Friday in the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, February 3, 2023

Mark 6, 14-29

King Herod heard about Jesus, for his fame had become widespread, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead; That is why mighty powers are at work in him.” Others were saying, “He is Elijah”; still others, “He is a prophet like any of the prophets.” But when Herod learned of it, he said, “It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.” Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so. Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. His own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.” He even swore many things to her, “I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.” The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request, “I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison. He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Although John the Baptist only met the Lord Jesus once and then only briefly, the Evangelists paid great attention to him.  If we compare the number of words recorded as spoken in the Gospels by the Apostles with those spoken by John, it is clear who has the greater role in the story of the Gospel.  After the Lord Jesus himself, only John speaks more.  All four of the Gospel writers describe and quote him, and the first three give a detailed description of what led to his death.  The Jewish historian Josephus, writing for a Roman audience in the years after the destruction of the Temple, writes of him also, providing, for instance, the name of the woman whose dance so fascinated Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee.  

The Gospels and Josephus together paint a vivid picture of the palace intrigue and the international ramifications regarding Herod’s second marriage, which John protested so vigorously.  Herod had originally married the daughter of an Arabian king but later divorced her to marry the widow if his brother Philip, Herodias.  Although this move might have solidified support within his scheming family, the marriage went contrary to the Jewish Law and made him deeply unpopular among his subjects.  Herod came to fear an uprising against him, and it was at this time that he arrested John, who spoke out loudly against the marriage and whom Josephus states had enough sway among the people to initiate a rebellion. The divorce of his first wife also caused hostility with the Arabian king which erupted into a disastrous war for Herod just a few years after the Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  

It would seem that Herod intended to kill John but that he feared a backlash from the people and perhaps from members of his court should he do so.  Herodias, anxious to secure her position, used the charms of her daughter by her dead husband Philip, to gain leverage that she could use to force John’s execution.  The occasion for this came through a pagan sort of revelry, an endless flow of alcohol, and a sexually enticing dance.  Herod relaxed the vigilance any ruler had to possess at all times, and made a very hazardous, not to say destructive, promise.

Saints Matthew and Luke place their accounts of the death of John in the center of their Gospels as though to highlight its importance for their readers.  They especially present him both as the herald of the Messiah and as the model for the Christian who is to live a life of simplicity and is dedicated to the spread of the word of God.

We learn from the Gospel accounts of his death of the conditions which led Herod to kill him.  Herod is presented as a person who wavers between belief and unbelief, and one perilously poised over the depths of vice.  This describes most people.  But the devil, more vigilant for our damnation than most of us are for our salvation, needs only a slight opportunity to cause our ruin.

We ask John the Baptist to intercede with God for us that we might be granted the grace to maintain the vigilance against vice and for the practice of virtue which we need to be saved.