In our culture, we don’t like the word “sin”. Instead, we politely use the words “mistakes” or “shortcomings”. How about the infamous excuse, “I misspoke”? But Jeremiah 17:9 declares: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” The concept that our hearts are filthy with sin does not bring comfort. CS Lewis summed it well: “We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven—a senile benevolence who, as they say, ‘likes to see young people enjoying themselves’” But God is holy, eternal, and definitely not senile. Evil does not win. God wins!
HEROD’S TRAIN WRECK OF A MARRIAGE
In Mark 1:14, the first mention of John the Baptist is “Now after John was arrested.” Sounds like evil is winning. Mark 6:14-29 continues John’s story. We learn about Herod Antipas, the puppet ruler from Rome. Herod Antipas’ personal life is both confusing and obscene. He had an affair with his niece, Herodias, who was formerly married to Antipas’ brother. Herod’s newest wife, Herodias, is both his niece and his former sister-in-law. Both incest and adultery blacken Antipas’ marriage to Herodias. What an evil mess.
EVIL NEVER HAS THE LAST WORD
John the Baptist never soft-pedaled the Word of God. He publicly called out the religious elite, the Pharisees and Sadducees, as a “brood of vipers” and told them they needed to repent. (Matt. 3:7-9). John also does not shy from publicly exposing Antipas for his immorality. God is holy (not a senile grandfather). He will not be mocked. Herodias thought she could successfully silence John with a blow of an axe. Herod ordered John’s execution. Evil exists, but evil never has the last word.
GOD KEEPS SPRINGING UP
Truth tellers often are persecuted. John the Baptist followed in the footsteps of the fearless ones described in Hebrews 11:37-38. Yet, evil does not win. After John’s martyrdom, Antipas began to hear rumors about the latest Bible teacher on the scene: Jesus. “Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” …But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” Antipas may have thought, “You no sooner kill one preacher of repentance than another pops up to stir up the masses.” But God keeps springing up, and He has judgment on evil. Hell is real.
THE ONLY TRUE LIBERATION FROM EVIL
Jonathan Edwards wrote: “Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do.” But without Jesus Christ, there is no escape. Jesus provides the only liberation from the evil of sin.
EVIL DOES NOT WIN!
Evil does not have the last word. Dr. David E. Leininger declares: “Herod does not win. Herodias does not win. EVIL DOES NOT WIN! With joy we can shout out that God’s world does not end with either the whimper of a starving child or the blast of a nuclear bomb; it ends with Jesus Christ, the Lamb upon the throne. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever.” Evil is not the winner! Have you bowed your knee to the only Victor, Jesus Christ?
Click to read a great article on the problem of evil.