10: Jesus rejected & death of John the Baptist – Mark 6:1-29

6He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. ² On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! ³ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. ⁴ Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” ⁵ And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. ⁶ And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Then he went about among the villages teaching. ⁷ He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸ He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; ⁹ but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. ¹⁰ He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. ¹¹ If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” ¹² So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. ¹³ They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The death of John the Baptist 

¹⁴ King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” ¹⁵ But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not,
²⁰ for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. ²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. ²² When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.”
²³ And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.”
²⁵ Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb. NRSV

Get into the word

1. Where does Jesus go next? What does he do there? How do the people react to him? Why do you think they responded as they did? How is Luke’s version of this incident different than Mark’s [see Notes]. How does Jesus respond to the people? How does this affect his ministry there? How does he feel about this?

2. What is the next step in Jesus’s ministry? What instructions does he give the disciples? Why do you suppose he directed them as he does? How do you think they felt about the directions? How did their ministries fare?

3. What does Matthew add to this incident [see Notes and check Mt 10:16-42]. Does this change the nature of the work for the disciples?

4. What happens to Jesus’s reputation as a result of his ministry? Who do people say he is? Whose attention does this attract? What was the relationship between John and Herod? Who else was involved? Why was Herod upset with John? What did Herod do to John at first?

5. What does Herod finally do to John? What leads him to take this action? How does his wife figure into this situation? What does this tell you about Herod’s character? About Herodias’ character?

Get Personal

What does “sharing your faith” look like to you today? How does this align with Jesus’s mission for the disciples? How does God help you be a witness for the Gospel?

(cross-references to Matthew and Luke are given in brackets)

6:1-6. Jesus’s rejection — each author puts this story at a different point in the narrative. While Mark places it after the healings, Luke puts it right after Jesus’s temptation in the wilderness, [Luke 4:16-30], and Matthew puts it after Jesus’s parables, [Matt 13:53-58].
Matthew’s version is almost identical to Mark’s, except he omits the statement that Jesus was “amazed at their unbelief.” 
Luke does not mention teaching, but says Jesus read the passage from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,” [61:1-2]. Jesus then says, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. He then refers to the prophet not being accepted in his home-town and to several Old Testament prophets who weren’t accepted. Luke’s version ends with the people grabbing Jesus and taking him to a cliff to push him off, but he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

6:3. Brothers — James became a believer and leader of the Jerusalem church and probable author of the letter that bears his name; and Judas is the author of the letter called “Jude;” but there is no information on Jesus’s other sisters and brothers in the New Testament.
6:7-13. Sending the twelve apostles — Luke follows Mark’s version of this incident very closely, [Luke 9:1-6], although he does not specify sending the apostles in pairs. Luke also includes the story of sending 72 disciples, [Luke 10:1-20]
Matthew has more detail in his version, [Mt 10:5-15], including Jesus’ direction to go the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Matthew also includes Jesus’s predictions of the costs and rewards of discipleship, [Matt 10:16-42].
6:14-29. Herod and John the Baptist — Luke refers only to Herod’s question about Jesus, since he had beheaded John the Baptist, [Luke 9:7-9], and does not include the story of John’s death.
Matthew generally follows the story in Mark, [Matt 14:1-12]. He blames Herod more than Herodias and says Herod did not execute John because he was afraid of a riot among John’s followers. The Jewish historian, Josephus gives us the daughter’s name: Salome.