David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 6:18-24

For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰ 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.

²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.  ²² 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.” ²³ And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”

Satan is an opportunist, and he uses people to pursue his purposes. In this case it seems that Herodias was looking for an opportunity to circumvent Herod’s wishes to protect John. Even though Herod ended up killing John the Baptist, he did so under duress. He walked foolishly into a trap of his own making – without even realizing it was a trap at all. But once there he had no way out.

How does this work? How do we open ourselves to the devil’s schemes? We get distracted. We get seduced. We approach life half-hearted. Herod was distracted by his birthday celebration, his guests, and Herodias’ daughter. He lost sight of self-control and made a foolish promise. He ignored John’s preaching because Herodias apparently pleased him so. He was deceived by his wife who seems to have set up the events toward this end. When the time came to determine what the girl would ask for she goes immediately to her mother; this wasn’t a last minute plan. To top it all off, Herod was half-hearted in his intrigue with John. Had he been wholeheartedly engaged in John’s teaching Herod’s life would be a totally different story – so too John’s story!

Deception, distraction and half-heartedness  are the ingredients for the perfect storm of evil’s intent. Focusing on God’s word, keeping our wits about us, and a life of daily repentance and faith will make it much more difficult to fall into a trap of Satan’s design, or get caught up in the tumult of evil that would destroy us.