Mark 6:14-16 “King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying," John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him." 15 Others said, "He is Elijah."And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago." 16 But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!" NIV
When God Is at work many people can form strange conclusions about what is happening and why! Jesus was now a well known figure in Jerusalem and throughout Israel. The people followed Him in crowds that were at times similar to today’s rock stars, with many people there for many different reasons. Surely not all of those who followed Jesus were God chasers! As a result there was much talk throughout the countryside regarding who He was and why these miracles were taking place through His life.
This passage is a fascinating glimpse into our human tendency to form strong opinions without any basis in informed fact! The speculation surrounding Jesus had now grown to such an extent that even King Herod had heard about Jesus and was keeping an eye on the things that were taking place in and through His ministry. (Truly, you never know who might be watching you from a distance with an interested eye!) The opinions about Jesus now included the deeply mystical, the biblically historic, and the religiously predictable. For some people the explanation of Christ’s ministry had to be that He was the reincarnation of John the Baptist. They looked at His life and the fact that His ministry emerged at the time of John’s death and formed a supernatural conclusion. Others looked to the prophet words throughout scripture, looking to the word of God but applying their own interpretation by deciding that He must be Elijah. Still others found their answer in the traditional explanation that if this man is doing these things He must be a prophet.
There is one glaringly significant problem with all of these explanations. Not one of them is based on fact! Every opinion that is being discussed in this passage is the result of human reasoning rather than the accumulation of facts. What makes this story so significant is that this same scenario is regularly present within the body of Christ. Various ministers and ministries make headlines locally or nationally for either the events taking place in their meetings or due to some report about them that begins to circulate throughout the media. In the midst of these things people grab a hold of the small bits that they hear and form strong opinions about ministers without possessing any real, solid facts to support their opinions.
Every believer is responsible to be informed about what they believe. Our convictions are to be based on fact not popular opinion. This passage in Mark 6 leads us to the awareness of human tendency. It points out the power of group speculation when the unexplainable is taking place. Many times the work of God has been hindered by negative opinion that is based on nothing but fantasy! Know what you believe AND believe what you know! Paul instructed the church to accept no accusation against a brother unless there were multiple witnesses. This doesn’t mean that we form no opinion and that we never judge. It means that we set our hearts to live like Job who stated in Job 29:16-17 “I searched out the case that I did not know.” NKJV It means that we do the work of supporting our conclusions with fact not speculation! Don’t follow the trends of popular opinion. Follow the truth!
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