Show Don't Tell: Mark 6:14-29

Instead of saying "John the Baptist was beheaded," watch the birthday party turn dark. King Herod hears about Jesus—his name has become well known. Some say John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. Herod says: "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised!" Flashback: Herod had arrested John because John told him it was unlawful to have his brother's wife Herodias. She nursed a grudge and wanted to kill John, but Herod protected him—knowing John was a righteous man, he feared him, and liked to listen to him. Then the birthday banquet. The daughter of Herodias dances; Herod is pleased. He swears: ask for anything, up to half my kingdom. She consults her mother: "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist." She returns immediately, urgently: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." The king is greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he does not refuse. He sends an executioner. Picture the dungeon, the sword, the platter carried into the feast—a human head presented as a party favor. John's disciples come, take his body, lay it in a tomb. The forerunner's race is finished.