Mark 6:21-29 commentary: the head of John the Baptist

21 And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; 22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. 24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. 25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. 26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. 29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

Herod at the great feast was afraid of looking weak. He was afraid of his wife and of his companions so he murdered a great man of God. He is representative of the typical high official of today, always checking to see which way the popular wind was blowing, afraid to cut off the money spigot from his lobbyist friends, or to hinder the possibility of lucrative speaking engagements after he leaves office. There’s no telling what he and his companions were thinking as they watched that young girl dance and its probably best not to know. But, what we do know is that like most politicians he was a spineless wimp.

The kingdoms of this world, at present, are under the operative control of Satan.

2Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

…until Christ returns physically to take over control…

Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

So, the political state of these worldly kingdoms will always be one of wickedness and evil doings. They are rotten from top to bottom no matter how much beautiful architecture, art, music, and education they contain.

One author has spoke of the condition of the poorest of people of today in our cities quite truthfully;

“The United States, the greatest accumulation of wealth and power the planet has ever known… Now has pockets of degeneracy as horrible as anything found in the poorest nations of the world. From the interstices of our twenty-first-century cities there oozes a hideous misery.”

(Jared Taylor in “Paved With Good Intentions”, page 326)

And from the top levels of our country another type of degeneracy;

“…it becomes painfully clear that we no longer have a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Rather, the system of government under which we labor today is a government of the elites, by the bureaucrats and for the corporations. This political enterprise that passes itself off as a democracy is in reality little more than a “pay to play” banana republic, a plutocracy run by a powerful and corrupt oligarchy from the corporate, military and political sectors.”

(John W. Whitehead, “The Corporate Takeover of America—A Government of the Elites, by the Bureaucrats and for the Corporations” July 9, 2012, The Rutherford Institute. )

Any modern day John the Baptist speaking the truth about these people at the uppermost levels of our country will be chastised, marginalized, set aside, ignored, imprisoned, have his taxes audited, have child porn downloaded to his computer through some program like Citrix “Go to My PC” program, or perhaps be found dead having been shot several times only to have a coroner declare him a suicide. As a result I am highly suspicious when a whistleblower is found dead, usually of a suicide, because he “couldn’t take the pressure” like British Scientist, David Kelly or something illegal is “found” on a someone’s computer before they are murdered like Dr. Thomas Manton. It may be just a modern day Herod taking care of business.