Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-january-26-2023
Mark 6:14-29
John the Baptist Beheaded
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
This tragic story explains the fate of John the Baptist, and it tells the story in the context of growing public attention to the ministry of Jesus.
It seems that Jesus was becoming so well-known that people were beginning to believe some pretty startling things about him. Some thought he was Elijah or one of the prophets from the past. At first blush, that’s a little strange. But as you might remember, Elijah had not died – he had been taken into heaven in a chariot of fire – and there was a prophecy that he would come back to announce “the day of the Lord.” And since word had spread that Jesus had restored life to a young girl who had died, maybe people were sort of putting two and two together, so to speak.
And apparently some people had come to believe that Jesus was actually John the Baptist, come back to life after being beheaded on Herod’s orders. And it’s reported that one of those who came to believe that was Herod himself. I assume psychologists have a name for a phenomenon like this, where a person feels such guilt over a past sin that it makes them delusional. Because, as Mark’s account goes on to tell us, Herod did actually have John’s blood on his hands.
And by the way, the Herod in the story was Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great who shed so much innocent blood trying to kill the baby Jesus. Herod Antipas had divorced his own wife and was living with his brother’s wife Herodias, and it seems that John the Baptist had been publicly criticizing Herod for doing that. The ancient historian Josephus wrote that Herod Antipas was fearful of John’s influence over the population and he was afraid John’s public condemnation might cause a revolt. So Herod had John thrown in prison.
The dynamics of the story are pretty interesting, it seems to me. It was Herodias who wanted John executed, but Herod refused. Mark says that Herod liked to listen to John. The historians suggest that Herod the Great had only adopted the Hebrew faith for political reasons, but Herod Antipas might have been genuinely afraid of offending God. His father was understood to have been struck dead by God for presenting himself as a god, so Herod Antipas may have had a good reason to resist murdering John.
This situation strikes me as almost ‘Shakespearean’ in character – a superstitious dictator with a ruthless and ambitious girlfriend who’s afraid that John is going to mess up her cozy situation. Herodias could be seen as the Lady Macbeth of first-century Palestine.
The spark that ignites this volatile situation occurred in the midst of what must have been a drunken birthday party. Herodias’ daughter performed a dance for Herod’s guests. It must have been a pretty good dance, because Herod impulsively allowed the girl to name her own reward for the performance. The girl asks her mom, Herodias demands John’s head, and the life and ministry of John the Baptist comes to a sudden end.
So what’s the ‘So what?’ of this story? What’s it supposed to mean to people like us twenty centuries later?
First of all, it reminds us of what often happens to prophets. Throughout history, God has sent prophets to “speak truth to power” – to stand before the authorities of this world and call them to turn aside from their sins. And like John the Baptist, lots of them came to brutal ends. Still happens. Just last week we remembered the legacy of one of them. The powers of this world are not that interested in turning aside from their sins. They’d rather murder the prophets
Probably the other sad detail of this story that needs to be recognized is that John the Baptist was murdered over a personal slight. He wasn’t executed on theological grounds, or as part of a noble war of ideas. A woman is angry and resentful because her privileges are threatened. Herodias was so irrationally angry that when her daughter is offered half a kingdom, she insists that it be traded for the head of one man. And then it turns into a matter of personal pride. A dictator doesn’t want to look bad in front of his drinking buddies, so he gives the word, and John the Baptist dies. Anger, resentment and pride – it turns out that love of money isn’t the root of all evil.
John the Baptist was assigned a certain role in Salvation history – to prepare the way of the Lord. Maybe you could make a case that in being murdered because he threatened the privileges of the rich and powerful, John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus in that, too.
It strikes me that there’s no better way of identifying a true prophet than by looking to see whether he (or she) is causing anger and irritation to the powers of this world. The path of the prophet is usually a rocky and painful one. But it’s through them that God works mightily – reforming his church, establishing a more just society, preparing his own way into the world.
Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you for the role John played in the story of Jesus’ coming, and for his example of courage in the face of the corrupt powers of this world. By your Spirit, give us the courage to stand up for your way as he did, and protect us from the casual evil of those worldly powers. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
(The listed readings for today are Psalms 81 and 116; Isaiah 49:13-26; Galatians 3:1-14; and Mark 6:30-46. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
Recent Comments