Articles
Who Killed John the Baptist?
When Jesus’ disciples went out and began preaching and casting out demons, the news eventually reached Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee. Upon hearing of the many miracles being performed in the name of Jesus, Herod responds, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him” (Mark 6:14). If we are reading the gospel of Mark sequentially, this is the first time that the readers are even made aware of the fact that John has died. In fact, this is the first time that John the Baptist has even been given attention since the first chapter of Mark! What happened? How did he go from the “voice crying in the wilderness” (Mark 1:2-3) to the prophet beheaded by Herod?
Mark 6:17-29 backtracks to tell us what happened. John the Baptist had been arrested by Herod and thrown in prison (6:17). John had dared to criticize Herod for being in an unlawful relationship with his brothers’ wife Herodias (6:18). Herodias hated John outright and wanted to kill him (6:19), while Herod was a little bit afraid of John and realized he was righteous and holy (6:20). Herod had imprisoned him under the guise of wanting to keep him safe. However (like we will later see with Pilate and Jesus), Herod lacked the spine to do the right thing in releasing John. If John the Baptist is like Elijah, then Herod is like his Ahab, and Herodias like his Jezebel!
One day, Herod gave a party on his birthday for a bunch of his lords, commanders, and other Galilean leaders (6:21). Herodias’ daughter came before him and danced in such a way that he was impressed (6:22). Herod promised her anything she wanted—up to half the kingdom (6:23)! Herod’s behavior is remarkably similar to the bumbling administrative tactics of Ahasuerus in the books of Esther (Esth 5:3, 6; 7:2). Both kings seem to have a particular weakness for letting the women in their lives manipulate them and control them.
Herodias’ daughter is unsure of what to ask for. Upon consulting her mother, Herodias advises her to ask for the head of John the Baptist (6:24). She relays this request to Herod, asking for his head on a platter (6:25). The king is sad about this, but feels compelled by his dinner guests to fulfill this gruesome request (6:26). John the Baptist is beheaded, even though he has done nothing to deserve death (6:27). Herodias’ daughter receives his head on a platter, which she delivers to her mother (6:28). The story ends with John’s disciples recovering the body and giving it a proper burial (6:29).
Did John the Baptist need to die? So many people could have prevented it at any stage. Herod could have been less of a coward and defended him to Herodias. Herodias’ daughter could have had a mind of her own and asked for something else. Herodias could have just not been so creepily evil. Even the dinner guests share blame for not protesting the injustice of the scenario. The king feels pressured by his foolish vow and by saving face in front of his officials. In the end, John the Baptist is killed in this story for being literally the only person to do the right thing. His death stands as a cruel testimony to the injustice of the world, and to the dangers of preaching the truth to people.
But John’s death was avoidable in another way too. He could have simply kept his mouth shut, and none of this would have happened! In light of this fact, some might wonder why John brought this on himself! Why did he have to poke his nose into the king’s personal business? Why did he have to criticize Herod’s extramarital relations? Couldn’t he leave well enough alone? People today would mock and jeer and say that as long as Herod and Herodias’ fling was consensual and nobody was getting hurt, everything is okay! Even Christians today might be tempted to “overlook” the illicit sexual relations as a “private” sin. But if it was no big deal, why did John feel the need to address it? Why go to jail for it? Why get beheaded for it? What are we missing?
John understood a fact that so few in history have ever understood—that the preacher of righteousness does not allow fear to dissuade him from truth. John had come to preach the message of the kingdom and to proclaim an immersion of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). John was proclaiming a great king whose footwear he didn’t even consider himself worthy to handle (Mark 1:7-8). He preached submission to that King, and that submission extended to every aspect of life. And if that submission meant telling a king of this world that the Lord didn’t approve of his sexual practices, then John was going to preach that submission all the way to the top.
Would that we had the courage of John! Would that we loved the Lord more than our own lives the way that John did! There’s a reason that Jesus elsewhere claims that there was no one born of woman who was greater than John (Matt 11:11; Luke 7:28). But John’s death wasn’t the end. When the disciples of Jesus were sent out, it was them that provoked the rumor to Herod that John had risen from the dead (Mark 6:12-15). Could we as disciples today be capable of provoking such a rumor? Can we emulate his spirit? Channel his fiery devotion to truth? Can we, like John, love the Lord more than our life? May God help us to live like his servant John!
