It's a question of identity...

Matthew 14: 1-12; Mark 6: 14-29; Luke 9: 7-9

Mark 6

²⁶The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her.

Conflicts come in many forms: physical, social, psychological, environmental and spiritual.  In the life of Jesus and His followers there was little respite from those who had a vested interest in silencing them for one reason or another. We have tended to be told and we have tended to hear the story of Jesus in a very two dimensional way: good guy versus bad guy; saint versus sinners; God versus the devil. This grossly simplifies and distorts the biblical story of God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus. We would benefit from taking time to hear the story of Jesus in the much richer context of the first century Middle East. There is a physical conflict going on through a military occupation by Rome, there are multiple competing political and religious (a powerful way of doing politics) interests; people are torn between meeting their immediate short term interests and choosing some form of radical change; a sense of nation, land, ritual are all mixed up and there is resulting crisis of personal and community identity. If there is one thing that strikes me as I read the bible it is the diversity of interests and identities revealed in the unfolding story. In today’s story of the martyrdom of John the Baptist many of these socio-political elements come together. John challenged a powerful regional leader (King Herod the Tetrarch) with regard to how he could lead a people ethically when his personal life was grossly unethical. How can social cohesion and harmony be promoted by those who live chaotic lives? The Tetrarch was living out his identity as an administrator for Rome; his behaviour was no more unethical in those terms than any other powerful leader of his time. Rome was built on two brutal principles ‘death and taxes’: avoid the first by paying the second. Power exercised is power possessed; Herod exercised his power and in this sense he was no better or no worse than his contemporaries.  John was challenging this identity. He was challenging Herod not just with adultery but with the identity question; who has God created you to be? God is in charge; God is our King; His Kingdom has come; have you not heard the stories of Jesus and His Nazareth sermon?  Herod has indeed heard about Jesus and what been happening around the country. Could all this stuff be true? There is a profound sadness to this story; an addiction to: power, lust, saving face and a celebrity lifestyle costs two people their lives. John the Baptist is beheaded and Herod the Tetrarch saves face (his identity as a Roman Tetrarch) rather than his life and a new identity in the Kingdom that Jesus has inaugurated and is announced by John.    

In the complexities of our contemporary setting we have to keep focus on our identity as followers of Jesus and as participants in His life transforming Kingdom.  The physical, social, psychological, environmental and spiritual conflicts that we will face as individuals and as a community of disciples are very real. Each of these conflicts has to be viewed and  resolved through the ethical teachings and practices of Jesus if we are to live out the freedom from violence and oppression that Jesus said He had come to inaugurate. No more beheadings are necessary; no more revenge is necessary; simply hear the words of Jesus and put them into practice. This is our identity in the presence of ongoing conflicts.