The death of the conscience!

Mark 6:14-29

King Herod soon heard about Jesus, for his miracles were talked about everywhere. The king thought Jesus was John the Baptist come back to life again. So the people were saying, “No wonder he can do such miracles.” Others thought Jesus was Elijah the ancient prophet, now returned to life again; still others claimed he was a new prophet like the great ones of the past. “No,” Herod said, “it is John, the man I beheaded. He has come back from the dead.”

For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John because he kept saying it was wrong for the king to marry Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. Herodias wanted John killed in revenge, but without Herod’s approval she was powerless. And Herod respected John, knowing that he was a good and holy man, and so he kept him under his protection. Herod was disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so he liked to listen to him.
Herodias’s chance finally came. It was Herod’s birthday and he gave a stag party for his palace aides, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee.Then Herodias’s daughter came in and danced before them and greatly pleased them all. “Ask me for anything you like,” the king vowed, “even half of my kingdom, and I will give it to you!” She went out and consulted her mother, who told her, “Ask for John the Baptist’s head!” So she hurried back to the king and told him, “I want the head of John the Baptist—right now—on a tray!”
Then the king was sorry, but he was embarrassed to break his oath in front of his guests. So he sent one of his bodyguards to the prison to cut off John’s head and bring it to him. The soldier killed John in the prison, and brought back his head on a tray, and gave it to the girl and she took it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came for his body and buried it in a tomb.

Food for thought!

THE DEATH OF A CONSCIENCE
As sad as John's death, as sad as the death of a holy man is the death of anyone's conscience. Our conscience is a kind of John implanted into our hearts to speak in the name of God, praising us when we do well and rebuking us when we sin. This is exactly what John was doing: “he kept saying it was wrong for the king to marry Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife.” Our conscience does the same: it denounces the sin we do. No wonder we try, and sometimes we succeed, to kill and eliminate it, like Herod did.
And talking of Herod. The gospel says that “Herod was disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so he liked to listen to him.” Herod hated John for exposing his sin. However, he still wanted John around; he both hated and loved John; he liked the preacher but hated the preaching; he loved the messenger but hated the message. As a result, when Herod heard John, he was perplexed and confused. In other words, his conscience and guilt bothered him. The guilt over what he did was eating him alive. He knows he killed an innocent, decent and good man. His conscience is bothering him and he is sure that John the Baptist has come back to haunt him.

That is the power of guilt! It will eat you alive. You can’t run from it. You can’t hide from it. You can’t escape its words. It shows up when you are alone. Guilt comes calling in the dead of night. It gnaws at the soul and eats away at the mind. The only solution for guilt over past sins is to bring those sins to Jesus. When they are brought to Him, Jesus forgives the sin and removes the guilt. He can set us free from the monster of guilt! Jesus is the lamb of God that takes away our sins, John the Baptist told us.