Saturday of Trinity 4

Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll

Mark 6:13-29 (ESV) [The apostles of Jesus] cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias’s daughter 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 to you.” And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Before John the Baptist was born, his father Zechariah, who had been filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied of John, “You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways” (Luke 1:76). In other words, John would be the forerunner of Jesus, both life and in death. Like Jesus, John was born to die a martyr, which St. Mark records for us in the reading above.

What a timely reading, full of sex, drugs, rock n’ roll, violence and gore; a veritable catalog of sins against the Ten Commandments. We find that 30 A.D. wasn’t all that different from the 1960s and 2019. God has given us sex, alcohol, and dancing as gifts to enjoy according to His Word, but sinners have always abused and misused them, as we see in this reading.

The despot Herod lusted after and coveted Herodius, his brother Philip’s wife, so he took her as his own wife. And then at Herod’s drunken birthday party, Herodius herself offers up her middle-school-aged daughter as entertainment for the “gentlemen” at the party. She danced for them, and it was no polka. Do you think child exploitation and pornography are new problems? Think again. There is nothing new under the sun.

Then consider the death of St. John the Baptist. How could God allow the great prophet and preacher, the chosen forerunner of Jesus, to be chopped down in the prime of life by the vindictiveness of Herodius and the careless, piggish King Herod? Where is the justice in all of that? This great and faithful man’s life is ended in a moment on account of the passions and whims of wicked sinners. He didn’t deserve such mistreatment. John had done the right thing. He had called on Herod to repent of his adulterous marriage to Herodius, and he had told them both to believe in Jesus. Yet for that, he lost his head. Jesus had said, “Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11), and look what happened to this great man.

John’s greatness was in pointing to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, Jesus. When Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized by John, John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then [John] consented” (Matthew 3:13-15).

To fulfill all righteousness—that means to accomplish everything necessary to save us from eternal damnation in hell—to fulfill all righteousness happened by Jesus stepping into our place as sinners, undergoing a baptism of repentance, going all the way to the cross, and dying for our sin, so that in exchange for our sins Jesus could grant St. John and all of us righteousness and salvation. As St. Paul said, “For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in [Christ] we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He did all of that for John, and for all of us, too.

So listen to what that means for you now. What Jesus has done for you means that all the sins and failures of your past are forgiven and forgotten by God. He doesn’t keep track and exact punishment from you; He doesn’t bear a grudge against you; no, He gives you a clean slate, and works repentance in you and promises a new life for all who believe and are baptized.

In your Baptism, your sins have been washed away so that now each day you can fight against the old sinner and walk in newness of life. Are you ashamed of your own involvement with sins related to sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll? Drown that shame in your Baptism. Are you plagued by guilt over such trespasses? Dunk that guilt in the blood of Jesus Christ in the font, and at this altar, where Jesus gives you His true body and blood for the forgiveness of all of your sins. Are you plagued by continued temptations, and have you once again fallen? Then let the absolution sink deeply into your ears, as Jesus says, “I forgive you all of your sins.”

Prayer (LSB 421):

1. Jesus, grant that balm and healing

    In Your holy wounds I find,

Ev’ry hour that I am feeling

    Pains of body and of mind.

Should some evil thought within

Tempt my treach’rous heart to sin,

    Show the peril, and from sinning

    Keep me from its first beginning.

2. Should some lust or sharp temptation

    Fascinate my sinful mind,

Draw me to Your cross and passion,

    And new courage I shall find.

Or should Satan press me hard,

Let me then be on my guard,

    Saying, “Christ for me was wounded,”

    That the tempter flee confounded.

3. If the world my heart entices

    With the broad and easy road,

With seductive, sinful vices,

    Let me weigh the awful load

You were willing to endure.

Help me flee all thoughts impure

    And to master each temptation,

    Calm in prayer and meditation.

4. Ev’ry wound that pains or grieves me

    By Your wounds, Lord, is made whole;

When I’m faint, Your cross revives me,

    Granting new life to my soul.

Yes, Your comfort renders sweet

Ev’ry bitter cup I meet;

    For Your all-atoning passion

    Has procured my soul’s salvation.

5. O my God, my rock and tower,

    Grant that in Your death I trust,

Knowing death has lost its power

    Since You crushed it in the dust.

Savior, let Your agony

Ever help and comfort me;

    When I die be my protection,

    Light and life and resurrection. Amen.