The death of John Baptist

Continuing with Fouard's Life of Christ:

The death of John Baptist

Mark vi. 14-32; Matt. xiv. 1-13; Luke ix. 7-10.

Jesus, left alone in His own field, continued to preach in all the cities of the lake country, when the news suddenly reach them at the John the Baptist was dead; his head had been struck off in the dungeons of Macheronte.

Herod's family tree.

After being for twelve months imprisoned in that "dark fortress," John still displayed the same spirit which had made him so terrible to sinners upon the Jordan's bank; neither caresses not threats had moved his stalwart courage one whit, and though they did not heed him, his stern voice fell upon the ears of the tyrant in no less unsparing denunciations.  Herod trembled as he listened, torn in the strife between remorse and passion.  Too weak to rid himself of his fearless accuser by a crime, yet too deeply corrupt at heart to subject his will to duty, he made shift to compromise with his conscience by simply shielding the Baptist from the insatiable hatred of Herodias.  The struggle between these two was prolonged and stubborn; for the rancour and venom in the heart of the adulterous woman embittered her the more against her victim the longer she was thwarted and balked in her schemes a vengeance.  This creature being determined to compass the Prophet's ruin, was ever on watch for some opportune moment; it came soon enough.

After the fashion among the Roman princes, Herod and his sons always celebrated certain memorable epochs in their lives with the greatest pomp.  The anniversary of his birth chanced to occur while Antipas, with his court, was at Macheronte; there he made high festival, gathering about him all the courtiers, rich officials, and nobles of Galilee.  From what we know of the wealth of the Herods, their lordly extravagance, and their gorgeous pageants, we are warranted in fancying the grandeur of the ceremonial and the brilliancy of their sports, together with the bride hangings which adorned the rugged walls of that gloomy old castle, as being altogether beyond anything ever seen among those desert hills.  Yet, beside all this, Herodias had devised for the King and night of revelry, which was fitted to intoxicate him even more surely than the fumes of wine, and would thus be likely to place him completely at her mercy.

Salome dances for Herod. J-J Tissot.

All wanton dances brought over from Italy were well known to her; she knew which of the movements in those horrid orgies would be most apt to hold him in besotted fascination.  Such shameless pastimes had for some time been of common occurrence within the palace of the Tetrarch; but on this evening it was Herodias' will that her own daughter should be one of the damsels taking part in those unmaidenly carousals.  This younger princess, descendant of Herod the Great, sprung from the seed of the Maccabees, and later on destined to be the wife and the mother of Kings on this night appeared in all her brilliant state, the central figure in a circle of dissolute companions.  By her dancing, she so transported the prince with delight that, as the wild applause of the revellers died away, he swore that he would give her whatever she might desire of him, were it even half of his kingdom.

Salome sped quickly to her mother.

"What shall I demand of him?" she said.

"The head of John Baptist."

Not even a shudder stirred the drapery of the young dancer; tripping back to the King, she repeated her mother's words, without a touch of pity or a thrill of shame.

"I will that you give me at once and on this very trencher, the head of John Baptist." And as she spoke she caught up one of the great dishes with which the table was loaded.

On this request Herod was struck sad at heart; he was just awakening from the madness of passion, only to see the snare into which he had been led by his blind, brutish nature.  But the vanity of the Tetrarch was proportionable to his weakness; he saw the looks his high-born guests were fixing upon him, and he had neither the courage to excite their satirical remarks, nor did he dare to brave the anger of those two unscrupulous women, who now claimed their promised prey; seeking to shield himself from any responsibility by pleading the sacredness of his oath, he gave the fatal order.  The headsman (according to the usage of Oriental courts) was standing behind the person of royalty; ready for the deed; a few moments later John Baptist was no more.

The head of John the Baptist. J-J Tissot.

That very obscurity in which the Prophet had desired to be eclipsed has in fact completely overshadowed his martyrdom.  No witness has ever related how he received the iniquitous decree, or with what tokens of inward peace he faced death.  The executioner returned very shortly, bearing upon that charger the reverend head of the Nazarite; he handed it to the royal dancer, who carried the bleeding trophy to her mother.  If we may credit certain traditions, Herodias pierced with needles the tongue which she had been powerless to check in life, and then commanded that his torn and the disfigured body be thrown into the chasms around Macheronte, so to become food for the dogs and foul birds of prey.  But the disciples of John were keeping watch at every point; gathering together the remains of their master, they piously buried them, and then sought out Jesus to tell the sad tale to Him.

God's vengeance fell upon the slayer of His Prophet without delay; from the moment when the head of the Baptist was shown to the conscience-stricken Tetrarch, there was never an hour of quiet repose for the tyrant.  Always thereafter he would see now and again the tables spotted with blood, and the Prophet's cold brow, seeming more severe than in life, so drawn and white in death, while the thin lips appeared as if just about to open and rebuke the guilty adulterer.  Now, instead of his former habitual indolence, he lapsed at once into a wretched humour, fluctuating restlessly between hurried fright and vague suspicions.  The fame and power of Jesus had moved him scarcely at all heretofore; but now he grew suddenly wrath at the tales which his couriers brought him.

Only a few days later, a rumour reached Macheronte that the Saviour was drawing still greater concourses of people, and that every day he He performed new and more wonderful prodigies.  At this Herod shuddered in great terror.

"'Tis he!" He cried out.  "It is John Baptist who has risen again!"

It was useless for the prince's familiars to endeavour to quiet his alarm, — some assuring him that Jesus must rather be Elias, once again returned to earth from his flaming chariot; others asserting that He was merely one of the Prophets; while the more skeptical among them would have it that He was but a Seer, like those who are common enough in the time of their forefathers.  But for Herod, whose vision was continually haunted by the grim spectre of his victim, his trembling lips kept repeating, "It is John; it is the man who baptised!  He has been raised up from the dead; that is why he can work such miracles." And eager to ascertain the truth of his forebodings, he cast about for some means to see Jesus for himself.

The Lord would have incurred the greatest danger from any such encounter with a furious and terrified Tetrarch; unquestionably he would have been constrained to suspend His ministry at once, at least in Galilee, while He would have been forced to forgo His Paschal pilgrimage for that year, and the time for the caravans to start was already drawing near.  The return of the Apostles finally decided Him to pass over into the realm of Philip without delay.  Whether their mission had been finished just at this time, or whether that also was interrupted by the death of the Forerunner, at any rate the Twelve had now returned to their Master, and at one and the same time.  To Him they rendered their report "of what they had done and taught;" "how they had cast out devils, anointed very many sick folks with oil, and cured their illnesses." Tired and spent with their long journeyings, and saddened by the fate of John, they came to seek rest and comfort by the side of Jesus; because of the crowds "which came and went, and left Him not even time to eat."

And therefore He said two His way-worn little band:

"Let us go apart by ourselves into some desert place, and there you may rest yourself for a little time."

The Sea of Tiberius was not far off from where they stood; at the Master's bidding they sought out a boat for the passage and speedily shook out sail, heading for the north.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam