In our study of Mark last time we left off in Mark 6:18-20; where we saw that while Herod Antipas was intrigued with John the Baptizer, his second wife Herodias hated him and wanted him dead because of his criticism of her marriage to Antipas.

Mark 6:18; John the Baptizer had repeatedly denounced this marriage as unlawful. Net notes 23 and 24. John's criticism did not bother Herod but it did bother Herodias.

Mark 6:19; Herodias was used to getting her own way so John's rebuke infuriated her and she was out to get him. She was not satisfied with John's imprisonment because she wanted him dead for criticizing her.

Mark 6:20; Her plans to kill John were thwarted because Herod Antipas was in awe of John (Net note 26).

Antipas knew John was a righteous and holy man so he protected John from Herodias' murderous intentions by keeping him in prison. Herod liked to listen to John even though he did not understand what John was talking about.

Mark 6:21; Herodias saw an opportunity (Net note 33) to carry out her murderous scheme when Herod had a banquet, for his high officials, military commanders, and the prominent citizens of Galilee to celebrate Herod Antipas' birthday.

Mark 6:22; Herodias knew how to manipulate Herod so she deliberately sent her daughter, Salome who she had with her first husband Philip, into the banquet room to dance in a way that would win Herod's approval.

Salome was a young woman of marriageable age, probably in her middle teens. Her skillful and provocative dance pleased Herod and his guests, and led him to make her a stupid, rash offer that ended up in putting him in a position of weakness. He arrogantly promised to give her anything she wanted.

Mark 6:23; He offered her up to one half of his kingdom and sealed it with an oath. Actually Herod Antipas had no "kingdom" to give. He was just using a proverbial saying for generosity that Salome knew was not to be taken literally but she did take him up on his offer.

Mark 6:24-25; Salome asked her mother what to request and her mother told her to request John the Baptizer's head on a platter immediately.

Mark 6:26-28; Even thought Herod Antipas didn't want to do it, he was backed into a corner because he had made the oath that was considered to be irrevocable.

He had made the oath Publically in the presence of his guests so in order to save face he had John beheaded in prison and his head brought to Salome on a platter and Salome gave it to her mother Herodias.

Mark 6:29; John's disciples took his body and gave it a proper burial it in a tomb.

Mark 6:30-32; When the twelve apostles to Israel returned from the very busy time of ministry on their mission trip most likely to Capernaum. They gathered around the Lord Jesus and began to inform Him about all that they had done and taught.

In the Greek text it is obvious that the disciples were very excited about their mission. The Greek text literally reads, "They reported to Him how much they had done and how much they had taught."

His response is for them to come away to be with him by themselves in a quiet isolated place so they can rest for a while. Jesus recognizes the need for rest and relaxation in order for their time to be used most productively.

Jesus is not a tyrant. He understands that all work and no time for relaxation makes the apostles less effective. So they took a boat and crossed the lake to what was supposed to be a secluded place.

The parallel passage in Matt 14:12-13; gives some additional information regarding Jesus' purpose for crossing the lake.

The "isolated" place that they went to was near Bathsaida. It was under the tetrarch Philip's jurisdiction rather than Herod Antipas' jurisdiction.

Jesus has been ministering in Capernaum in Galilee. Antipas had just killed John the Baptizer so Jesus leaves the area controlled by Antipas and moves to an area controlled by his brother Philip because of Antipas' negative volition.

Herod Antipas' assassination of John the Baptizer who he knew was a man of God was clear evidence to Jesus that it was time to move on so He will now minister in Bathsadia on the other side of the lake where he will find some positive volition.

This is the principle of Eccles 3:1-8; or as Kenny Rodgers said in his song "The Gambler"; "A time to hold, a time to fold, a time to walk away and a time to run....""

Jesus recognized it was time to move, John's disciples should have recognized it was past time for them to be following Jesus . To be effective we always have to be discerning what time it is by means of the word of God.

Today we are a similar critical time of negative volition in our country so we must be very alert and discerning regarding what to do and possibly even where to move if necessary.

Mark 6:33; But when Jesus and his disciples arrived on the other shore of the lake they are met by a crowd that had ran ahead of them around the lake and gathered on the shore in the "isolated" place. Net note 48

Mark does not disclose the place where they sailed but it was in a place near Bethsaida on the northeast side of lake (Sea of Galilee)

By now the people had figured out that Jesus liked to get away from the crowds so they anticipated His destination and ran around the lake and arrived there ahead of Him so a large crowd of people that eventually grew to about 5000 met Him when He arrived interrupting His plan for a time of rest and relaxation for His disciples.

Mark 6:34; When Jesus saw the large crowd, he was not annoyed because they had interrupted his plan for rest and relaxation instead He felt compassion toward them.

Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another's suffering or misfortune accompanied by a desire to actually alleviate the pain and remove its cause of the suffering rather than to take advantage of it.

Jesus had genuine compassion not pseudo compassion. Jesus was not a politician who uses pseudo compassion in order to advance their hidden agenda behind a rhetorical veil to control people.

The downfall of every client nation involves pseudo compassion. This is what the socialist progressives are doing in our country today.

Genuine compassion is sympathy, tenderness, humanity, mercy, and clemency directed toward others as a virtue. It is commiseration, longsuffering, and forbearance with or toward others who are functioning in a position of weakness.

Capacity for genuine compassion is a product of the spiritual life under the function of the three spiritual skills: Being filled with the thinking of Christ by means of the Holy Spirit, the metabolization of the thinking of Christ contained in Bible doctrine that results in the development and deployment of the problem solving devices.

Genuine compassion emphasizes the deployment of grace orientation. Genuine compassion emphasizes the precedence for the Christian way of life that was pioneered by the perfect humanity of Christ in hypostatic union.

The function of genuine compassion is illustrated by evangelism, the spiritual gift of helps, intercessory prayer and proper motivation in giving.

Genuine compassion cannot be forced by legislation because doing so destroys freedom and results in pseudo compassion that functions as activism, crusader arrogance, tyranny, and revolution.

Pseudo compassion is a weapon for the manipulation of people. Those who have power lust use pseudo compassion as a system of propaganda, in order to manipulate the uninformed.

They use pseudo compassion to try to make their opponents feel guilty so that they will make irrational decisions because of emotional sins. 2Tim 3:1-8;

Pseudo compassion is a system of manipulation through the use of conspiracy, or revolution, or through the function of human good as in activism, through the creation of guilt as a weapon of manipulation in socialism, and through the function of political power to achieve political objectives, which are contrary to the principles of freedom that only comes from Divine Establishment.

This is what the socialist corporatist statist progressives are doing in their attempt manipulate the public lie in order to control the traditionalist constitutionalists in our country today.

In compassion Jesus viewed them as sheep without a shepherd, lost and helpless, without guidance, nourishment, or protection because the one's who were supposed to lead them had rejected Jesus and as a result they could not properly instruct the people. Jer 50:6; Net note 13

This passage in Jeremiah clearly shows that the problem with the people starts with spiritual leadership. This is the same problem we have in the USA today.