To read the texts click on the texts:Jer 1:17-19; Mk 6:17-29
Mark’s
Account of the beheading of Saint John the Baptist by Herod Antipas is more
elaborate than that of Matthew and Luke. According to Mark, Herod had
imprisoned John because he reproved Herod for divorcing his wife (Phasaelis),
and unlawfully taking Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip I. On
Herod's birthday, Herodias' daughter (traditionally named Salome but not named
by Mark or the other Gospels) danced before the king and his guests. Her
dancing pleased Herod so much that in his drunkenness he promised to give her
anything she desired, up to half of his kingdom. When the daughter asked her
mother what she should request, she was told to ask for the head of John the
Baptist on a platter. Although Herod was appalled by the request, he
reluctantly agreed and had John executed in the prison.
The Jewish
historian Flavius Josephus also relates in his Antiquities of the Jews that
Herod killed John, stating that he did so, "lest the great influence John
had over the people might put it into his [John's] power and inclination to
raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do anything he should advise), [so
Herod] thought it best [to put] him to death." He further states that many
of the Jews believed that the military disaster which fell upon Herod at the
hands of Aretas his father-in-law (Phasaelis' father), was God's punishment for
his unrighteous behaviour.
While Mark
has mentioned Herodians before (3:6), this is the first time in his Gospel that
he mentions Herod. Herod, here is Herod Antipas who was the son of Herod the
Great who is the one referred to in the narrative of the birth of Jesus in the
Gospel of Matthew (Mt 2:1-23), and had been appointed by the Roman as the ruler
of Galilee and Perea (Lk 3:1). He was never “king” as Mark mentions in his
story, and Matthew corrects this by referring to Herod as tetrarch (Mt 14,1).
The story of the death of John the Baptist in Mark is sandwiched between the
sending of the Twelve on Mission (6:7-13) and their return from Mission
(6:30-34).
Mark
mentions three opinions about Jesus said to be circulating at that time. Some
believed that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead; others believed
that Jesus was Elijah, while still others believed that Jesus was one of the
prophets of old. Herod, however, is quite clear in Mark that Jesus is John the
Baptist raised. This profession of Herod leads Mark to narrate the story of the
death of John the Baptist as a flashback. According to Mark, the reason why
John was put in prison was because he objected to Herod’s violation of the
purity code, which forbade marriage of close relatives and to a brother’s wife
while the brother was still alive (Lev 18:16; 20:21). Mark seems to lay the
blame for the death of John on Herodias who manipulates Herod into executing
John. The daughter of Herodias is not named here or anywhere in the Bible, nor
does the Bible give her age. According to Mark a drunken Herod is trapped into
fulfilling a rash vow and so has John beheaded.
Though in
Mark’s narrative it is Herodias who is directly responsible for the death of
John the Baptist, Herod cannot disown responsibility. He could have decided if
he had the courage not to give in, yet he made the choice to have John
beheaded. Each of us is responsible for our own actions though we may sometimes
blame others or even circumstances. The sooner we accept responsibility for who
we are and what we do, the sooner we will grow up. The legend of John the
Baptist shows us that justice and truth are the ultimate victims in such situations.
Thanks so much, n
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