Pet Prophets
Christopher B. Harbin
Mark 6:14-29
Year B Proper 11
Christian nationalism is neither Christian, nor democratic, nor patriotic. It tries to tie together two or more allegiances that at some point conflict with each other. Either one's trust is placed in God, or it is placed in political power. Either one's allegiance is to Christ, or one's allegiance is to party, nation, state, or something else. That is not to say that a party, a politician, or a state is always in opposition to God, but there will be points of conflict. When they arise, where does our allegiance really lie?
Herod liked to listen to John the Baptist. He kept him as entertainment, a trophy. He allowed John to play court jester, giving him just enough room to speak and condemn the goings on around him, but not enough room to enact change. Herod did not find any comfort in John's words, but he liked having him close, under his control, limiting John's audience, and even allowing him to challenge Herod from a safe distance. Any time John made Herod too uncomfortable, he could be immediately returned to the dungeon. Sending him back underscored Herod's power over John in response to John as a prophet of Yahweh communicating Yahweh's message.
Imprisonment back in the Ancient Near East was little to nothing like imprisonment today. First of all, there were two primary classes of prisoners. There were political prisoners and there were people over their heads in debt. Any others imprisoned tended to be held for execution. Imprisonment was not widely used as a general mode of punishment for crimes. It was more about keeping an individual from making a ruckus, from inciting people to revolt, for holding a rebellion in check, or making sure an indebted prisoner did not have a chance to unbury treasure and escape creditors. In the case of Joseph in Egypt, he was being held while pharaoh decided what to do with him. John was a political prisoner.
Herod had no plan to execute John. He ...
Christopher B. Harbin
Mark 6:14-29
Year B Proper 11
Christian nationalism is neither Christian, nor democratic, nor patriotic. It tries to tie together two or more allegiances that at some point conflict with each other. Either one's trust is placed in God, or it is placed in political power. Either one's allegiance is to Christ, or one's allegiance is to party, nation, state, or something else. That is not to say that a party, a politician, or a state is always in opposition to God, but there will be points of conflict. When they arise, where does our allegiance really lie?
Herod liked to listen to John the Baptist. He kept him as entertainment, a trophy. He allowed John to play court jester, giving him just enough room to speak and condemn the goings on around him, but not enough room to enact change. Herod did not find any comfort in John's words, but he liked having him close, under his control, limiting John's audience, and even allowing him to challenge Herod from a safe distance. Any time John made Herod too uncomfortable, he could be immediately returned to the dungeon. Sending him back underscored Herod's power over John in response to John as a prophet of Yahweh communicating Yahweh's message.
Imprisonment back in the Ancient Near East was little to nothing like imprisonment today. First of all, there were two primary classes of prisoners. There were political prisoners and there were people over their heads in debt. Any others imprisoned tended to be held for execution. Imprisonment was not widely used as a general mode of punishment for crimes. It was more about keeping an individual from making a ruckus, from inciting people to revolt, for holding a rebellion in check, or making sure an indebted prisoner did not have a chance to unbury treasure and escape creditors. In the case of Joseph in Egypt, he was being held while pharaoh decided what to do with him. John was a political prisoner.
Herod had no plan to execute John. He ...
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