The Catholic Church commemorates the martyrdom of John the Baptist on August 29.
As the Gospel Reading of his memorial, Mark 6:17-29,
describes, John the Baptist spoke against Herod Antipas’ adulterous
relationship with Herodias, who was a wife of his brother, Herod II, also known
as, Herod Philipp I, saying, “It is not
lawful for you to have your brother’s wife “(Mark 6:18).
Herod Antipas was a son of Herod the Great with his
fourth wife, Malthace, while Herodias, was a daughter of Aristobulus IV and Berenice.
And Aristobulus IV is a son of Herod the Great and his second wife, Mariamne I.
Therefore, Herodias was Herod Antipas’ niece. And Herodias was married to Herod
Antipas’ half-brother, Herod II, also known as Herod Philip. So, Herod Antipas
committed adultery with his niece, as well as, his half-brother’s wife. Thus,
John the Baptist was speaking against Herod Antipas’ great sin, which is in
violation of Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 20:10, and Leviticus 18:16 in particular.
Because of this, Herod Antipas imprisoned John the Baptist
but was afraid to kill him, though had wanted to, knowing that John the Baptist
was a righteous and holy man (Mark 6:19-20). It is intriguing that Herod
Antipas rather liked to listen to John the Baptist, though being perplexed by
his words (Mark 6:20). Herod Antipas had wanted to silence John the Baptist for
having spoken against his adulterous relation with Herodias. But at the same
time, there was something in this evil man’s heart not to kill this righteous spokesperson.
However, Herod Antipas’ chance of conversion ended as
the earthly life of John the Baptist was abruptly terminated by his order during
his birthday party.
During his birthday banquet, because his step
daughter, Salome, so pleased him with her dance, Herod Antipas said to her, “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant
it to you. I will grant you whatever you
ask of me, even to half of my kingdom” (Mark 6:22-23).
Then, Salome, consulted her mother, Herodias, and she
told her daughter to ask Herod Antipas to give her the head of John the Baptist
served on the platter (Mark 6:24-25). To this, Herod Antipas was deeply
distressed but promptly ordered to behead John the Baptist to keep his face
(Mark 6:26-27). And the head of John the Baptist was brought to Salome, as if
to serve dinner on the plate, and she brought it to her mother, Herodias (Mark
6:28). The disciples of John the Baptist took the rest of the body and laid it
in a tomb (Mark 6:29).
This is how John the Baptist was martyred. This is how evil, against which he spoke, killed him.
The evil is more of Herodias than Herod Antipas, as it
was her to conspire her daughter, Salome, to ask Herod Antipas, to give her the
head of John the Baptist on the platter. And when she asked him for the head of
John the Baptist, his initial reaction was “in distress”. In fact, in the
original Greek text, “περίλυπος(perilupos)”
is used, as Herod Antipas’ reaction. This Greek adjective rather means “greatly
sorrowful or grieved”, as it contains the word, “λύπη(lupe)”, which means pain and affliction. By the way, the
English word, lupus, which is the name of a painful autoimmune disease, is
etymologically derived not from this Greek word, lupe, but the Latin word, lupus,
which means a devouring wolf, though some may think of these words to be
associated.
The fact that Mark uses the Greek word, “περίλυπος(perilupos)”, to express Herod
Antipas’ reaction to a prospect of beheading John the Baptist indicates that
there was a certain degree of reluctance to killing him. There must have been
something about Herod Antipas deep in his heart to keep listening to this
righteous man, whom he had held in custody. But his need to maintain his face,
keeping a promise to his stepdaughter, as the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea,
which he inherited from his father, Herod the Great, overrode his moral reluctance
to completely silence the righteous voice of John the Baptist, prompted by the
evil of Herodias.
Later on, Roman governor of Pontius Pilate, would go
through some initial reluctance to kill Jesus, whom he found innocent and even thought
of releasing, before ordering his soldiers to execute him (i.e, John
18:28-19:16; Matthew 27:11-26).
Herod Antipas did not necessarily want to kill John
the Baptist but he ended up killing him because of his fear of losing his face
was greater than his reluctance to losing the voice of righteousness. Pontius
Pilate did not desire to kill a man whom he found innocent in his judgement,
but commanded to execute him as a criminal, because of his fear of the Jews and
the prospect of being seen as not loyal to Caesar for not killing an enemy to
Caesar. Both of these men killed sources of the righteous voice, in spite of
their initial hesitation, because their distressed hearts easily let them succumbed
to the force of evil.
In contrast, the heart of John the Baptist remained impervious
to distress caused by evil. Nothing could shake the heart of John the Baptist.
Not even a prospect of death for speaking the righteous voice against
evil. Such firmness of the heart to
remain a source of the righteous voice against evil is reflected in the First
Reading (Jeremiah 1:17-19). These words, spoken by God, to Jeremiah, was to
strengthen the shaky heart of this prophet. Perhaps, John the Baptist had heard
such encouraging voice of God, as he was already filled with the Holy Spirit
before his birth, while he was still in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth (Luke
1:15).
Otherwise, he would not have been a martyr as the
forerunner of Jesus.
Ever since before their respective births, Jesus and
his cousin, John the Baptist, who was six-month ahead Jesus, have been closely
related.
Archangel Gabriel not only announced Mary of the
virgin conception of the Son of the Almighty God but also the surprise
pregnancy of her elder cousin, Elizabeth (Luke 1:35-37). And the child growing
in Elizabeth’s womb was John the Baptist. This prompted Mary to visit Elizabeth
and care for her (Luke 1:39-40).
Mary, the Mother of God the Son, took care of John the
Baptist while he was still in the womb his mother Elizabeth, as she took care
of her pregnant cousin for three months, while she herself just became pregnant
(Luke 1:56). And at Mary’s greetings, John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb
leaped for joy, recognizing not only Mary’s visit but Jesus in her womb (Luke
1:41).
Even before his birth, John the Baptist had been related with Jesus, not just because they were cousins, but rather to serve as the forerunner of Jesus for the preparation for Jesus’ salvific ministry to begin. This is why John the Baptist was the voice of God’s righteousness, crying out in the Judean wilderness, to prepare the way of Christ to come, by prompting to repent and baptizing repentant sinners, while pointing to the coming of Christ and his judgement and strongly rebuking unrepentant sinners, as well as, hypocrites (Matthew 3:1-12). And it was John the Baptist, who took a great part in commissioning Jesus for his salvific ministry by baptizing him, in order to have the Father in heaven to anoint him with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:13-17). This way, as the last prophet under the old covenant, John the Baptist served as the transitory bridge from the old covenant to the new covenant, which was brought by Jesus (Luke 22:20).
The Church certainly honors this righteous
spokesperson of God and the forerunner of the incarnated Christ, whose heart
was steadfast because being filled with the Holy Spirit. Though his mortal body was destroyed by a
spiritually and morally coward man, Herod Antipas, who was plagued by evil, the
life of John the Baptist prevails for Christ’s glory has manifested in his body
(i.e. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10).
The voice of the righteousness cried out by John the Baptist from the Judean wilderness was amplified by his cousin, Jesus, through his public ministry, passed on to his disciples. And they continued to speak this voice of the righteousness to build the nascent Church. And by virtue of our Baptism and Confirmation, we shall speak the voice of the righteousness against evil in the world, even in imprisonment to be killed by evil persons.
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