Point of Reference (Mark 6: 14-16)

The main story of the Gospel for today is preceded by three verses with Herod wondering who Jesus was. Some said Jesus was a prophet like the other prophets. Some said he was Elijah who had been prophesied to make a come back appearance. But Herod insisted that it was John the Baptist whom he had beheaded.

It must have been the guilt talking. He was hesitant, after all, to have John the Baptist beheaded. But Herodias and Herodias' daughter tricked him into doing it. So when he saw Jesus (who was after all John's second cousin) and heard Jesus' message, it must have been like seeing a ghost.

It's very human to have these little constructs in our head in which we fit phenomena. In this passage, we see the following constructs: prophets, Elijah, and John the Baptist. In an earlier passage, we see the construct "Nazarene" when Philip asks, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" These constructs help us to gain a handle on things.

But the constructs never capture reality (ex. something good did come out of Nazareth) and Jesus was a reality like no other. The Messiah, as Peter would later proclaim. A God-made man.

When we view reality through our constructs, it helps us to get a handle on things. But sometimes, it is these handles which prevent us from recognizing what confronts us.