Mark - Day 2

Read Mark 4-6

Today's Devotion -- Mark 6:14-20

14King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying,[g] "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."
15Others said, "He is Elijah."
And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago."

16But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"

17For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. 18For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled[h]; yet he liked to listen to him.(NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

This section of text goes on to tell how John the Baptist got beheaded by Herod despite Herod's admiration for the man.

Herod was afraid of John yet liked to listen to him, even though he (Herod) couldn't quite understand what John was talking about. At least the message seemed to be thought-provoking.

Had Herod not heard of Jesus before this time? We don't know how much time passed since John had baptized Jesus, but John obviously continued preaching and teaching. How did Herod hear John's message? I doubt that John held one-on-one meetings with the King in the palace, but it's also hard to imagine that Herod left his home to go hear John in the wilderness.

There isn't any evidence that Herod went out to hear Jesus or that he confronted him to see if he was indeed John the Baptist brought back from the dead. I'm sure it would have been easy to tell! Was Herod's first experience with Jesus on the night of Jesus' arrest when he attempted to try him and hoped to see a miracle?

It's unfortunate that Herod didn't seek out enough information to find the true answers to the questions that puzzled him. How do you respond to things that don't make much sense to you? Do you ignore them, or do you seek until you understand?