The Head on a Platter: Mark 6:14-29

Herod heard the reports from Galilee and felt cold terror creep up his spine. Jesus' name was everywhere—miracles, exorcisms, teachings that drew thousands. The superstitious tetrarch had only one explanation: "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"

He should know. He was the one who had swung the blade.

The story unfolded in flashback: John had confronted Herod about his marriage to Herodias, his brother's wife. "It is not lawful for you to have her," the prophet had thundered, and the words echoed through the palace halls. Herodias wanted him dead. But Herod was afraid of John—afraid of his righteousness, afraid of the crowds who considered him a prophet, perhaps even afraid of the truth in his accusations.

So John sat in prison, alive but silenced. And Herod, in his twisted way, liked to listen to him. Mark says he was "greatly puzzled, yet he liked to listen to him." The fox circling the lion's cage.