Excerpt from sermon on 07/12/2015:
This is a pretty bleak picture of what it means to be a Christian and to live out our faith by doing the work of the Kingdom that is required of us. After all, John the Baptist did lose his head. But Mark doesn’t leave us with such a bleak picture. There’s another piece to the story that must be pointed out and lifted up. Remember, the story about John the Baptist is a flashback. It’s something that has occurred in the past. We’re told the story because Herod has heard about Jesus and he thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist raised from the dead! Herod thought that he had the whole John thing under control – “Well, I got rid of that problem” – but here John is, back again, in another form, and an even more potent form. This man from God, this Jesus, really does rise from the dead! The work of God can’t be stopped. You may kill one worker, but another will rise up to take his or her place.
FULL SERMON HERE
This is a pretty bleak picture of what it means to be a Christian and to live out our faith by doing the work of the Kingdom that is required of us. After all, John the Baptist did lose his head. But Mark doesn’t leave us with such a bleak picture. There’s another piece to the story that must be pointed out and lifted up. Remember, the story about John the Baptist is a flashback. It’s something that has occurred in the past. We’re told the story because Herod has heard about Jesus and he thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist raised from the dead! Herod thought that he had the whole John thing under control – “Well, I got rid of that problem” – but here John is, back again, in another form, and an even more potent form. This man from God, this Jesus, really does rise from the dead! The work of God can’t be stopped. You may kill one worker, but another will rise up to take his or her place.
FULL SERMON HERE
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