Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus
and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist.
He has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”
Now Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison
on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
for John had said to him,
“It is not lawful for you to have her.”
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.
Prompted by her mother, she said,
“Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests who were present,
he ordered that it be given, and he had John beheaded in the prison.
His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl,
who took it to her mother.
His disciples came and took away the corpse
and buried him; and they went and told Jesus.
Herod was a man of the world and only part Jewish. He was a usurper to the throne, and did not have a rightful claim to the throne of David because he was not even a decendant of david. He was placed on the throne by the romans, because the romans knew that they could control him with the trappings of royalty and wealth, and there is no doubt that Herod was deeply enthralled with these things.
Herod being king thought he could do anything he wanted and as such he took his brothers wife for his own. John told him this was unlawful, and would not sanction the marriage. John upset all involved especially Herodias, Herod’s brothers’ wife. John was placed in prison for his outspoken opposition to what Herod was doing and the embarrassment it caused him. But Herod would not execute John because he knew that there was something special about him. Something that he feared transgressing against. And it was because of this fear that he kept John in prison instead of killing him for his disrespect.
Thus we come to the reading today. Herod again lets his desire and pride get the best of him, and he makes a promise that he should not have made. Herod knows that what the girl asks is terribly wrong…, but because of his promise, and even more because of his pride, he does the one thing that he knows he shouldn’t, for fear of looking bad among his courtiers.
It seems insane, that you would kill a man for the sake of “saving face.” But in truth this is done millions of times a day on social networks, people slander and libel each other constantly, and say all kinds of horrible things to each other. Remember that the torah says that to kill a mans “name” is no different than killing his body. If you add in all of the aborted babies, and elderly people that were killed for convenience sake, it is not so hard to see the connection to what Herod did.
And so pride strikes again. it caused Satan to fall, it is the reason that many refuse to accept the truth of the Jesus Christ, and it still today is the source of so much pain and suffering. If Herod had simply said, “I let my delight get the best of me, and I made a promise that I clearly cannot fulfill, please accept my apology, and choose something else,” things might have gone very differently for John, but no, the devil was whispering in his Herod’s ear, saying, “what will they think of you, what will they say about you? They will all say that Herod is a boastful ass, and cannot be trusted.” And then pride took over.
This is the reality that we all must be on guard against, and we must all check our desires, before they get out of control, and this is a very good warning for us all to carefully heed. We should never allow the earthly things of this world and the trappings of power, to subvert our knowledge of what is right and wrong, and we should never boast of anything other than the lord. If we follow these warnings, then we can be more assured of living in gods grace, and we can hope in his mercy and forgiveness forever.
