Mark 6:14
“And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.”
In my library is an autobiography of Ronald Reagan that has a unique cover. The cover is a reverse negative image of Mr. Reagan. His hair is parted on the opposite side, his wedding band is on the opposite hand-everything is the opposite of what is really there. The picture is familiar, but it is actually reversed. Mark 6:14-16 is the story of Herod, Christ, and John the Baptist, but things are in reverse order. Instead of him seeing Christ in John, Herod saw John in Jesus Christ.
While it may seem reversed, Herod’s statements about John the Baptist do show a close association. For example, some visitors stopped by the Ranch the other day just before a service my dad, Bill Rice III, was preaching. They have never met my dad nor heard him preach. I wondered if they thought, “Boy, that Bill Rice III sounds a lot like his son!” That would be something, wouldn’t it? The truth is, I may sound like my dad, and that would be the correct order, but that at the least shows close association.
How about you and I today? What if the Lord Jesus were here on the Ranch today? With all reverence, imagine if you bumped into the Lord today. Imagine if your family or folks from your church bumped into the Lord Jesus. Who would He remind them of? Would the Lord Jesus remind them of you? I know that does not seem fair-seeing you in Christ instead of seeing Christ in you-but that is what Herod said of John the Baptist in Mark 6. Would they see a close association between you and the Lord Jesus?
The Bible makes an intriguing statement about Herod in Mark 6:20: “For Herod feared John. . . .” Let me ask you: what did Herod have to fear about John? After all, Herod is the one who cut off John’s head! Herod feared John because John was the only spokesman of God that he knew. He had no regard for God or His Son, but he did associate John with being God’s spokesman.
Herod says in verse 16, “It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.” John did not rise from the dead, but Jesus would! Then the Lord Jesus ascended to the Father and left behind a Comforter, the Holy Spirit. So today your being associated with Jesus Christ is not only a positive, but it is God’s will, enabled through the Holy Spirit.
When you are bumped into today by someone, it is tempting to fall back on your own personality, your own charisma, etc. But will others associate you with Christ? I wonder who you would remind people of today. . .