Title: Present Suffering
Contents
2006. 7.30.
death of john the baptist
The writer of the Gospel of Mark described the death of John the Baptist in a very subtle way, and in some cases too banal. The parallel passage, Luke 9:7-9, ends with a very simple fact report that Herod, who heard about Jesus, was worried about John the Baptist. Matthew 14:1-12 follows the Gospel of Mark almost verbatim, but is shorter. The Gospel of Mark, which is the shortest of the Gospels, is the longest covering only the death of John. Does this mean that John's death was that shocking to Mark? Let's follow the story of John's death as Mark explains.
This situation is completely different because of one woman. I don't know if the saying that if a woman has a cold, frost will fall on New Year's Eve. Despite the same mistake, King Herod was remorseful, while Herodias held a grudge. “Herodias had a grudge against John and tried to kill him, but it was not possible” (Mark 6:19).
The story behind this will be briefly summarized. On King Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias and her ex-husband entertained the king by dancing. When the king asked the girl for her wish, he granted his mother's request. He asked for John the Baptist's head to be placed on a tray. King Herod had no choice but to send a guard to have John beheaded because of his words. Things went on.
A hero representing Israel at that time died absurdly. “What is your wish?” At the words of King Herod who exclaimed, John the Baptist died. I don't know if this is human history. A very small thing can cause a lot of anger. It is no exaggeration to say that one of the most tragic scenes in human history is the death of John the Baptist.
John resurrected?
In view of the overall structure of the Gospel of Mark, the story of John's death, which was reported for an unexpectedly long time, has no decisive meaning in itself. Mark explains that Herod remembered his actions when he heard about Jesus and killed John the Baptist. At that time, people said that Jesus was John the Risen, He was also called Elijah, and he was also called a prophet. These rumors seem to have been important to Jesus Himself as well. Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say I am?” and asked. At that time, the disciples spread the rumors about Jesus as they were. People say that Jesus is John the Baptist, Elijah, and one of the prophets (Mark 8:28). Especially in today's text, the rumor that Jesus was the risen John the Baptist must have stirred Herod's heart sharply. Thieves tend to numb my feet. Look at verse 16. “King Herod, who heard about Jesus, said, ‘This is John. John, whom I beheaded, is alive again.’” Not only in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but also in the Gospels of John, the evangelists consistently link John the Baptist closely with Jesus.
Just as in Korea, there is a taemmong, an angel informed us of the fact in advance when Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist and Mary the mother of Jesus were pregnant. In the case of John the Baptist, an angel appeared to his father, Zacharias. John the Baptist came before Jesus as a preacher to the masses. Even if you do not know it, the renunciation of Jesus is not unrelated to the activities of John the Baptist. Although there were many similarities between the two men that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, there were also differences. Unlike John, who baptized the people in the Jordan River, Jesus did not baptize. Jesus performed many miracles, but John did not.
The most decisive reason why the evangelists considered John the Baptist important in the fate of Jesus is the fact that he was the one who prepared the way for Jesus. John was the one who prepared the way, not the way itself. He was not the light itself, but a witness to the light. The writer of the Gospel of John gives the following testimony of John the Baptist: “He comes after me, but in fact, he was before me, so I was talking about this one who preceded me.” (John 1:15) John was a man who smoothed out and prepared the way for the Messiah.
What did John the Baptist actually do? In what way did he prepare the way for Jesus? Just above, I said that the most characteristic of John the Baptist's activities was his baptism. John baptized people by immersing them in the waters of the Jordan River. Baptism is a translation of the Greek word baptizo, which means to be washed away. Those who were baptized by John promised to wash away the shameful lives of the past and live a new life. This includes actual actions, but the heart is probably more important. The meaning of baptism is that you realize your pride and injustice and decide to live a new life. If we explain it with Jesus' parable of the field of the heart, it would be to change the heart into good soil. Once the field of our hearts is rectified, the seeds of the gospel that fell there can grow.
suffering of the righteous
The most decisive reason the evangelists paid attention to John the Baptist was his death. The reason why today's text describes John's death in a lengthy way is that his death also implied the death of Jesus. His death is centrally linked to the theme of ‘the suffering of the innocent’. To borrow Jesus' words, John the Baptist was the greatest man born of women. He was living a celibate life in the wilderness, baptizing people and plowing the field of his new heart. It was a very immoral act, but he condemned the remarriage of Herod Antipas and Herodias, whom no one could speak of. As an excuse, John died. Why should the innocent and righteous suffer in this world?
This theme runs consistently throughout the Bible. Abel, murdered by his brother Cain, is the epitome of that. The prophet Elijah also suffered severe hardships from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. The theme of the book of Job was also the suffering of the righteous. John the Baptist is one who stands in this tradition. Why do the innocent and the righteous suffer in this world?
Due to the past floods, many people have died or been injured and lost their property. It is said that not only South Korea but also North Korea suffered great damage. Do they have any other reason to suffer so much? Israel continues to bomb Lebanon. Many people die. In particular, the majority are young children. Even in such a war, the United Nations remains helpless. It is the history of mankind that power acts like justice.
Jesus was crucified on the charge of blaspheming God and inciting the people. He was as righteous as John the Baptist. He did not blaspheme God, but he was a right preacher. He did not instigate the people, but only participated in their suffering. That Jesus died on the cross, the most cursed death penalty at that time. The crucifixion of Jesus was the final sentence in human history of persecution of the righteous.
Now, Mark's Gospel is foreshadowing the death of Jesus through the death of John the Baptist, a righteous man, the great prophet of that time. That the righteous will suffer and die like that. Of course, I am not saying that all righteous people die like that, or that all who suffer are righteous. According to our common sense, a righteous person deserves that much respect, and the world doesn't allow that. Strictly speaking, the unrighteous world has no choice but to hate the righteous. The sufferings of the Old Testament prophets are proof of this. Their righteousness can only be recognized after the history of that time has passed.
eschatological history
As we can see from the death of John the Baptist and the death of Jesus, it is difficult for the righteous to avoid suffering. Occasionally, righteous people are recognized in the present history, but that is not common. Because the world doesn't like God's righteousness as much as they think it makes them uncomfortable. But God's righteousness does not disappear just because the world rejects it. As the righteousness of John the Baptist, who was killed by Herod, was recognized later in history, and as Jesus, who was crucified by the religious power of Judaism and the political power of Rome, became the center of human salvation through the life of resurrection, the righteousness of God transcends human injustice. We are people who live by looking at that fact. That is the eschatological belief.
However, it is not easy for us to live with such eschatological beliefs. First of all, it is difficult to understand the word eschatological itself, and even if you do understand it to some extent, it is not easy for it to be consistent with your life. Because we are generally committed to our present self-fulfillment. I want to climb a ladder that stretches endlessly into the sky. I can't get to the top, and even if I do, I'm anxious because I want to go higher. We don't know if we're fighting now hanging on ladders that have no legs to go up.
In contrast, we Christians do not believe that we ourselves achieve life. We are completely dependent. Biologically, we are also organically related to the living things of this world. We are not the creators of the world, we are the creatures in it. Ultimately, our life is fulfilled when we are united with the life of God, the master of the world. What this means is that we should not absolutize what we want in our present life, whether or not it is achieved. This is because absolute life belongs to God and is not created by us. Eschatological faith is an attitude that puts hope in a future world of true life that God will fulfill, even if our lives are not being fulfilled the way we want them to be in the present.