Mark 6:14-29

Between the Sending and Return of the Twelve

The fate of John the Baptist appears in a Markan ‘sandwich,’ where the story is told almost as a detour between the sending (ἀποστέλλω) of the Twelve (6:6b-13) and their return (6:30). It is the longest narrative Mark tells about anybody other than Jesus and he tells it as a flashback. We know that Jesus’ ministry only began after the arrest of John (1:14), but Mark has not yet told us John’s fate.

If we are to be faithful to Mark’s carefully constructed narrative, our preaching needs to be attentive to the context in which Mark tells John’s story. Mark interrupts the high point of Jesus’ disciples’ success as they cast out many demons and cure many of the sick (6:13) to tell a dark, grisly martyrdom…