What Do You See: Mark 6:14-16
We often see what we want. That’s the whole point behind the Rorschach Test. It is also the phenomenon behind seeing images in clouds while laying in the grass looking up at the sky. Ever see the face on Mars? That one is amazing because most of what we see in the face is from shadows. Look at the same area of Mars when the shadows weren’t perfect and it looks nothing like a face.
Today’s verses begin an interlude about John the Baptizer’s death. This story is meant to interrupt the telling of Jesus’ disciples as they go out and come back. It give us the sensation of time passing.
As Jesus is teaching, word gets back to Herod that there is another powerful teacher working miracles. It’s not surprising people connected Jesus with John the Baptizer. After all, Jesus went to John to be baptized. Jesus and John were both born as a part of God’s plan. God sent John ahead of Jesus to prepare the way. Jesus came as God-made-man to save the world. Both worked with the power of God; they are meant to be connected.
Herod goes one step too far, though. Instead of connecting the two and seeing what God wanted, Herod sees Jesus through his guilt. He sees a man working through the power of God and assumes it is the same powerful man working through the power of God that he just killed. I understand the confusion; people like Jesus and John don’t come around frequently. It is sad, though, that out of his guilt Herod fails to see Jesus for who He is.
Other people looked at Jesus and thought He was Elijah. In the Hebrew tradition, Elijah is one of two people who went to heaven without dying. It is believed Elijah will return as a sign for the coming of God’s Messiah. The Hebrew people hoped the Messiah would return to free them from the oppression of the Romans. Rather than seeing what God desired them to see, these people saw what they wanted: a portent to the end of their own oppression. They were so close to the truth, yet missed it completely!
I’m always sad when people see what they want to see rather than what God genuinely shows them. I’m no less guilty than anyone else in this regard. None of us have a direct line to God where we hear His voice clearly and know the future well enough to know which path to follow. It would be much easier if we did. Instead, because of our fallen sinfulness, we have an imperfect relationship with God and an imperfect understanding of what He wants for us. Sometimes, like Herod, we miss the boat completely because of our guilt or shame. Sometimes, we almost get it right but still make errors. Our fault lies within, though. We aren’t always looking for what we need. Rather, we often see what we want.
