Jesus and John the Baptist

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon title is The Baptist, the Birthday Boy and the Venerable Bede, and my focus is our Gospel (Mark 6:14-29). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”  Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

As we age, most birthdays pass with little notice, save the obligatory greetings we post on social media sites. We may receive a funny card in the mail or a text or voicemail on our phones, but it’s more likely that people will not remember our birthdays.

You may remember what you did for your most recent birthday. If you’re like me, you probably have to look it up on your calendar. This year, we went to a new restaurant for dinner. There are ways to make your birthday much more memorable. Have a theme party. Whether yours is a poker party or picnic, or if everyone dresses like a hippy or wears Hawaiian shirts, Star Wars or Disco themed, your next birthday party can be memorable. Everything you need to know can be found on Pinterest.

Of course, nobody threw a party as memorable as the infamous Herod. The Gospel today describes how John the Baptist was victim of the corruption and arrogance of the government of Herod. He died without being judged by a tribunal, but during a banquet given by Herod with the great men of the kingdom.

The text gives much information about the time of the life of Jesus and how the powerful exercised power. From the beginning of the Gospel of Mark we see a situation of suspense. Mark wrote: “After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God!” In today’s Gospel, almost suddenly, we know that Herod had already killed John the Baptist. Therefore, we must ask ourselves: What will he do now with Jesus? Will he suffer the same destiny?

Rather than drawing up a balance of the opinions of the people and of Herod on Jesus, Mark asks another question: “Who is Jesus?” This last question grows throughout the Gospel until it receives a definitive response from the centurion at the foot of the Cross: “Truly, this man was the Son of God!”

Who is Jesus? Some associated Jesus with John the Baptist and Elijah. Others identified him with a Prophet, that is, with someone who spoke in the name of God, who had the courage to denounce the injustices of the powerful and who knew how to animate the hope of the little ones.

People tried to understand Jesus starting from the things that they themselves knew, believed and hoped. They tried to make him fit into familiar criteria of the Old Testament with its prophecies and its hopes, and of the Tradition of the Ancient, with their laws. But these criteria were not sufficient. Jesus could not fit in those criteria. He was much greater!

In verses 17-20, we come to the cause for the killing of John. Galilee, the land of Jesus, was governed by Herod Antipas, the son of King Herod, the Great, from the year 4 BC up to the year 39 after Christ. In all, 43 years! During the whole life time of Jesus, there had been no changes in the government of Galilee! Herod Antipas was the absolute Lord of everything; he listened to no one and did whatever he pleased! But the one who really commanded in Palestine from the year 63 BC was the Roman Empire. Herod, in order not to be removed from office, tried to please Rome in everything. He insisted above all, in an efficient administration which would provide income for the Roman Empire. The only thing that concerned or worried him was his security and promotion. This is why he repressed any type of subversion.

A writer of that time says that the reason for the imprisonment of John the Baptist was Herod’s fear of a popular revolt. Herod liked to be called benefactor of the people, but in reality, he was a tyrant. The denouncement of John against him was the drop which filled the cup, and John was thrown into prison.

We come to the plot of the murdering. The birthday feast with dancing and orgies was an environment in which alliances were plotted. It was attended by great court officials and important people from Galilee. Here, the murder of John the Baptist was plotted. John the Prophet was a living denouncement of this corrupt system. This is why he was eliminated under the pretext of a problem of personal vengeance. All this reveals the moral weakness of Herod. So much power accumulated in the hands of a man who did not control himself. Under the enthusiasm of the feast and of the wine, Herod swore lightly to give something to the young dancer. And superstitious as he was, he thought that he had to uphold his promise.

For Herod, the life of his subjects had no value. He used them as he wanted and decided what to do with them just as he decided where to place the chairs in his house. Mark gives an account of how things happened and lets the community draw the conclusions.

Tyrants and terrorists can learn lessons from the life of Herod, but what can we learn from the Baptist? In the 7^th century, the Venerable Bede, an English saint, wrote these words. “As forerunner of our Lord’s birth, preaching and death, the blessed John showed in his struggle a goodness worthy of the sight of heaven. In the words of Scripture: Though in the sight of men he suffered torments, his hope is full of immortality. We justly commemorate the day of his birth with a joyful celebration, a day which he himself made festive for us through his suffering and which he adorned with the crimson splendor of his own blood. We do rightly revere his memory with joyful hearts, for he stamped with the seal of martyrdom the testimony which he delivered on behalf of our Lord.

There is no doubt that blessed John suffered imprisonment and chains as a witness to our Redeemer, whose forerunner he was, and gave his life for him. His persecutor had demanded not that he should deny Christ, but only that he should keep silent about the truth. Nevertheless, he died for Christ. Does Christ not say: I am the truth? Therefore, because John shed his blood for the truth, he surely died for Christ.

Through his birth, preaching and baptizing, he bore witness to the coming birth, preaching and baptism of Christ, and by his own suffering he showed that Christ also would suffer.

Such was the quality and strength of the man who accepted the end of this present life by shedding his blood after the long imprisonment. He preached the freedom of heavenly peace yet was thrown into irons by ungodly men; he was locked away in the darkness of prison, though he came bearing witness to the Light of life and deserved to be called a bright and shining lamp by that Light itself, which is Christ. John was baptized in his own blood, though he had been privileged to baptize the Redeemer of the world, to hear the voice of the Father above him, and to see the grace of the Holy Spirit descending upon him. But to endure temporal agonies for the sake of the truth was not a heavy burden for such men as John; rather it was easily borne and even desirable, for he knew eternal joy would be his reward.

Since death was ever near at hand through the inescapable necessity of nature, such men considered it a blessing to embrace it and thus gain the reward of eternal life by acknowledging Christ’s name. Hence the apostle Paul rightly says: You have been granted the privilege not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for his sake. He tells us why it is Christ’s gift that his chosen ones should suffer for him: The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.”

The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. My friends, I repeat that line because when we stand for truth, we stand for Christ. When we set aside personal preferences and political parties, likes and dislikes, …, and stand simply for truth, for Christ and what he preached – repentance from sin and the Kingdom of God, we will suffer in the present, but will experience the glory of martyrdom, whether we are ostracized or shunned, disowned or unfriended, whether we die naturally or at the hands of unbelievers, we will experience the incomparable glory of which St. Paul wrote, and when we do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.