Boobies, PeePee's, and Other Unspeakable Things ...

Most folks, particularly of the Christian variety, would like to think, that the scriptures say nothing about porn.  But they might.  Oh sure, in the time of Christ, there was no internet stocked full of free porn sites designed to lure the viewer into finding the kinds of things that might arouse interest; and stay, and deepen the interest by indulging in it with such regularity that perhaps new and even more unusual images might peak the interest on the next visit.  The foundational idea of porn is that variety is the core of arousal, monotony is the death of it.  So while in the time of Christ there was not this vast established infrastructure to support porn from a distribution point of view; there was still one constant, the mind and imagination of the men and women who fostered indulgent thinking behind a mask of upright and conscientious external appearances.  After all the imagination of a person can hide a great many thoughts, inappropriate ideas, and downright lusts, from our friends, family, and neighbors … but not from Jesus.

Yikes!  To think that Jesus is privy to our most intimate thoughts, and fully aware of every sexual idea that has crossed our minds from an age too young to consider it, to an age too old to act on it (minus perhaps a little blue pill), is embarrassing to say the least.  Generally, we think of our sexuality as private, as personal, a kind of no-one-else’s business perhaps including God.  Well more accurately, especially excluding God given the thoughts that float through our heads from time-to-time.  To think we are not living in as private a condition as our sin demands is un-nerving.  To consider the idea of openly including God in our sexuality is not something even most Christians are comfortable with.  But then, God created it, He understands it better than we ever will, so why exclude Him?  The idea that our sense of privacy inherently excludes God should give us an indication that our ideas are not lining up with His, or at least with what we have been taught about His ideas.

But before we can talk about where things went wrong we might consider the template of when things were first perfect.  Before sin.  Before the apple tasting when both of our original parents chose to break trust with God, there was the concept of male and female, and the partnership we refer to as marriage.  The original template however was something much deeper and more intimate, and more vulnerable, than the casual use we make of the word marriage in our modern day.  Eve was not just Adam’s helper, she was his everything, he was willing to let go of Eden and die rather than lose her.  He held nothing back from her.  Not thoughts, ideas, dreams … everything that could enter the mind of Adam was shared in perfection with the flesh of his flesh.  They both existed naked and unashamed, clothing was a by-product of sin.  Their physique’s were not a source of pride, or of lust, but of the beauty of the finger of God, and what He was able to sculpt from the dirt of our earth.

This was a relationship meant to last, meant to last forever, something eternal.  It was not time based, as other than the weekly practice of Sabbath time with our God (something they both looked forward to in a special way, also created before sin), marriage was an eternal construct.  This marriage was literally the anti-matter of porn.  Variety is not God’s idea of what is needed for sexual expression, rather continuity is, intimacy is.  Sexual expression was meant to be so personal, so intense, that only one other person could ever come to know you as deeply across every facet of your life, as to understand you in this way this well.  Security in knowing you belonged to a partner who was literally the other half of your life, brought a foundation to how you lived, that words could scarcely summarize into the term marriage or monogamy. 

Unity to nearly the point of sharing molecules, was the idea that went into a marriage meant to last in forever kinds of terms.  There would be no boredom.  For how could boredom dare survive the imagination of minds not encumbered with self-love, or the limits we place upon ourselves.  A pure service to others, in this case our spouse, was an effort that would occupy the imagination and the senses.  Creating joy for another was the full-time dedication of our existence, that would have neither end, nor limitations in its expression.  Purity, and complete dedication, innocence, and no plans to change it.   This is how marriage began, and how it was intended to last.  Never even a thought of having it end, or distracting it with something else.  No need.  Once perfection is attained, anything else is by definition, less. 

Had sin never emerged, there would be no divorce.  When sin is put to an end, divorce will be consumed with it, but marriage will not.  It will return to the state it was intended to be in, it’s original purist form between those who God heals for it.  Perhaps not all of us, perhaps so.  But what sin can damage, our Lord can remake, and repair.  This is the entire point of salvation itself.  Transformation is more than what happens within us, it is what happens to return institutions created before sin, to their original state, and perhaps us with them on an eternal basis.

Comparing that, to what we call marriage, is comparing brilliant light, to shadows in darkness.  We hardly have even the reflection of what was originally intended.  But we try.  And over time our ideas about marriage come to include a multiplicity that by definition must spoil the intimacy that God intended.  Multiplicity entertained by ancient Israel, fed only the self-love of men, at the expense of women, and to the detriment of what they still called marriage.  And over time our ideas then included the notion, of a do-over, of making a different decision about what forever means as we apply it to spouses.  Enter divorce.  Divorce too, was most often employed by men to cast aside women they no longer loved or wanted, in favor of something else.  The idea of starting over was never meant to be cast in this context, but self-love and selfishness can find a way to rationalize a great many things.  So it did.  Over time, our ideas about marriage had made it more contractual, subject to the tools of legal application, than a level of intimacy that would wish no deterrent. 

And Jesus enters the stage.  How sad He must of have been to witness the institution He created for the joy of mankind, twisted until it was a tool of Satan to destroy the entire creation of mankind.  Porn is only the external manifestation of what can exist within the heart of men and women, who do not understand why the continuity of intimacy is so much better.  Jesus sees what we have done to marriage, and how we butcher the term, and the application.  So He is driven to speak out.  Matthew records what Jesus had to say about our ideas of sexual expression in his gospel in chapter five and picking up in verse 27 he quotes Jesus saying … “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: [verse 28] But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

At this point not only are our motives made equal to our actions in the sight of God, now we can add “how” we look and think about a woman (or man if you are a woman).  To entertain the idea of what any form of sexual expression might be like with another person, even if only in the mind’s eye, has become the definition of lust.  It does not matter if the woman has contributed to this problem, by removing her clothing, taking an alluring pose, and offering a receptive look on the pages of a porn site; or whether she is appropriately modest and attempting no such ideas.  The state of the woman is not in question.  The reaction of the man is.  That the man would seek out women to visualize in this manner, has only to warp his imagination, and further promote the idea that women are mere biological objects, not people to be cherished.

To see, to imagine, to entertain the notion of variety, is to embrace porn and destroy marriage or our ability to enjoy it, through the corruption of sin.  We warp our thinking until intimacy is a long-lost casualty, and aggression is a close ally.  In those where intimacy has been decimated, a hunt begins, to find the next object we can perform our acts of biology upon.  The object of our expression becomes nothing more to us than a sack of meat.  What kind of meat begins to matter less and less, only that variety is maintained, and emotional attachment is never considered from the acts we perform.  There is no limit to what derangement may follow.  “Normal” is truly a subjective concept absent an external point of morality, such as the original template of marriage, or the Law of God that would sustain it, by reflecting back to us “who” we truly love.

The idea that these thoughts lead nowhere was put to rest immediately by Jesus as He continues in verse 29 saying … “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. [verse 30] And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”  As men we are prone to visualization, though this is not completely in the province of men.  As humans, what we see influences what we think.  And most men take action (very often with their right hands) when considering what they have seen with their eyes, and have come to imagine in their minds.  Jesus points out here that choosing to focus on these things, and enact our lust, even if only on a “personal” basis, leads to a point where humans are sacks of meat, and God is an inhibitor of me making me happy.  Forget salvation, give me the here and now in a lust that has no abandon.  That degenerative path begins in the mind, and finds action in the hands.  And you thought porn was not mentioned in scripture.

Jesus continues in verse 31 saying … “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: [verse 32] But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”  What Jesus describes here is a sequence of events, not a justification for divorce.  The sins listed are fornication and adultery, which both are effectively sex outside the confines of marriage.  Divorcing your wife, because you changed your mind, does not break the marriage vow from heaven’s point of view.  It takes greater sin to do that.  Abuse would do it.  Sexual promiscuity would do it.  But because you have changed your mind over time, is not enough to get it done.  So, just handing her a paper of divorce, makes the next man who attempts to marry her, an effective adulterer with her as the first bond still holds in the eyes of heaven.  By the way, it does not free the man to remarry either, he and his new wife also become nothing more than adulterers, not truly husband and wife.

This is not meant to be a legal clinic on divorce by Jesus Christ.  It is meant to reset our thinking on just what vowing forever means.  It is not something we should treat so lightly.  God can mend hearts, and put love there, when no love exists.  It is rather His specialty.  So marriages that might otherwise seem to have gone dead can be resurrected, when we are willing to put Jesus Christ back into them.  Even back into an otherwise dead sex life.  The true author of sex knows how to revive and remake a sex life that would stand the test of eternity.  He just needs your permission to do it.  It may involve re-teaching you everything you thought you knew.  From how you think about people generally, to how to make someone else happy during sex, never for a moment thinking about “your” needs.  Consider for a moment, in marriages following the original template, neither person is thinking about self, both are only obsessed with thinking of the other partner.  And the let fireworks begin to fly.

While we have twisted horribly the idea of marriage in our world, allowing Jesus to transform us, allows Jesus to transform what our marriages can be like.  They too, can begin to see radical improvement in the here and now.  What once seemed dead on the vine, can be resurrected and become so important to the two participants that life itself could not be imagined without the blessing of the marriage they have after Jesus.  It is long past due for porn to die in our thinking.  Not just our incessant visitation of sites on the internet when we think no one will catch us; but instead the notion that variety itself is better than the continuity of intimacy. 

Variety is not the spice of life where it comes to sex, it is the death of happiness.  Variety, and our quest to achieve it, births only pain to those we love, those who love us, and the circles of lives it reverberates through.  That is not increasing our fun, that is killing it.  But true transformation, where we submit even our sexual expression and desires to Jesus Christ, does not result in the death of sex.  But instead in a re-vitalization of a sex life that is based on self-less-ness and singularity.  It puts our sex life on a path ever upward, ever more interesting, ever more a gift to the singular partner who means more than life to us.  Only then does our imagination begin to consider what else could bring true joy to a partner we cherish.  Only when we allow Jesus to remain a part of our marriage and of our sex life, can we keep it free from sin, and on the course heaven would wish for us both.

And this same sermon was not over yet …

 

Ghosts of Pride and Ignorance ...

Word of mouth, or a good recommendation from someone you know, might be the best publicity out there.  No matter how it comes to you, the opinion of someone you know and perhaps trust, will outweigh what billboards, or advertising, or any other paid medium can offer.  When we connect with someone, understand where they are coming from, have memories of shared experiences, it gives us a much better context for something they like when they recommend it to us.  This is a basic human phenomenon that has existed long before mobility gave us pictures, and 140 characters to disseminate data to our collection of friends.  In the time of Christ, it was the only vehicle for spreading the good news.  The fame of Jesus was spreading widely already, but instituting His followers and sending them out 2-by-2 had exponentially increased the word of mouth regarding the Messiah.  Instead of only Jesus performing miracles on a grand scale, now 12 other followers were doing it too.  At this rate, there would hardly be a demon-possession or sick person left in all of Israel.  The nation itself was moving from weakness to strength in so short a time, every disciple was certain the Messiah was soon to fulfill the mission they all believed He came for … to become our earthly King.

But there was already a king of the Jews, or at least a tetrarch.  Herod Antipas, was still formally in charge of Israel (or this part of Galilee).  The Romans had dispatched a governor to maintain military discipline, but continued to honor their original agreement with Herod the Great, dividing his kingdom into three parts at his death and letting his sons rule in each section of the greater Palestine area.  Herod Antipas in our section had no great military ambition, and was more focused on insuring a relative peace, in order to maintain his rule, than to see it given over to one of his brothers Archelaus or Phillip, or another Roman puppet altogether.  He spent the majority of his life attempting to maintain what he had been given.  But this Herod Antipas had grown up in Israel, he had learned from his father who was familiar with Jewish scripture.  Herod remembered the act of his father murdering the baby boys up to 2 years old in Bethlehem to prevent the coming Messiah and deny scripture its fulfillment.  Herod’s son Antipas developed an intelligence network to keep an “eye” on goings on that may indicate the Messiah had come anyway.  And this intelligence network yielded its first real person of interest in the form of John the Baptist.

The scribes, priests, Rabbi’s, Pharisees and Sadducees; basically the entire ruling class, was easy enough for Herod Antipas to deal with.  They were greedy and power hungry themselves, so their motives were easy to read, and their actions followed their hearts.  They may have spoken about religion and tradition, but their focus had nothing to do with the changing of hearts or minds, only of maintaining the flow of offerings to the Temple (and themselves by proxy).  The laws of Moses were generally restrictive in nature, and where Moses had left off, the Temple traditions had added a whole host of further restrictions required in order to achieve piety.  These additional man-made restrictions also greatly increased the profitability of the Temple (and its servants).  So this very corrupted religious institution was well known to Herod, and he never paid it that much credence.  When his brother Phillip’s wife caught his eye; when she clearly made it known, she wanted Antipas, not her husband Phillip, Herod decided too many restrictions prevent happiness and he took her home with him.  In the eyes of Herod Antipas, taking a woman who wants to be taken is hard to call a sin, particularly if he was willing to marry her as well, and treat her like a wife.  After all, Herod was not establishing a multi-wife situation, he was only stealing one.

Herodias however, came with Phillip’s daughter Salome.  She had baggage, but the apple did fall far from the tree and Salome had a reputation for excellence at exotic dancing.  Herod Antipas was now quite comfortable.  He the wife of his choosing, despite some regrettable acquisition details.  He had the clergy under his thumb.  He had the people relatively calm.  Then came John the Baptist.  John was unlike the hypocrites Herod was familiar with.  John was real.  He lived in humility and preached it.  He had no monetary ambitions, and Herod’s spies quickly figured out that John was not looking to become king of anything, so he was no threat; at least no military threat.  John however, was endowed with the Holy Spirit and his preaching was powerful and convicting.  In fact, Herod secretly went to hear John preach, and despite John’s call for repentance, Herod “heard him gladly”.  Herod liked John.  He liked his authenticity.  He liked the power in his message.  He did not even mind when John called him out on it not being lawful to have his brother Phillip’s wife as his own.  Herod knew John was right, and because of his admiration for John, he was OK with it.  He was not ready to give her up, but he knew John was right, Herod was sinning against his brother Phillip.

Herodias however, was NOT OK with it.  She wanted John dead, and would have gotten it right away, but her husband had zero intention of putting innocent blood on his own hands, particularly of someone he admired.  But that is exactly what happened because of pride, and of ignorance.  After being sent out 2-by-2 the disciples uncovered this story.  Peter recalls to John Mark in his gospel in chapter six beginning in verse 14 saying … “And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.”  Herod’s first response reflected both fear, and hope.  He imagined that the great miracles going on in Israel, the idea that the disciples were also healing and casting out demons, might mean that John the Baptist had risen from the dead and was responsible for all of this.  Perhaps John would forgive Herod for his death.  After all, both Andrew and John the beloved, were both originally disciples of John the Baptist.  And 2 other disciples were their brothers including Peter.  So at least 4 disciples had direct connections to John the Baptist, and it was through the Baptist that they had met Christ.  To Herod this idea made good sense.

But despite wishful thinking on Herod’s part, it was not a risen John the Baptist, nor any ghost version of him that was behind the miraculous transformation of Israel from extreme weakness to extreme strength.  Herod’s intelligence network and the people at large had other ideas.  John Mark continues in verse 15 saying … “Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.”  The coming of Elias (or Elijah) had also been prophesied, and perhaps he or one of his other contemporaries had arisen in Israel.  The question raised was the most key issue then and now.  Who exactly is Jesus Christ?  If Jesus is only a prophet, then His divinity is moot, and our salvation along with it.  If Jesus is only a good teacher, an upright man, then His life is no more meaningful than any other good soul who has ever lived.  But if Jesus is the only Son of God, then there can be no salvation from our desire to sins, outside of coming to Him in surrender.  This has been, and always will be the key question every man must answer for himself, who is Jesus Christ.  Herod remained unconvinced of these other theories.

John Mark continues in verse 16 saying … “But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.”  This was Herod’s greatest wish.  He wanted John back from the dead.  He wanted to be forgiven for making John a headless corpse.  He, like Saul of old, wanted to hear a word from the Lord from the mouth of His prophet.  But Herod had made himself blind to the fact that he could have word directly with the Lord who truly was responsible for the miracles everyone was reporting.  This set of scripture begins with Herod’s recognition of the name of Jesus Christ being reported to him.  But Herod twisted the identity of Jesus, transforming Him into a risen John instead; because that idea made Herod happier.  If Jesus was not John, then John remained dead, and Herod figured he could never be forgiven.  How like us.  We attempt to transform God into the image we want, in order to gain acceptance for the sins we commit, instead of seeking forgiveness and transformation from them altogether.

Peter then recalls the story of John the Baptist that he and the other disciples had uncovered in their mission of ministry.  Mark transcribes it beginning in verse 17 saying … “For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her. [verse 18] For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.”  No whore likes being called that.  John the Baptist had out’d Herodias as being an adulteress.  John had made it known to Herod, it was a sin to keep her.  And Herodias had no intention of being sent back to Phillip, or kicked out on the street.  John posed a threat, and she wanted him dead.  So after nagging Herod to death, likely withholding sex, and making his life miserable, Herod finally agreed to put John in prison, where at least he could not publicly call her a whore anymore.  Even though Herod would still regularly visit John there.  Mark continues in verse 19 saying … “Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: [verse 20] For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.”

Herod “did many things” based on the preaching and message of John the Baptist.  Herodias perceived the threat as being even greater to her, now that John was in prison where Herod could see him regularly.  In fact scripture says that Herod “heard him gladly”.  Herod embraced the true message of repentance John was preaching.  He did not make him shut up, instead he wanted more.  He began to reform his actions because of it.  Herodias rightly reasoned, that if this kept up, she would be back in Phillips home, or out on the street in no time at all.  Something had to be done.  Mark continues in verse 21 saying … “And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; [verse 22] And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. [verse 23] And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.”

So there are a few things to consider in this sequence of events.  First, it is highly likely Herod was not getting any with Herodias because she still wanted John dead.  So as a gesture to put Herodias in her place, Herod asks her talented daughter to dance at his party for him.  This was meant to further un-nerve Herodias, and it worked at first.  But Ghosts are created by pride, and exist in ignorance.  Herod had made his birthday celebration a public one with only the ruling class of important attendees.  Where better to show off his niece’s dancing skills, and the wealth and privilege he had amassed.  Word of mouth was important, perhaps more so in his own day.  And the word of a king had to be trusted and absolute, or the monarchy would degenerate into chaos.  But parties then and now, are opportunities for people to let their hair down, and have a good time.  Herod would not be driving so why not take in a little wine, and add drunkenness to the enjoyment of the day.  Drunkenness was another one of those restrictions the Rabbi’s were always making too much of anyway.  But in this condition, it seemed reasonable to offer the dancer anything she wanted.  It would be another slight to her mother for not being willing to keep Herod entertained.  Herod’s lack of clarity of mind, clouded his judgment, and he over-promised, not thinking what she might ask for.

John Mark records what happened next in verse 24 saying … “And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. [verse 25] And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.”  Salome was no innocent, she was the daughter of a whore, and appeared to have taken up the family profession.  She had succeeded in arousing the passion of the king, who was thinking to buy her intimacies later this evening for his birthday.  But Salome would ultimately share the fate of her mother.  If her mother were sent back to Phillip or cast out on the street, she would follow.  John the Baptist did not tolerate partial sins, he was looking to free his audience from all of them.  Herod could not marry his niece any more than he could lawfully steal her mother.  So if the threat of John persisted, she would be cast out as well.  She did not argue with mom, or even suggest an alternative, rather she embellished her demands by wanting John’s head in a basket for her to toy with.  She returned to the king “straightway with haste”.  Not tempted by immediate rewards like jewels or wealth or land, she would rather play the long game and terminate the threat of John, so ultimately she could inherit it all.

Mark records the outcome in verse 26 saying … “And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. [verse 27] And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, [verse 28] And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.”  Ghosts are created by pride.  The king had sworn an oath.  He could have argued with her.  He could have simply refused her, and had her executed herself from making such a request.  If he was worried about maintaining his power, that would have sent a strong message to those in attendance.  But Herod was weak in sexual matters.  This is how Herodias gained entrance into his home in the first place.  It was now, his weakness that would submit to his pride, and end the life of the only holy man he knew, and admired. 

Herod was “exceeding sorry”.  The repentance John had been preaching was now fully in the heart of Herod, but alas his pride remained greater.  The daughter of the whore, took the head to her mother, and despite his weakness, Herod would not want to be seduced any further on this birthday, he had already lost too much.   It was in this context, that Herod so desperately wanted to believe that Jesus was a risen John.  He wanted a second chance.  He wanted to undo the consequences of his sins.  But Herodias and Salome had remained in his home, and in his heart, and in his weakness.  So while Herod preferred a better Ghost story, he had denied himself access to the only person who had the power to free him from his sinful and addictive desires.  By denying the identity of Jesus Christ, Herod had cut himself off from his only cure.  When later Herod would be given power over the fate of Christ, his only interest would be in seeing a miracle for himself.  By then the corrupting influence of the whores in his life, would have sapped all the repentance he had ever felt when listening to John.

Peter contacted Andrew and John to collect the remains as Mark writes in verse 29 … “And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.”  Herod released the body to the disciples of John the Baptist, but never bothered to know who it was they served now.  His interest in Jesus would only be if it could confirm what he wanted Jesus to be.  Finding out directly from the disciples that his theories of God were incorrect was not something he wanted to hear.  Are we any different?  When we concoct our images of who God is, do we craft Him in our image instead of the other way around?  Do we attempt to rationalize or minimize the effects and consequences of our sins, instead of seeking a freedom from them in the first place?  It would have been hard for Herod to let go the love of his life, and the seductress of his bedroom.  It was harder still for Solomon of old, to let go 600 wives, 900 concubines, and nearly 4000 of his own children and keep only one… but that is what he did when his conversion finally took hold.  It was hard for Abraham to lose Sarah.  But life goes on.  And Herod could have trusted in God to find him a helpmate that was good for him not only sexually, but spiritually. 

If Herod had been willing to trust his sexuality in the hands of His God, the outcome of his life might have been an order of magnitude better.  To experience real love is far cry better than lust that masquerades as love.  To know intimacy not only with a woman, but a woman who is equally intimate with God, allows God a level of access into our family units that is how it was intended to be.  Herodias and her daughter were not fans of God, they were his enemy.  They used their feminine powers of seduction to get what they wanted, but were incapable of intimacy with God or man, because they had cut themselves off from the source of love and intimacy.  We are quick to criticize Herod for his pride, lack of judgment, and willingness to sin for sex.  But we are slow to look into the mirror, and lay the love of our lives on the same altar of our God.  We are slow to pledge to God ahead of our own sexual interests.  Instead like Herod, we want both.  We want a religion and set of restrictions than is not too tight for us to enjoy what we have, instead of being open to so much more that God might have in mind for us.  Our sin limits us, it does not free us.  Our sins enslave us, and keep us bound to pain and mediocrity, instead of allowing our God to offer us His boundless treasures that no one can take away.

Perhaps the only real winner in this tragedy is Phillip.  Phillip was rid of the whore who masqueraded as his wife.  While he lost his daughter as well, perhaps Phillip feared she too was beyond the desire for redemption.  Perhaps were Antipas would not accept the identity of Christ, Phillip might be better inclined to listen.  At least he would be free of the corrupting influence of a woman who knows the boundaries of lust, but has yet to discover the bliss of love.  If we are to live differently than Herod, and see another outcome in our lives, we must begin to trust God with our MOST cherished possessions, the core of who we are.  We need the Lord in our homes, in our hearts, in our bedrooms, and at the core of our marriages.  If we shut God out of these things, we deny ourselves the potential for bliss He so longs to give us.  Better the bliss of God, than the counterfeit his enemy offers that brings only pain and regret.  Let us make no Ghosts from pride, and let none exist from our willful ignorance.