Mark 6:14-29 – A Guilty Conscience
News about Jesus is spreading all through the area of Galilee, and people are willing to believe almost anything but the truth about who He is. For some reason the people find it easier to think that Jesus is John the Baptist or Elijah come back from the dead than to believe that He is the promised Messiah or Saviour.
Finally, the news reaches the palace of King Herod. Herod has a terribly guilty conscience; he is afraid that Jesus is the ghost of John the Baptist come back to haunt him. Why is Herod so afraid of this? Mark goes on to tell us.
Apparently Herod had a lot of respect for John the Baptist as a spiritual and good man. He even liked to listen to the things John had to say, despite the fact that he didn’t usually understand them. But one day John went too far in Herod’s opinion. He openly told Herod that he was wrong to commit adultery with his brother’s wife. Most people wouldn’t consider this a great way to win friends in the palace, but John was more concerned about Herod’s soul than about popularity. However, his pointing out of Herod and Herodius’ sin caused him to get thrown into prison. In fact, so great was Herodius’ hatred of John that she engineered a great plot to get him beheaded. Herod chose to continue in his sin and for the sake of his pride granted the sinful request of his daughter to have John killed.
Questions
- Who did people say Jesus was?
- Who was Herod afraid Jesus was and why?
- How did John die?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would speak the truth to men and women.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.