But
when Herod heard thereof, he said,
It
is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.
For
Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John,
and
bound him in prison for Herodias' sake,
his
brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.
For
John had said unto Herod,
It
is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.
Bearing witness to the
Word of God is, and has always been, a dangerous business. In Mark 6, after reports of the miracles of
Jesus spread throughout Judea, King Herod decided in his anxiety that it was
John the Baptist come back from the dead—a prophet whom he had arrested and
executed for having spoken the Law to him.
King Herod used his power as king to take his brother’s wife, who seemed
all too happy to be taken into the royal palace. The Law of Moses declared this illicit
arrangement adultery, and John told the king so… which immediately made him an enemy
of the court. After a drunken bacchanalia,
Herod was constrained by an oath to execute John and give his head to his
adulterous wife, at the request of her profligate daughter. While John the Baptist had no political,
economic, or social power to stop Herod and Herodias from their wicked union,
the mere declaration of their evil was enough to inspire the adulterers to become
murderers, as well. Such has been the
fate of many bearers of the Word of God, from the Old Testament Prophets to the
New Testament Apostles, and those who have followed in their train ever since.
One might pause to
consider why bearing the Word of God should be so hazardous. Bearing the words of Plato or Aristotle are
not generally perceived as dangerous, though Socrates was apparently martyred
simply for speaking the truth and asking hard questions of those in power. Nor are there many martyrs across history who
speak the words of Machiavelli, Isaac Newton, or Albert Einstein. It is true that certain teachers have been
persecuted across the centuries at one time or another, while also persecuting
others when they could—such as the purveyors of lies, slander, and calumny,
when the targets of their mischief respond with violence. However, there is a peculiarity to the
persecution of God’s Word in the world that stretches back well over 4,000
years, and even to the dawn of creation itself.
While the Word of God brought forth the cosmos and all the laws which
govern its majestic symphony from the subatomic level to the expanses of the
furthest galaxies, the agents of chaos seem always predisposed to rebellion
against the Creator’s order. So it was
that the devil tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden, and has wooed the corrupted minds
of men toward evil ever since. Wherever
the Word of God met the rebels against His Word and His Will, there conflict
emerged, often resulting in bloodshed.
It doesn’t take long to
test this theory in modern times, when the Ten Commandments are applied to any
number of popular sins. Take idolatry,
for example, and God’s command to have no other gods before Him: does anyone doubt that one standing up in our
pluralistic society and declaring that it is a grave sin and fundamental evil
to abide the worship of any other god in our society, might be met with
violence? Under the Constitution of the
United States, no citizen has the power to stop anyone else from worshiping
anything or anyone they please, but the mere affirmation that the worship of
Allah, or Vishnu, or any other entity (either fanciful or real) is evil, will
garner tremendous anger by those who reject the First Commandment. So, too, would a person be persecuted if they
condemned extramarital sex, or any other sexual aberration outside the union of
one man and one woman for life. Honoring
your father and mother is a direct command of God, but a command people often feel
free to ignore—and get quite irate when told they are committing a great evil
to do so. So also the keeping of one’s
oath before God (taking the Lord’s Name in vain,) keeping the Sabbath Day holy,
not bearing false witness against one’s neighbor, not stealing, or murdering
children, or coveting what belongs to one’s neighbor. Those who rebel against the Word of God seem
hell bent on silencing such messengers by force if they can, even when those
who speak that Word bear only the power of persuasion, with no power or intention
to coerce anyone.
Yet it is the violence
and persecution toward the Gospel which reveal its desperate need in our world,
and the worthiness of our sacrifice to bear it.
The world, left to itself under the sway of the evil one, will always be
at war with God until they find themselves immersed in the eternal flames of
hell, imprisoned forever with every foul and rebellious soul of men and demons. The only hope of men in such a world is the
Word and Spirit of the Living God come to save them: a Word Incarnate who took their penalties
upon Himself, and rising with healing for all in His wings. The Law of God reveals the holiness we have
fallen so far from, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ reveals the depths of God’s
love and sacrifice to rescue and restore every soul that will repent and
believe in Him. The hope of every soul who
has ever walked upon this globe, and for all who are yet to come, is the good
news that everyone who repents and believes will be saved by grace through
faith in Jesus Christ alone. Such faith
must always come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God: so the Church sends forth servants of the
Word, just as the Eternal Word once sent forth Prophets and Apostles to
proclaim the way of life to the people.
Those who have been born from above by Water and Spirit, washed in the
Word of God’s Law and Gospel, raised up in the image of their Savior, are sent
as witnesses of that saving Word to a world of souls who need that saving Word
just as badly as they do.
And
of course, those who carry the Word of the Savior into a dark world might find
themselves persecuted, tortured, or killed for that witness, but we know that our
lives are secure forever in the God who saves us. Regardless of how God determines the time and
place of our homecoming, each of His children in this world go forth bearing
the Word which gave them life, so that others might hear that same Word, and
live forever by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Take courage, dear Christian, for Christ as
conquered not only the world to which you are sent to bear witness, but the
sin, death, hell, and devil which can never touch you again. You are children of the King, heirs of
eternity in His Kingdom, and servants of the Eternal Word which is the Alpha
and Omega of all creation. Go forth in
the power and confidence of the King who saves and send you, for you have been
given the Word of Eternal Life. Soli Deo
Gloria! Amen.
