Have You Heard? 09.16.07

Mark 6:14 Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known.

“Hey, have you heard about this one they call Jesus?” “Sure – practically everyone has…”

Herod Antipas was no different. He heard. He saw through the eyes of the reports of others. The question is – and this is something we can apply to our own lives – what was it that Herod heard? What were people saying about Jesus?

Herod came to his own conclusion based on what he heard. 14…And he said, "John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him." And…16…"This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!"

Reputations are being scandalized all the time. A reputation is a difficult thing for anyone to maintain against the disparagements of people with an axe to grind. But not even the disparaging of the scribes and Pharisees could change the opinion formed in the mind of this evil man (Herod Antipas) – about the One he saw as a very good man.

The only remaining confusion resulted from the fact Herod had not sought out Jesus on his own, and instead counted himself among those who had only heard about Jesus. Everything he heard was amazingly good. Staggeringly good. Extraordinarily good. Who has ever been this good?

The same kinds of things are said about Jesus all the time in this day and age. It is plainly evident to anyone who cares to examine the facts that Jesus is still having a profound impact and effect on the world today. Lives are being changed. Hurts are being helped. Wounds are being healed. Relationships are being reconciled. And yet large portions of the world have only heard about Jesus. They have never taken the opportunity to hear directly from Jesus Himself. They have never sought to listen to His voice.

And so they choose to continue on in some pretty strange beliefs. It has been well-said those who refuse to believe in God will believe in almost anything. Herod – ‘seeing’ – by hearing about the wonderful works of Christ, arrived at a strange conclusion, and never determined to seek further truth. Herod, who was racked with personal guilt over the death of John the Baptist, determined John had been reincarnated – or raised from the dead - and was presently walking the earth again.

There have always been a LOT of strange conclusions drawn by men about the works of Christ. It was true then – and it is true today. All this ‘new age’ discovery…including reincarnation, idolatry, spiritism, the seeking of a ‘higher power’ are all based upon what other people have said. (Emphasis on the word ‘people’.) I want to know what God says.

Herod was in a unique position to speak to Jesus directly. He had the ‘power’ to command an audience. We do too. Instead, Herod made a wrong conclusion based on what people said about Jesus. It cost him eternal life. We are the same. Have you ever just spoken directly to Jesus yourself – or do you make your conclusions based on what other people say?
- Pastor Bill