Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter

 

 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."  For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.  Because John had said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."  And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.  But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.  Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.  So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter."  And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her.  So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.  And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.  Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

 

- Matthew 14:1-12 

 

Yesterday we read that, when Jesus had finished teaching the parables given in Matthew's chapter 13, He departed from there.  When He had come to His own country of Nazareth, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?  Is this not the carpenter's son?  Is not His mother called Mary?  And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?  And His sisters, are they not all with us?  Where then did this Man get all these things?"  So they were offended at Him.  But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house."  Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.  

 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."  For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.  Because John had said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."  At this time, Christ's ministry and reputation for His healing and works have expanded enough so that Herod the tetrarch has heard the report about Jesus.  This is Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great (who was the king who slew the innocents of Bethlehem; see Matthew 2).  Herod Antipas was commonly called king, but he ruled for Rome and was thus tetrarch of Galilee.  Today's reading is given as a kind of parenthetic explanation about why Herod feared Christ so much:  he believes that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead, and this is the explanation for the powers that Christ reveals through His ministry.  John the Baptist had criticized Herod Antipas for his marriage to his wife Herodias, who was formerly married to Herod's brother Philip, while Philip was still living -- as this was contrary to Jewish law.  

And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.  This gives us the setting in Galilee at the time of Herod's rule as tetrarch.  John the Baptist was widely revered as a holy man and prophet.  In the Church John is understood a the last and greatest of the Old Testament type prophets, and the Forerunner to Christ who prepared the people for the Messiah (see Matthew 3).  So, Herod feared the multitude.

 

  But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.  Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.  So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter."  And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her.  So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.  And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.  Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.  Here we're given the quite gory spectacle of the goings on in the palace of Herod Antipas.  It is not far removed from the behavior of the entire reign of the family of Herod the Great, who, even at a time of ruthless rulers in the world, was considered to be particularly cruel among his peers.  

It's important to note the excesses on display in today's reading which characterize Herod's rule and his court, because these were things that would scandalize the Jews of his time, and they are also examples of behaviors and self-indulgence the Church has historically scorned.  Indeed, the point of Christian discipleship (particularly as exemplified in the traditions of monasticism and the teachings of the Church) is self-mastery, the opposite of the behavior we see here.  First, there is the display of Herodias' daughter dancing before his court and the important men of his kingdom.  This lack of modesty -- especially by a daughter in front of a group of men -- would have scandalized the people.  Indeed, even with today's modern Western standards, we don't think highly of anyone who would display a daughter in sexually suggestive ways before friends (especially a group of powerful men).  Then there is Herod's rash oath that promised he would give her whatever she might ask.  Christ preached against swearing oaths at all, and in this excessive, over-extravagant behavior by Herod we can see why, and what it can lead to.  Because he's sworn this oath of promise in front of his court (because of those who sat with him), he can't back down, even when it comes to choosing between saving face and beheading one even he considers to be holy.  And so this bloody, murderous, hideous "family" spectacle in some way becomes normative for the reality and practices of Herod's court, although he calls himself a Jew:  John the Baptist's head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.  Here there is indulgence in the excesses of human passions all around:  murderous hatred, vicious plotting for power, disregard for things that are holy, the zeal of a rash oath and promise, a daughter's sensual display for the men of the court, and the bloodthirsty drive for vengeance by Herodias for the one who would stand in her way to power.  (Due to their schemes, both Herod Antipas and Herodias would end their lives in failed plots for power and death in exile.)  But we "moderns" should look at this story and understand what it meant to the audience of its time and has historically indicated regarding Christians and our own behaviors.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preaches against swearing oaths (Matthew 5:33-35), against murder and unrighteous anger (Matthew 5:21-26), against adultery in the heart and the cultivation of excessive lust (Matthew 5:27-30), against divorce without moral reason (Matthew 5:31-32), against excessive vengeance and retribution (Matthew 5:38-48).  Indeed, Herod's fear of John raised from the dead teaches us about effects of such behaviors on personality.  He also displays his immaturity and foolishness in that the only thing that matters to him is the praise of men, rather than the praise of God (John 12:42-43).  So, we might say that the behavior on display in this story of Herod's court teaches us precisely about those excesses of passion against which Christ has explicitly preached.  It is a kind of warning about what sort of society and behaviors result when all passions are indulged and there are no responsible curbs on self-indulgent and what we might call extreme grandiose behavior.  The capacity to have power and wealth to exercise such self-indulgences only magnifies the possibilities for such.  Notably, this also shapes a warning to us, who live in a society of affluence and consumer options no one could have dreamed of in Christ's time.  In our popular media we have every sort of indulgence praised by those who offer entertainments which seek to top one another in spectacle, and that includes violence, even celebrations of things traditionally and widely considered to be evil, as well as symbols of such.  Our consumer society, social movements, and even cultural changes have praised the concept of indulgence, but we rarely come to grips with the social ills created by such in a pragmatic and compassionate way that shows its downside.  Rage becomes a currency of self-expression.  In the worst of excesses the world will show us, rage is used a political weapon of violence and the worst pictures of vengeance.  And this is the world brought to us through our saturation with media and entertainments to be consumed.  Without the normative restraints on excesses of passions, without a kind of self-corrective understanding of what it means to be in control of impulses, as was historically understood to be desirable and praiseworthy self-mastery in order to serve pragmatic rational and moral choices, what results?  Couple this with a reliance on public image and an inability to stand up to a crowd baying for blood, and what will be the outcome?  Let us concern ourselves first with orienting ourselves toward our faith and the wisdom contained therein.  Where are our emphases and priorities in life?  What comes first, and what is prized?  In the end, what we really possess are ourselves and how we shape and conduct our lives, our choices, our habits and practices -- our capacity to be centered upon what makes for our peace, from the very personal and internal to the wider world and every stage in between.  Let us ponder the things we lose when we give up what He has taught, and what has been cherished and prized as wisdom.  Without it we will sorely lack maturity and leadership.

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God

 

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight. 

Every valley shall be filled

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough ways smooth;

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages." 

 

- Luke 3:1-14 

 

Recently, we have been reading through Christ's High Priestly Prayer, which followed His Farewell Discourse to the apostles, at the Last  Supper.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus concluded the prayer:  "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene . . .  Just as in the beginning of his Gospel, Luke gives the historical setting as context by naming these various officials and leaders of the time and place.  Here, my study Bible reminds us that an ancient prophecy of Jacob indicated that the Messiah would come when a king ruled who was not from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).  As Herod the Great, father of Herod (Antipas), Philip, and Lysanias, was a non-Jew who called himself the king of Judea (Luke 1:5), the expectation among the people is that the coming of Christ was surely at hand.

 

 . . . while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  My study Bible says that Caiaphas was now the sole high priest, but people also recognized the continuing power of his father-in-law Annas, a previous high priest who was deposed by the Romans.  John the son of Zacharias is known to us as John the Baptist (see Luke 1:57-80).

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins . . .   My study Bible comments that the call to repentance was traditional for prophets.  John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but rather prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).  It notes that John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, John denounced sin but could not remit (literally "put away") sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.

. . . as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  John quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah (see Isaiah 40:3-5).  My study Bible notes that in John 1:23, John the Baptist ascribes to himself this role of "the voice of one crying in the wilderness."  Thus he is also part of the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, meant to comfort a people in captivity regarding the time when the Messiah would come out of Israel.  

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  My study Bible comments that while parents and ancestors help impart piety and holiness (such as through the faith and piety of John the Baptist's parents Elizabeth and Zacharias, who were "righteous before God" - see Luke 1:6), ancestry in and of itself does not make one worthy of God.  Each person in every generation must bear fruits worthy of repentance.  Here stones symbolize the Gentiles who would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18).  

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages." Let us note how seriously people take the prophesy of John the Baptist, and revere his holiness.  The tax collectors were Jewish but they worked for Rome, often collecting extra for themselves, which John addresses here.  Note also that the soldiers would be equally involved in working for Rome, and John addresses them regarding similar issues of extortion practices.  Each response from John affirms a concern for the well-being and spiritual health of community, the preparation of the community for the Messiah.  

 

 When we read John the Baptist's instructions for repentance in a modern framework or mindset, we think of such instructions as meant for individuals, and the responsibility of individuals.  But within the framework of the time, and to the community he addresses, this would have been understood and accepted in quite a different way.  Yes, it is individuals who repent and make up community, who choose practices that please God, and thereby also build community.  But we have to understand the foundation of what it meant within Israel that there was such great expectation at this time for the coming of the Messiah, and what that meant for the people as a whole.  As we can read in Isaiah, the coming of the Messiah was looked upon as the revival of Israel's fortunes, the culmination of the return from captivity, the true comfort of the nation.  Isaiah's chapter 40, from which John the Baptist draws his quotation of prophesy, begins, "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" says your God.  "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins."  So this is a time not only of possible coming judgment, not only a reconciliation for sins within the majesty of the Messiah, but of rehabilitation for the nation, the Deliverer coming to restore Israel.  And if we understand this, then we understand the power in John the Baptist's baptism for the remission of sins as preparation for this time, and for the whole community.  This would be heard by each not only as an appeal to their sense of themselves and identity in that individual sense, but rather to identity within and as the community of Israel, of the nation.  That is, the identity of her people, the people of God.  In a pluralistic society, one formed and shaped within modern governments and social awareness, it might be difficult to understand for some of us what this appeal to community really means.  But if we regard ourselves as those who must prepare, for the sake of all of our own people, our own nation, for something upon which rests all of our hope (as both community and nation), then we might start to get a better picture of what is going on in today's reading.  This truth is central to an understanding of what it will mean to be called children of Abraham, of what Christ will bring to this table, even of notions of what it means to be a people and community, and therein our responsibility to God.  When we think of the approaching Messiah, of Christ's advent into the public eye and His public ministry, let us understand what this coming of the Messiah means to the people, right down to the tax collectors and soldiers, for all those who hope for Israel and her fortunes.  We must consider especially what this communal context means for our own understanding of righteousness and of holiness.  For therein we might find ourselves, not simply as individuals, but members of something much bigger than that.  It is there we find the hope for the life of the world, the salvation of God.