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(Audio)
This man is John the Baptist.
He has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.
There was something so compelling about John the Baptist that it made it impossible Herod to fully accept that he was dead, even in spite of the fact that it was at his order and in his presence that the man was killed. John spoke with a voice filled with truth that refused to compromise or accommodate itself to the circumstances. Herod liked to hear John speak even given the fact that he never let him forget about his unlawful marriage. Therefore we can imagine how easily John might have changed his message to gain the friendship of Herod and, eventually, release from prison. If it was any of us imprisoned for the truth we might well think that a temporary compromise to gain our freedom would not be so bad, only a temporary betrayal of what we knew to be true in order to escape from difficult circumstances. We would go to lengths to justify it, thinking of all the good we might yet do with freedom. And John surely must have thought of all that he might yet do for his followers. But nothing he could place in the scales could outweigh the importance of faithfulness to what he knew to be true. Moreover, it wasn't merely a secret acceptance along with an absence of public denial. It was repeated public affirmation, testimony to the truth. It was for this reason that he was killed. It was as though he understood the connection between truths and the God who is Truth. Thus his death can be understood as a kind of martyrdom to the one who is himself the way, the truth, and the life (see John 14:6).
Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people,
for they regarded him as a prophet.
But at a birthday celebration for Herod,
the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests
and delighted Herod so much
that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.
John was someone who never compromised. But Herod demonstrated how quickly a compromise can snowball out of control, far beyond anything he originally envisioned or intended. We know that he liked to hear John speak, that he did not want to kill him, and that he could not entirely discount the possibility that he was rightly regarded as a prophet. He had absorbed some of the holy fear with which the people regarded John. However, he did not remember any of that when he saw the daughter of Herodias dance. The momentary sensual delight overrode his judgment, making him willing to subject his mind and and his will to his feelings in a way that proved, as it so often does, disastrous.
“Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
We too are often willing to give away half of our kingdom, that is, our freedom and agency, for the sake of brief intense feelings. We allow the moment to overwhelm us with its poignancy and so forget the things that matter more over the long-term. This is simply going to be what happens unless we have a sufficiently firm and unbending commitment to the truth already, in advance, before it is tested. Ultimately this lack of commitment to the truth can lead to a life of compromise, in which we do things that distress us, and make us sad, but to which we can no longer find viable alternatives.
The truth cannot be killed, nor can it be silenced forever. The upshot to this reality is that long as we live we have the opportunity to finally and definitively renounce compromise and find freedom from a life in which our fears and desires rule us, rather than we them. Instead of giving away our kingdoms we should remember that we are meant to be a royal priesthood, kings and queens because of the royal dignity of Jesus who lives within us. So let us rediscover and recover this identity so that we may live it to the full.
He has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.
There was something so compelling about John the Baptist that it made it impossible Herod to fully accept that he was dead, even in spite of the fact that it was at his order and in his presence that the man was killed. John spoke with a voice filled with truth that refused to compromise or accommodate itself to the circumstances. Herod liked to hear John speak even given the fact that he never let him forget about his unlawful marriage. Therefore we can imagine how easily John might have changed his message to gain the friendship of Herod and, eventually, release from prison. If it was any of us imprisoned for the truth we might well think that a temporary compromise to gain our freedom would not be so bad, only a temporary betrayal of what we knew to be true in order to escape from difficult circumstances. We would go to lengths to justify it, thinking of all the good we might yet do with freedom. And John surely must have thought of all that he might yet do for his followers. But nothing he could place in the scales could outweigh the importance of faithfulness to what he knew to be true. Moreover, it wasn't merely a secret acceptance along with an absence of public denial. It was repeated public affirmation, testimony to the truth. It was for this reason that he was killed. It was as though he understood the connection between truths and the God who is Truth. Thus his death can be understood as a kind of martyrdom to the one who is himself the way, the truth, and the life (see John 14:6).
Although he wanted to kill him, he feared the people,
for they regarded him as a prophet.
But at a birthday celebration for Herod,
the daughter of Herodias performed a dance before the guests
and delighted Herod so much
that he swore to give her whatever she might ask for.
John was someone who never compromised. But Herod demonstrated how quickly a compromise can snowball out of control, far beyond anything he originally envisioned or intended. We know that he liked to hear John speak, that he did not want to kill him, and that he could not entirely discount the possibility that he was rightly regarded as a prophet. He had absorbed some of the holy fear with which the people regarded John. However, he did not remember any of that when he saw the daughter of Herodias dance. The momentary sensual delight overrode his judgment, making him willing to subject his mind and and his will to his feelings in a way that proved, as it so often does, disastrous.
“Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
We too are often willing to give away half of our kingdom, that is, our freedom and agency, for the sake of brief intense feelings. We allow the moment to overwhelm us with its poignancy and so forget the things that matter more over the long-term. This is simply going to be what happens unless we have a sufficiently firm and unbending commitment to the truth already, in advance, before it is tested. Ultimately this lack of commitment to the truth can lead to a life of compromise, in which we do things that distress us, and make us sad, but to which we can no longer find viable alternatives.
The truth cannot be killed, nor can it be silenced forever. The upshot to this reality is that long as we live we have the opportunity to finally and definitively renounce compromise and find freedom from a life in which our fears and desires rule us, rather than we them. Instead of giving away our kingdoms we should remember that we are meant to be a royal priesthood, kings and queens because of the royal dignity of Jesus who lives within us. So let us rediscover and recover this identity so that we may live it to the full.
