Gruesome Gospel cont'd.
This is the message I preached to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel was Mark 6:14-29. Right before today’s gospel lesson, Jesus’ disciples were sent out to preach, teach and heal. Following today’s gospel, they return telling Jesus of their exploits. What’s in the middle?—a seemingly out of place, gruesome story of Herod’s flashback to the beheading of John the Baptist. This is another Markan sandwich, with a rather unpleasant filling. Jesus had become known, which we would think is a good thing, however, there are consequences to this. Once the disciples started preaching, knowledge of Jesus increased. Jesus’ followers were not doing works in their own strength or authority, but by the authority given to them by Jesus (v. 7). However, there is fallout from the disciples’ successful campaign. A question of Jesus’ identity came up. Herod was spooked and thought Jesus was John raised from the dead, which is odd since they were contemporaries. This...