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John had said to Herod,
"It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
John was a man who would speak the truth regardless of the potential consequences. It was as though the possible repercussions were only further incentives that motivated him, and the pushback itself an indication of what did in fact need to be said. He was a man who, in the vein of the prophets who were his predecessors, was committed to the truth. Just as earlier prophets held Israel's leaders to account for their sin so too would John. This was an important part of his role because the brokenness and compromise of the earthly kingdom was definitely a part of the problem which it was hoped that the messiah would solve. Perhaps addressing the righteousness of the earthly kingdom of Israel would help prepare for the way for the messiah. And perhaps in a way it did, as the earthly kingdom doubled down on earthly ways, setting the stage for the conflict with Jesus himself. This is somewhat speculative. But what is not speculation is that Herod's response was such as to negate any benefit from the words of the Baptist.
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Those who speak the truth when it needs to be spoken will often find that the world pushes back, holds a grudge, and in fact desires to silence them. But they will also often find those who, while perplexed, like to listen. There must be in these individuals some sort of grudging respect for the courage needed to speak the truth no matter what, and the consistency to never compromise for anything.
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.
We know that Herod's curiosity was not enough to motivate him to make any changes to his life. Knowing John was in fact righteous and holy did not make him set him free. Perhaps in a situation where there was no outside pressures whatsoever he would have so done. But he wasn't going to risk the wrath of Herodias. Curiosity that knows the next step and won't take it is a dangerous form of lukewarmness. Hearing the truth but not responding can only have the effect of ending in the hardening of one's heart. When this happens, the mere novelty and nicety of the once interesting stimulus will not be enough to change our course in the face of temptation.
Herodias' 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."
In the face of temptation, without a firm commitment to the truth, we risk giving away our self-possession surrendering something that is ultimately greater than half a kingdom. We may even make the choice through distress and sadness but we will have no firm place from which to resist and choose otherwise. Wasn't the dance of the girl intoxicating, and after all, we made oaths, and what would others think now if we altered course? We know what John would say, "It is not lawful" but that criticism long since ceased to have much effect on our conscience. We vaguely sense the problem with putting a righteous man to death for the sake of a dance but we can no longer even put into words precisely what is wrong.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
John's life was motivated by something more than curiosity, more even than truth in the abstract. He was a prophet committed to making the ways of God known upon the earth, in order that the messiah, the lamb of God might be recognized and heralded when he stepped unto the scene. Not even death could truly prevent such a life purpose from achieving its target. His death was in fact his greatest witness, that even then he did not back down, renege, and attempt to compromise.
It is too easy for those in modern times, especially those who never experience any real resistance to their faith, to have a relationship with the truth that is more like curiosity than commitment. As long as we have the truth imprisoned and find it entertaining we assume that we are in fact, 'doing the thing'. But what happens at crunch time? Does the truth truly have a hold on our hearts, and can it really set our direction when temptations arise? John encountered the truth as a prophet who received it from God. But we encounter the truth as a person with whom we are invited to have relationship: Jesus Christ. The potential of this truth and this relationship to transform us far transcends even the witness of John the Baptist. But we must move beyond the stage of curiosity about him. We must surrender our lives, our kingdoms, not to sin, but to him. This will not bring us sadness, but joy, for only in this way can they be truly ours.
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