Mark Chap 6 begins with Jesus being rejected in his own village but ends up being accepted in other places where people come seeking him. When does a witness become relevant? Only when we have a first hand experience. Every witnessing is challenging but standing for the truth decides how deeply  we are rooted in our conviction.

 Mk 6:14-29 speaks of a prophet compromising his life for the truth. The death of John the Baptist is sandwiched between the mission story of the twelve disciples. What message is Mark giving us by placing John's death here?

One thing to note is that when Jesus sent his disciples he warned them that some might not welcome them nor hear them. The good news does not overwhelm everyone, in fact, it can offend some. Both Herod and Jesus send out people. But Herod's employees destroy the life of another while disciples of Jesus bring health and wholeness to the life of others.The disciples' mission is quite successful (6:12-13), and reassures us that God's work continues unabated even in the face of the martyrdom of a great, Godly servant. 

Christian witness compels us to experience suffering for the cause of righteousness and justice. When the world challenges us to adopt escapism than facing reality, the life of John the Baptist challenges us to stand boldly for the word of God. His silence could have saved him from his gruesome death. But he stands as a man of courage. He was a child of desert and of the wide-open spaces and to imprison him in the dark dungeon must have been the last refinement of torture. But John preferred death to falsehood. Bon Hoeffer in his book The Cost Of Discipleship talks of two grace - The costly grace and the cheap grace. He says the costly grace demands us our life. There is a cost to witnessing-a cost that can and might lead to the loss of your own life while giving life. A cost of rejection, a cost of not being able to minister to all who hear the gospel. A cost of being misunderstood, a cost of being maligned by those who cannot handle the truth. Suffering in the life of a Christian is not an end in itself but it is the means of refinement and transformation.

Are we willing to tell the truth even if nobody listens?