“And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison. . .” (Mark 6:26-27 ESV)
The gospel reading this morning relates for us the circumstances surrounding the imprisonment and execution of John the Baptist. The writer, St Mark has set in in the context of Jesus’ ministry. We have already read of how he went about preaching, healing the sick, and raising the dead. Then we saw how Jesus sent forth His disciples to preach, heal, and cast out demons. This was an open and well coordinated attack on the kingdom of darkness, one that attracted the attention of Satan.
Here in today’s gospel we see that it was Satan who inspired Herod to do something really evil: kill John the Baptist, the prophet of the Lord. He had imprisoned John because he dared to speak boldly against Herod. Herod had divorced his wife to marry his sister-in-law Herodias. I suppose these days that would be frowned upon to a minor extent. John the Baptist had the spiritual fortitude to denounce this as the sin of adultery. This would not sit well with either Herod or Herodias.
From what we see, Herod was a weak-willed bully, one who knew no taboos. To some degree he was afraid of God which was why he kept John alive, safe from the wrath and anger of Herodias. The lascivious behavior at Herod’s court at this feast would also have been considered disgraceful to a pious Jew, for they viewed birthdays as pagan celebrations. In addition, the party was rife with paganism which included the presence of dancing girls at a stag party. So Herod, inflamed by drink and the seductive dance of his step daughter, made a rash vow and was forced to have John the Baptist beheaded and his head presented to his guests, another disgusting display of paganism. Apparently Herod’s desire to look good in the eyes of his friends far outweighed his respect for human life and any fear of God he may have had.
Unfortunately, Herod, like most people today, was too proud, too concerned with image, too concerned with the opinions of others to allow his fear of God to lead him to humility and repentance. His behavior is similar to that of many politicians and celebrities today who value image, sensuality, and pride rather than the fear of the Lord. So many ignore the voice of the Lord calling out through His Word, calling out through His church for godliness and righteousness in government, law, media, and every aspect of personal life. So many people of these high profile idols prefer to maintain the favorable opinion of the masses and to satisfy the cravings of their flesh and the pride of their ego rather than heed the voice of the Lord. Whether or not they realize this, their eternal souls are in jeopardy as well as those of the people who look to them for guidance.
John the Baptist was murdered because He preached the word of God. He knew it to be the timeless word of truth for all ages. He did not change it in any way or soften the message so as not not offend the pagan morals of the people of his day. He believed, as we hear in the reading from the Old Testament prophet Amos, that Word of God is our plumb line. We are called to preach the same word without fear or compromise.