230 --> 00:07:20.709 links Old Testament prophecy to this specific 00:07:20.709 --> 00:07:24.089 person, John, and John's purpose is to introduce 00:07:24.089 --> 00:07:28.310 Jesus, and he does. So chapter one in this story 00:07:28.310 --> 00:07:31.769 is the story of Jesus' baptism by John in the 00:07:31.769 --> 00:07:34.370 Jordan, and we hear the very voice of God from 00:07:34.370 --> 00:07:37.410 heaven saying, well done. This is exactly right, 00:07:37.509 --> 00:07:40.829 you cousins. Good work. And that was like four 00:07:40.829 --> 00:07:45.629 pages ago. in the text in front of you, right? 00:07:45.910 --> 00:07:48.089 If you read your Bible like you read a novel, 00:07:48.089 --> 00:07:50.949 and I think we should sometimes, this violent 00:07:50.949 --> 00:07:53.930 exit of the character John from the plot is a 00:07:53.930 --> 00:07:57.850 pretty surprising thing. And it's even more surprising 00:07:57.850 --> 00:08:00.050 if you have some memory of the other gospel accounts. 00:08:00.629 --> 00:08:03.610 This is concentric circle part two. We heard 00:08:03.610 --> 00:08:07.310 in Luke, for instance, that John has a miraculous 00:08:07.310 --> 00:08:12.699 birth. His birth is announced by Gabriel just 00:08:12.699 --> 00:08:17.379 like Jesus' birth. We also see in that text that 00:08:17.379 --> 00:08:21.480 John is the first person to leap for joy in the 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:24.240 presence of Jesus. He does so in Elizabeth's 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:27.399 womb. Then John goes out into the desert and 00:08:27.399 --> 00:08:29.720 he starts this revival movement and is eating 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:33.240 locusts and honey. And he's the first one to 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:35.879 publicly identify Jesus as the Lamb of God who 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:39.730 takes away the sins of the world. You may also 00:08:39.730 --> 00:08:41.669 remember that in chapter one of the gospel of 00:08:41.669 --> 00:08:44.129 John, people come to John the Baptist and ask 00:08:44.129 --> 00:08:46.870 him, are you the Christ? And it says that he 00:08:46.870 --> 00:08:49.649 confesses and does not deny, but he's not the 00:08:49.649 --> 00:08:52.110 Christ. So what's really interesting is that 00:08:52.110 --> 00:08:57.110 in life, John is mistaken for the Christ. And 00:08:57.110 --> 00:09:00.070 then after John's death, Jesus, who is the Christ, 00:09:00.090 --> 00:09:02.750 is actually mistaken for a resurrected John. 00:09:03.490 --> 00:09:07.940 John's a big deal. His birth and his life are 00:09:07.940 --> 00:09:12.419 both heroic, and now he's just abruptly dead. 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:16.960 So this becomes even more confusing, you know, 00:09:17.019 --> 00:09:19.240 another concentric circle out, if you consider 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:21.659 John not just in the context of the Gospels, 00:09:21.700 --> 00:09:25.340 but in the context of the Bible as a whole. So, 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:27.840 if you will, let's take another look at that 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.419 Old Testament text that we read today. If you're 00:09:30.419 --> 00:09:32.039 following along in your Bible, you can just flip 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:35.340 back a couple of pages. to the end, the very 00:09:35.340 --> 00:09:40.039 end of the Old Testament, page 955, Malachi chapter 00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:42.779 four. I'll just read quickly again. For behold, 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:44.840 the day is coming, burning like an oven when 00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:47.759 all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:50.399 The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:52.200 says the Lord of hosts. So it will leave them 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:55.299 neither root nor branch, but for you. who fear 00:09:55.299 --> 00:09:58.259 my name, the Son of righteousness shall rise 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:00.860 with healings in its wings. You shall go out 00:10:00.860 --> 00:10:03.600 leaping like calves from the stall, and you shall 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:06.779 tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:08.919 under the soles of your feet on the day when 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:11.980 I act, says the Lord of hosts. Remember the law 00:10:11.980 --> 00:10:14.379 of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules I 00:10:14.379 --> 00:10:17.179 commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, 00:10:17.379 --> 00:10:20.200 I will send you Elijah the prophet before the 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:26.580 great and awesome day of the Lord comes. So John, 00:10:27.259 --> 00:10:30.580 in our text, seems to think that he's inhabiting 00:10:30.580 --> 00:10:34.340 the time that this chapter is referring to. He 00:10:34.340 --> 00:10:36.600 seems to think that the great and dreadful day 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:39.960 of the Lord has come, and the Lord has come. 00:10:40.580 --> 00:10:43.679 So he's at least partially right. So later on 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:46.080 in the book of Mark, by the way, Jesus, chapter 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:48.580 9, Jesus is going to say, people are going to 00:10:48.580 --> 00:10:50.879 ask him, why does it say that Elijah must first 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:53.740 come? When people are identifying Jesus with 00:10:53.740 --> 00:10:55.120 the Lord who is going to come, why do they say 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:57.080 that Elijah must come? In that text we just read, 00:10:57.379 --> 00:11:01.440 and Jesus says Elijah did come. It was John. 00:11:02.899 --> 00:11:06.980 So in two counts here, John was right about where 00:11:06.980 --> 00:11:11.759 he is in the story. And so it's very obvious 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:18.039 that his confusion is sort of justified. Why? 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:20.299 Well, because in addition to saying that the 00:11:20.299 --> 00:11:21.659 Lord is going to come, in addition to saying 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:24.519 that Elijah is going to come, it says, remember, 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:26.919 God is going to burn up all of the proud, right? 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:28.620 And the righteous are going to stomp on them 00:11:28.620 --> 00:11:32.100 as if they were ash, right? So in the text that 00:11:32.100 --> 00:11:34.700 he's reading, he's correctly seeing that it's 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:36.700 being partially fulfilled in his own time. And 00:11:36.700 --> 00:11:41.320 yet, the wicked are not burned up, right? Almost 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:45.460 exactly the opposite is happening. John, the 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:49.379 righteous one, did you see that? that little 00:11:49.379 --> 00:11:52.799 note here. Herod feared John knowing he was a 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:55.720 righteous and holy man. Herod knew that John 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:59.080 was righteous. The righteous is in jail. He's 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:02.320 totally vulnerable. He's the one who's like ashes, 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:07.059 right? The wicked can have him killed on a whim. 00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:11.549 So that's all confusing. And that's my first 00:12:11.549 --> 00:12:15.909 point, right? And because of this confusion that 00:12:15.909 --> 00:12:18.970 this text I think should give us, I think we 00:12:18.970 --> 00:12:23.110 in our own lives are justified in having sort 00:12:23.110 --> 00:12:28.110 of an emotional gentleness. with ourself, a generosity 00:12:28.110 --> 00:12:31.409 with ourself when we're confused or sad about 00:12:31.409 --> 00:12:33.610 the way the world is or about how we're being 00:12:33.610 --> 00:12:36.570 treated. We don't have to be all smiles all the 00:12:36.570 --> 00:12:39.250 time. This is a text, this is a record saying 00:12:39.250 --> 00:12:42.169 that bad things do happen and we don't need to 00:12:42.169 --> 00:12:46.149 be thrilled about it. So that's all point one. 00:12:46.210 --> 00:12:50.799 However, while this outcome is sad, And even 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:53.320 startling, as I say, I do think we can have certainty 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:56.200 on a few things in this text, starting with this. 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:00.340 Even though John ends up dead in this text, he's 00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:04.600 not the loser in this text. So on the surface, 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:07.600 this is kind of a story without winners, right? 00:13:08.379 --> 00:13:12.580 But Herod is absolutely the loser in this text. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.830 Even on his own... terms, even according to what 00:13:16.830 --> 00:13:19.529 he thinks is important. He's the loser. Look 00:13:19.529 --> 00:13:23.190 at the way the text portrays him. So Jesus is 00:13:23.190 --> 00:13:26.529 out there doing the works of God and Herod responds 00:13:26.529 --> 00:13:28.970 by saying, oh yeah, that's John the Baptist. 00:13:29.009 --> 00:13:30.850 He's risen from the dead. He's here to bother 00:13:30.850 --> 00:13:35.610 me. Herod is seeing ghosts. This guy has a bad 00:13:35.610 --> 00:13:42.029 conscience. And what does this mean for Herod? 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:47.059 Well, it means he cannot see Jesus clearly. His 00:13:47.059 --> 00:13:51.299 bad actions made him unwilling to hear John when 00:13:51.299 --> 00:13:55.139 John was saying, repent. And now his fears make 00:13:55.139 --> 00:13:59.100 him unable to hear the message that is his only 00:13:59.100 --> 00:14:02.919 real hope, right? And that message is that Christ, 00:14:02.980 --> 00:14:06.980 who John was pointing to, saves. That's the message 00:14:06.980 --> 00:14:10.019 we need to hear and Herod cannot hear it because 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:14.789 he can't stop thinking about himself. Herod is 00:14:14.789 --> 00:14:17.190 startlingly like Claudius from Hamlet, I think. 00:14:17.850 --> 00:14:20.149 He married his brother's wife. He got to be king. 00:14:20.210 --> 00:14:23.090 He's got everything he wants. But he can't rest 00:14:23.090 --> 00:14:27.070 easy. His power does not make him happy. Oh, 00:14:27.169 --> 00:14:31.169 my offense is rank. It smells to heaven, says 00:14:31.169 --> 00:14:34.309 Claudius. And Herod would say the same if he 00:14:34.309 --> 00:14:38.549 could think clearly. So Herod has the money and 00:14:38.549 --> 00:14:40.950 the political clout to throw these big parties 00:14:40.950 --> 00:14:44.460 to try to make himself look good. This is verse 00:14:44.460 --> 00:14:48.340 21. An opportunity came when Herod on his birthday 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:52.139 gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders 00:14:52.139 --> 00:14:56.480 and the leading men of Galilee. It's his birthday 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:00.220 and he gives this feast and he ends up looking 00:15:00.220 --> 00:15:04.139 like an idiot. His daughter -in -law comes in 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:07.639 and dances and he promises he's gonna give her 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:09.899 anything she wants, up to half of his kingdom. 00:15:10.419 --> 00:15:13.389 I'm guessing he's drunk. You don't make promises 00:15:13.389 --> 00:15:16.610 like this, if you're sober, right? And she goes 00:15:16.610 --> 00:15:19.830 to her mom, who sounds like a total class act, 00:15:20.210 --> 00:15:23.149 right? And she says she wants her enemy John's 00:15:23.149 --> 00:15:26.429 head. And Herod doesn't want to do it, but yet 00:15:26.429 --> 00:15:29.509 he feels like he has to. Why? Because of the 00:15:29.509 --> 00:15:33.909 guests and his oaths. That's verse 26. And so 00:15:33.909 --> 00:15:38.549 he has John killed. Okay. Can you imagine? the 00:15:38.549 --> 00:15:41.129 way these nobles and military commanders and 00:15:41.129 --> 00:15:43.509 leading men of Galilee are feeling as they exit 00:15:43.509 --> 00:15:46.169 this party. Great party, Herod. Happy birthday. 00:15:46.769 --> 00:15:48.710 Love the way you had that innocent guy killed 00:15:48.710 --> 00:15:51.049 on a whim, even though you didn't want to and 00:15:51.049 --> 00:15:53.090 knew it was a bad idea. That inspires confidence. 00:15:56.669 --> 00:15:58.990 So Herod is doing this for his reputation, and 00:15:58.990 --> 00:16:01.590 his reputation does not look good. Herod is a 00:16:01.590 --> 00:16:06.769 figure for mockery. In Oscar Wilde's play, Salome, 00:16:07.190 --> 00:16:12.389 which we get that name for the dancing girl from 00:16:12.389 --> 00:16:16.629 Josephus, some people are trying to tell Herod, 00:16:16.750 --> 00:16:18.730 in this play, people are trying to tell Herod 00:16:18.730 --> 00:16:21.450 about Jesus and how he can even raise the dead. 00:16:21.470 --> 00:16:24.889 And this is the way he responds, I do not wish 00:16:24.889 --> 00:16:30.370 him to do that. I forbid him to do that. I allow 00:16:30.370 --> 00:16:33.950 no man to raise the dead. This man must be found 00:16:33.950 --> 00:16:36.269 and told that I forbid him to raise the dead. 00:16:36.950 --> 00:16:39.409 He's this contemptible little king who's trying 00:16:39.409 --> 00:16:42.769 to impose his own will on God. Let's make sure 00:16:42.769 --> 00:16:46.409 we're not doing the same, yes? By the way, just 00:16:46.409 --> 00:16:48.710 to be clear, this is not the same Herod who tried 00:16:48.710 --> 00:16:51.110 to have Jesus killed as a baby. That was a different 00:16:51.110 --> 00:16:54.889 guy. He was called Herod the Great. Biblical 00:16:54.889 --> 00:16:57.169 commentators suggest there were no less than 00:16:57.169 --> 00:17:00.340 six. Different Herod's mentioned in the New Testament. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:02.419 What's interesting to me about this is that the 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:04.559 biblical authors don't seem to care much about 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:07.220 distinguishing between them. Pick a Herod, any 00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:09.839 Herod. They lump them all together. They don't 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:13.500 think any of them are great. It makes me think 00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:17.500 of C .S. Lewis's great quote, how monotonously 00:17:17.500 --> 00:17:20.920 alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have 00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:24.319 been. How gloriously different are the saints. 00:17:25.029 --> 00:17:27.430 It's hardly even worth figuring out which Herod 00:17:27.430 --> 00:17:29.769 we're dealing with here, but when you meet John 00:17:29.769 --> 00:17:32.170 eating locusts in the desert, you know you've 00:17:32.170 --> 00:17:34.369 got something special. So that's all part of 00:17:34.369 --> 00:17:37.549 my second point. Even though it might be confusing 00:17:37.549 --> 00:17:40.150 where we are in God's story sometimes, we can 00:17:40.150 --> 00:17:43.210 know what kind of part we want to play in that 00:17:43.210 --> 00:17:45.549 story. We want to play a faithful part. We want 00:17:45.549 --> 00:17:50.710 to be more like John than like Herod. And so 00:17:50.710 --> 00:17:55.269 why is John in prison? It's because he was willing 00:17:55.269 --> 00:17:58.569 to speak the truth of God's Word, even if it 00:17:58.569 --> 00:18:02.690 made powerful people unhappy. And here's an interesting 00:18:02.690 --> 00:18:06.049 thing. So even though Herod was a moral disaster 00:18:06.049 --> 00:18:08.630 as a person, as we've sort of outlined here, 00:18:09.849 --> 00:18:12.049 it looks like he might not have been an awful 00:18:12.049 --> 00:18:15.369 ruler, practically speaking, at least compared 00:18:15.369 --> 00:18:17.890 to some of his other peers. A scholar from the 00:18:17.890 --> 00:18:20.849 biblical archaeology society says that Herod, 00:18:21.029 --> 00:18:25.680 unlike his brother, took care not to offend the 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:29.259 religious sensibilities of his Jewish subjects 00:18:29.259 --> 00:18:34.319 with graven images and pagan temples." And also 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:36.380 that the economy of his time was doing quite 00:18:36.380 --> 00:18:40.019 well. All that to say, there were probably well 00:18:40.019 --> 00:18:44.339 -meaning Jewish people who, when John was out 00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:47.220 there preaching against Herod, were saying, hey, 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:51.180 don't make that guy angry. He's on our side. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:55.960 He's the kind of king we want. But John would 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:59.759 not have listened to this. John treasured the 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:04.920 moral law of God over and above party politics. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:09.480 And I tend to think that we, as Christians in 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:14.460 our day and place, we desperately need to learn 00:19:14.460 --> 00:19:20.539 from John on this point. John knew what was right 00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:23.440 and wrong without being confused by the political 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:29.640 situation and party loyalty. Friend, do we treasure 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:34.160 God's Word over and above party politics? And 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.019 I'm not saying this to either major political 00:19:36.019 --> 00:19:38.640 party in particular. I think both need to be 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:40.900 ruled by our morality and our morality needs 00:19:40.900 --> 00:19:44.500 to be ruled by the Word of God. Is our moral 00:19:44.500 --> 00:19:47.440 compass shaped by God's word or by political 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:50.579 commentary? If I am unwilling to say that a bad 00:19:50.579 --> 00:19:54.119 thing is bad because it's done by somebody who's 00:19:54.119 --> 00:20:00.319 on my side, I am in desperate confusion. So I 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:02.339 know there's some people who would call me naive 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:04.619 on this, some very smart people who I trust, 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.660 and I want to be patient with that. But I think 00:20:07.660 --> 00:20:09.640 the question this story is calling us to ask 00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:12.640 ourselves, would I rather be politically naive 00:20:12.730 --> 00:20:15.990 with John or would I rather be politically sophisticated 00:20:15.990 --> 00:20:22.630 with Harry? So I think we need to retrain ourselves 00:20:22.630 --> 00:20:26.589 to view the moral landscape in terms of God's 00:20:26.589 --> 00:20:31.910 revealed will before we even think about party 00:20:31.910 --> 00:20:35.109 politics anymore. Are you ready to party? Okay 00:20:35.109 --> 00:20:38.640 that was part two. Our individual moral acts 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:40.819 don't need to be confusing. We can have clarity 00:20:40.819 --> 00:20:42.920 about how we should act in the world. We should 00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:45.980 act as people whose consciences are captive to 00:20:45.980 --> 00:20:49.680 the Word of God. And actually we see a good humble 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:51.680 example of this at the end of our passage in 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:54.640 verse 29. When John's disciples heard about his 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:56.980 death, they came and took his body and laid it 00:20:56.980 --> 00:21:00.220 in the tomb. They knew that wrong had been done 00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:03.000 and they mourned. They show appropriate respect 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:06.589 for their beloved religious figure. And this 00:21:06.589 --> 00:21:08.369 in itself, you have to think, this is a little 00:21:08.369 --> 00:21:15.630 bit brave, right? If Herod and his wife are sort 00:21:15.630 --> 00:21:17.930 of out of touch enough to kill a guy at a birthday 00:21:17.930 --> 00:21:19.930 party because they disagree with him, who's to 00:21:19.930 --> 00:21:21.970 say that they won't come after these guys? But 00:21:21.970 --> 00:21:24.029 regardless, they know what's right, and they 00:21:24.029 --> 00:21:27.150 do it. So here's a sub point. There's a good 00:21:27.150 --> 00:21:29.349 reason to have clarity as to our moral actions 00:21:29.349 --> 00:21:31.849 and it's simply that it looks like there's a 00:21:31.849 --> 00:21:34.589 pretty good chance that our actions might have 00:21:34.589 --> 00:21:37.390 some tangible result in the world, right? We 00:21:37.390 --> 00:21:39.390 see this in a positive way in these disciples 00:21:39.390 --> 00:21:41.769 showing bravery. We see it in a very negative 00:21:41.769 --> 00:21:45.250 way, inherits happy little family, right? Think 00:21:45.250 --> 00:21:48.589 about poor Salome. She gets asked to come out 00:21:48.589 --> 00:21:51.430 and do her dance routine for her stepfather and 00:21:51.430 --> 00:21:54.490 his cronies. And then he creepily asks her what 00:21:54.490 --> 00:21:57.269 kind of reward she wants. She goes to her mom, 00:21:57.710 --> 00:22:00.650 which shows she does want to please her mother 00:22:00.650 --> 00:22:04.490 by her actions, right? And then the mom makes 00:22:04.490 --> 00:22:09.069 this disastrous moral ask. I want John dead. 00:22:10.089 --> 00:22:13.069 I want John's head. And she not only goes through 00:22:13.069 --> 00:22:15.309 with it, but in fact, it looks like it's her 00:22:15.309 --> 00:22:19.900 suggestion that it comes out on a platter. She's 00:22:19.900 --> 00:22:22.859 the one who adds that detail in verse 25 there. 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:27.319 So she kind of one -ups her mom's horrific demands. 00:22:27.539 --> 00:22:31.700 So constant badness has created a situation in 00:22:31.700 --> 00:22:36.920 which she is extravagant in her badness. Friends, 00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:40.680 may our homes and our lives be the opposite. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:47.619 Might we demonstrate goodness consistently? so 00:22:47.619 --> 00:22:51.259 that goodness becomes habitual and valued around 00:22:51.259 --> 00:22:56.599 us. And maybe those little moral alternate ecosystems 00:22:56.599 --> 00:23:00.319 will show up against our broader culture. So 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:03.299 all of that was on how we can have clarity in 00:23:03.299 --> 00:23:05.220 our actions. And if you notice, I was just trying 00:23:05.220 --> 00:23:09.700 to give practical, even secular rationale for 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:12.400 why we can have clarity. John is admirable. Herod 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:14.539 is despicable. John knows what is good and is 00:23:14.539 --> 00:23:16.880 willing to suffer for it. Herod appears to know 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:19.380 what is good and is willing to actually go against 00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:22.420 his own conscience in order to do wrong. Think 00:23:22.420 --> 00:23:25.519 about that little detail in verse 26. The king 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:29.180 was exceedingly sorry, but he did it anyway. 00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:34.700 So Herod is a wretch in this text, even from 00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:36.460 a secular standpoint. But now I want to move 00:23:36.460 --> 00:23:39.950 to a different motivation to do good. And that 00:23:39.950 --> 00:23:44.710 is a religious stance. And that is this. God 00:23:44.710 --> 00:23:48.710 is not only in control during this life, but 00:23:48.710 --> 00:23:50.950 he's in control after this life. And he will 00:23:50.950 --> 00:23:53.529 reward his servants and he will punish his enemies. 00:23:55.269 --> 00:23:57.309 My third point is this. We can have confidence 00:23:57.309 --> 00:23:59.930 in God in the long run. And that's a point that's 00:23:59.930 --> 00:24:03.150 not actually found here. Sort of an implication. 00:24:03.410 --> 00:24:05.150 And it's also something we confess every week. 00:24:05.150 --> 00:24:06.910 He will come again to judge the living and the 00:24:06.910 --> 00:24:10.359 dead, right? I bring this up because my second 00:24:10.359 --> 00:24:12.039 point might not actually be all that convincing, 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:17.900 right? Even as I'm saying, Herod is bad. John 00:24:17.900 --> 00:24:19.900 is good. Part of you might have been thinking, 00:24:20.119 --> 00:24:24.160 well, yeah, but John is dead. Herod is at a party. 00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:26.160 I think I would rather be at a party. I mean, 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:29.759 there's something to that. Unless you consider 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:33.480 the long term. The very long term, the fact that 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:37.119 when our stories in this life are over, as happens 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:41.279 to John in verse 27, they are not over entirely. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:45.579 Though our bodies will die, we perdure. I have 00:24:45.579 --> 00:24:50.279 that quote in your bulletin from Plato, or rather 00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:52.519 Socrates, Plato quoting Socrates, saying it's 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:55.319 better to suffer wrong than to do it. So these 00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:59.059 are pre -Christian thinkers, but their argument 00:24:59.059 --> 00:25:03.440 is that Since your soul will last forever, you 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:06.440 need to not injure your soul. If you do injury 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:08.960 to your soul by doing moral bad in this life, 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:10.940 well then you enter eternity with an injured 00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:15.920 soul. They know that the best argument for not 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:18.079 doing bad things is because there's a life to 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:22.039 follow this one. And as Christians, this should 00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:24.900 be our mindset as well. One pastor says this, 00:25:25.180 --> 00:25:30.500 quote, And good and evil are just categories 00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:33.759 of power or distinctions between friend and enemy. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:37.359 Well, that's one thing. But if there is an all 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:41.480 -seeing God and Jesus is alive, then the judgment 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:43.859 seat is quite different from public opinion. 00:25:46.099 --> 00:25:49.180 Well, there is an all -seeing God. And Jesus 00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:52.380 is alive. And John, even if he didn't know all 00:25:52.380 --> 00:25:56.509 the details, knew that judgment was coming. And 00:25:56.509 --> 00:25:58.930 though he faced death, he knew God's truth would 00:25:58.930 --> 00:26:02.369 be vindicated eventually. Somehow, you think 00:26:02.369 --> 00:26:04.410 about that quote from Malachi again, the day 00:26:04.410 --> 00:26:08.109 is coming, says the Lord of hosts, when all the 00:26:08.109 --> 00:26:09.750 proud and those who do wickedly will be burned 00:26:09.750 --> 00:26:12.410 up, but you who fear my name, the son of righteousness 00:26:12.410 --> 00:26:15.329 will rise with healing in its wings. And you 00:26:15.329 --> 00:26:18.190 will leap like calves from their stall. So though 00:26:18.190 --> 00:26:22.869 John is dead, shockingly, his head is on a platter. 00:26:23.500 --> 00:26:27.279 He will jump for joy again as he did once in 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:32.519 the presence of his his savior And Herod in his 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:35.059 arrogance will be smashed down finally never 00:26:35.059 --> 00:26:38.359 to do irresponsible violence again Where do we 00:26:38.359 --> 00:26:42.519 see this in the text? We don't not quite what 00:26:42.519 --> 00:26:46.279 do we see? We see after this episode is over 00:26:46.279 --> 00:26:50.150 it picks up with the story of Jesus right That's 00:26:50.150 --> 00:26:53.049 how this whole thing happened, right? Now King 00:26:53.049 --> 00:26:56.009 Herod heard of, back in verse 14, the stuff that 00:26:56.009 --> 00:26:58.089 Jesus was doing. And some said, John the Baptist 00:26:58.089 --> 00:26:59.710 has been raised from the dead. That's actually 00:26:59.710 --> 00:27:02.950 how we first hear that John was dead. And then 00:27:02.950 --> 00:27:05.569 once the story has been told, the gospel writer, 00:27:05.769 --> 00:27:09.410 he just moves on. He goes back to Jesus and the 00:27:09.410 --> 00:27:11.549 work that Jesus is doing. And that's the answer 00:27:11.549 --> 00:27:14.869 for us. Two, we can get confused by what's happening 00:27:14.869 --> 00:27:17.509 in the world. We can be saddened by what's happening 00:27:17.509 --> 00:27:20.309 to us personally or those that we love. These 00:27:20.309 --> 00:27:24.009 disciples bury John's body. There are deep sorrows 00:27:24.009 --> 00:27:29.309 that happen in a world marked by sin. My pipes 00:27:29.309 --> 00:27:32.450 froze last night. Sometimes the wrong team wins 00:27:32.450 --> 00:27:37.190 the Super Bowl, but Jesus is still doing his 00:27:37.190 --> 00:27:41.720 work. John called it correctly back in chapter 00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:46.380 1, there comes one after me and he will baptize 00:27:46.380 --> 00:27:50.119 you with the Holy Spirit. Jesus goes forward 00:27:50.119 --> 00:27:53.059 on his mission to seek and to save the lost and 00:27:53.059 --> 00:27:55.460 because of that we can have confidence that John 00:27:55.460 --> 00:28:00.079 is, that God, is going to right all of the wrongs. 00:28:00.420 --> 00:28:03.619 The Lord will heroically deliver his people. 00:28:04.619 --> 00:28:07.980 He will bring judgment on those who have wronged. 00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:12.099 His people. Earth has no sorrow that heaven can't 00:28:12.099 --> 00:28:15.960 heal. And that's what we have to remember. John's 00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:18.720 story ends abruptly, but that's okay, even for 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:20.940 him, because he's not the main character in his 00:28:20.940 --> 00:28:24.720 own story. Because Jesus is the main character, 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:27.119 this is just the end of John's earthly story, 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:30.039 and there's more story to come. And the epilogue 00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:32.880 is going to be a feast way better than Herod's 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:36.390 feast. And John is going to be the big shot then. 00:28:36.470 --> 00:28:38.730 John will be a guest of honor at the feast of 00:28:38.730 --> 00:28:42.450 the true King. And friend, if we remember that 00:28:42.450 --> 00:28:45.230 Jesus is the main character in our stories as 00:28:45.230 --> 00:28:48.730 well, we also will be guests of honor at that 00:28:48.730 --> 00:28:52.589 party. And our time here is to help us to be 00:28:52.589 --> 00:28:58.329 remembering that party. Get ready, right? Please 00:28:58.329 --> 00:29:07.579 pray with me. Oh, Lord God, we live in a world 00:29:07.579 --> 00:29:13.799 in which your treasured people die tragically, 00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:16.759 sometimes violently. We live in a world where 00:29:16.759 --> 00:29:21.759 things don't often make sense, but we praise 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:25.839 you that you are good, that you are bringing 00:29:25.839 --> 00:29:28.799 all things to glorious completion in Christ. 00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:32.329 We praise you for your mercy. We praise you that 00:29:32.329 --> 00:29:35.589 the son of righteousness will rise with healing 00:29:35.589 --> 00:29:39.670 in his wings. Help us Lord to fix our eyes on 00:29:39.670 --> 00:29:44.829 that. Make us people who desire you and desire 00:29:44.829 --> 00:29:46.890 that day spring above all else. We pray all this 00:29:46.890 --> 00:29:56.319 in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for listening 00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:59.099 to Second City Sermons podcast. We hope this 00:29:59.099 --> 00:30:01.079 sermon has encouraged you to worship God and 00:30:01.079 --> 00:30:03.920 to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please consider 00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:06.339 subscribing to this podcast and joining us in 00:30:06.339 --> 00:30:09.500 person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us 00:30:09.500 --> 00:30:12.880 online at secondcitychurch .org and on Instagram, 00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:15.559 Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. 00:30:15.859 --> 00:30:16.460 God bless.