Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm19960626.htm

MARK: GOSPEL OF THE SERVICE OF CHRIST, GOD'S SERVANT
Part XIX: Expecting Severe Persecution For A Godly Stand That Severely Convicts
(Mark 6:14-29; Matthew 11:2, 7-11)
  1. Introduction
    1. When a believer takes a stand in his life or service for Christ, a stand that truly reflects the Word of God as he can understand it, he can expect opposition as Jesus and Paul predicted in John 15:18 and 2 Tim. 3:12.
    2. However, there may be times when the opposition is extremely severe, making the one who has taken the stand wonder if he has stepped out of line himself to cause such an uprising of wrath.
    3. The experience of John the Baptizer sets the record straight as follows:
  2. Expecting Severe Persecution For A Godly Stand That Severely Convicts, Mk. 6:14-29; Mtt. 11:7-11.
    1. John the Baptizer took a godly stand against the adulterous marital escapades of some public officials:
      1. Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, desired to have his brother's, Herod Philip's divorced wife and half-niece to both men, Herodias as his own wife. Thus, Herod Antipas divorced his wife to marry Herodias, so she went from union with one half-uncle to another half-uncle, B.K.C., N.T., p. 129.
      2. However, this arrangement conflicted sharply on two counts with the Old Testament Law's regulations:
        1. Leviticus 18:16 expressly forbade the marriage of a man to his brother's wife.
        2. Leviticus 18:13-14 expressly forbade the unions of nieces with uncles and aunts with nephews.
        3. Thus, since Herodias was illicitly wed to both men on two different accounts, and since these men ruled Israel, John the Baptizer felt obliged as Messiah's F orerunner to speak out against it, Mk. 6:18.
    2. Herodias nursed a grudge against John on the matter, for his criticism invoked a real threat to the power she and Herod Antipas enjoyed over a people who respected the Mosaic Law. However, Herod Antipas feared John as a just, holy man , and so merely imprisoned him to keep him under wraps, Mk. 6:19-20.
    3. Thus, when she had the chance to override Herod Antipas' wishes concerning John, Herodias saw to it that John was handled in a way to intimidate any on his side on standing against her marital status, 6:19-28.
      1. On a certain birthday of Herod Antipas, Herodias' daughter, Salome, danced a sensuous dance before Herod and his public dinner guests that really pleased him, Mk. 6:19-22a.
      2. Moved emotionally at the moment, Herod Antipas asked Salome for whatever she wanted as reward for the dance, and he made a public oath that he would give her up to half of his kingdom, Mk. 6:22b-23.
      3. Salome went to her mother for a suggestion, and Herodias took advantage of the opportunity to counter John's threatening influence against her marital credibility and power:
        1. When Salome came to Herodias for a suggestion as to what to ask from Herod Antipas, Herodias told her to ask for the decapitated head of John the Baptizer apparently on a charger, Mk. 6:24.
        2. Salome immediately went to Herod Antipas in front of his dinner guests to relay Herodias' request. This way, he would be pressured to save face by having John beheaded, Mk. 6:25.
        3. Though grieved at being cornered, to save face, Herod gave the order, fulfilling her request, 6:26-27.
        4. By having John's head put on a dinner charger in the banquet, John and his stand were mocked, making Herodias think she had squelched future threats by John's followers to upset her, 6:28.
    4. Though Herodias sought to discredit John, in God's eyes, John was still a sterling prophet, Mtt. 11:2,7-11:
      1. After John had been imprisoned for his stand against Herod and Herodias, Jesus commented that John was an unadulterated, unleavened prophet, the greatest prophet in God's kingdom, Mtt. 11:2,7-11.
      2. Thus, this horrible treatment of John was not John's problem, but a godless reaction by a threatened, evil woman whose sin as exposed by John led her to react with such ferocity of persecution.
Lesson: We must not draw the conclusion that ferocity of opposition automatically means that one so opposed has done something terribly wrong! That could be the DEVIL'S effort to discredit and intimidate others from supporting a very godly one's s tand. After all, the more threatening one's stand is to the interests of another who is ungodly, the more fierce he will be persecuted!

Application: When facing fierce opposition, it is wise to investigate SCRIPTURE to see if we have somehow made an error, and apologize if need be. However, some fierce opposition is persecution caused by the THREAT our stand produces to another's INTERESTS! In those cases, keep the stand!