074. Chapter 15 - The Death of John the Baptist

Chapter 15 - The Death of John the Baptist Matthew 14:1-12;Mark 6:14-29;Luke 9:7-9 Impact on Galilean Campaign At the close of the mission of the twelve the shocking news of John’s martyrdom spread over the land. In fact, this sudden turn of events probably brought the apostles hurrying back to Christ, either by summons or by their own strong desire to be near Him and to hear what He had to say concerning the tragic event. They must have meditated much upon the warnings of future persecution and death Jesus had just given them. As the imprisonment of John had been the prelude to the tremendous Galilean campaign which Jesus had been carrying on now for more than a year, so now the news of John’s death brings this campaign to an exciting climax.

Josephus’ Account

Practically no historic facts concerning the ministry of Jesus are made known to us by sources outside the four Gospel narratives. An important exception is Josephus’ record of the death of John the Baptist. He specifically declares that John was imprisoned and beheaded at Machaerus, the fortress and winter palace of Herod Antipas, which was situated amid the isolated grandeur of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. There is no reason to doubt the accuracy of this statement. Writing to the Roman world to explain and defend the religion and history of the Jewish people, Josephus used every opportunity to gain favor for the Jews with the Romans. The fierce persecution of the Christians appears to have been the motive of his almost complete omission of any reference to Jesus of Nazareth. But the death of John he used as an occasion to present an example of the diligent effort of Jewish rulers to suppress any sort of incipient uprising against Rome. Thus Herod is represented as being moved by his fear that the people might arise in revolt against Rome because of their excitement over John’s ministry. It is most surprising that Josephus did not record the characteristic episode of the notorious family history of the Herods which actually caused the death of John. He delighted to describe such conduct. But Josephus evidently felt here was too good an opportunity to argue the case for the zeal of the Jews to sustain the good government of Rome. Herod himself probably sent such a report to Rome, claiming that he had just suppressed the beginning of a revolution against Rome by executing the leader of the troublemakers. This sort of approach was used by the Jewish leaders before Pilate in seeking the conviction of Jesus.

Herod and Jesus The restraint which the inspired writers show at every point in their narratives is in evidence here, as in every reference to Judas Iscariot. They do not insert any epithets or excited condemnation into their simple narration of facts. All three Synoptists introduce their account of the death of John by describing the tremendous impact which the campaign of Jesus had made upon the court of Herod. Seven simultaneous evangelistic campaigns were evidently stirring great interest, especially in Galilee. But the urgent cause of Herod’s interest was his guilty conscience. After Herod the Great had in a fit of mad jealousy murdered his beloved wife Marianne, he had wandered about his palace in a state of dazed insanity, calling out in vain, “Marianne, Marianne.” His son, Herod the Little, after his murder of John the Baptist, finds himself driven to foolish ideas by his guilty conscience. Luke’s account of the death of John is exceedingly brief. Mark’s account is in the greatest detail, but it is Luke who informs us that this nonsense about Jesus being John the Baptist risen from the dead had been started among the whisperings of his court. “And Herod said, John I beheaded: but who is this, about whom I hear such things? And he sought to see him” (Mark 9:9).

Inasmuch as the greater part of Jesus’ ministry was carried on within a radius of ten or fifteen miles of Tiberias, the capital of Herod’s provinces of Galilee and Peraea, it would seem a very simple matter for anyone who desired to see and hear Jesus. He preached continually in the open air to vast crowds. But “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,” and Herod, like other monarchs, lived in constant dread of assassination. Besides fearing for his life, Herod would have been highly embarrassed a second time if he had been seen in the crowd about Jesus and received any such blast of condemnation as John had delivered against him. One of the highlights of the imprisonment of John had been Herod’s invitation to preach in the semi-privacy of his court. Herod did not see Jesus until Pilate sent Christ to him for trial: “Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad: for he was of a long time desirous to see him, because he had heard concerning him; and he hoped to see some miracle done by him” (Luke 23:8). The guilty conscience of Herod, when stirred by the silly whisperings of his courtiers, began to cause him to imagine that John the Baptist had returned to torture him for his crime. Since John had announced the coming of Christ, had baptized Him, and had carried on a simultaneous ministry with Christ for nearly a year before his imprisonment, the foolish idea that Jesus was John risen from the dead seems incredible stupidity. But it is not any greater nonsense than his father had conjured up as he wandered around his palace imagining that Marianne could still respond to his call! Some suppose that Herod Antipas was in Rome during this period of Jesus’ ministry — that he went to Rome immediately after his murder of John. A trip to the imperial city would have given him a chance to explain to the Roman authorities the good turn he had done in executing this trouble-making prophet whose followers threatened revolution against Rome. But it is hardly necessary to seek such an explanation of Herod’s conscience-stricken ideas. He was a drunken sot so engrossed in his licentious court life that we need not be surprised at his ignorant folly. None of the Gospel writers felt it necessary to explain how Herod could entertain such an idea.

Tiberias

There is no evidence that Jesus ever preached in Tiberias, the capital of Herod Antipas. It was only a few miles south of Capernaum, Jesus’ headquarters, and anyone in Tiberias who desired to hear Jesus could readily do so. The reputation of Tiberias as being the vilest of the vile in the Roman Empire had been spread abroad by Roman writers who visited Tiberias, shared its voluptuous life, and went away to write of its exceeding wickedness. When Herod had built Tiberias, he was enamored by the beautiful scenery and climate about the Sea of Galilee. Favorable territory for a city was hard to secure. But reverence for the graves of the dead had caused a cemetery to be preserved here. Herod seized the land, dug up the graves, and built his city. Unable to find sufficient inhabitants to inhabit such a city, he had emptied the jails and prisons to secure a beginning population. The city continued to live up to its beginning. This site was not a favorable location for Jesus’ evangelistic campaigns. And in Jerusalem when brought before Herod on trial for His life, Jesus observed absolute silence. His contempt for such a villain was shown by His silence.

Herodias

Bad as Herod was, his mistress, Herodias, was worse. She was the one who had compelled Herod to imprison John after he had dared to condemn their adultery. Herod Antipas had been courteously received in Rome by his brother, Herod Philip. (This son of Herod the Great is not to be confused with Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis, where Caesarea Philippi was the capital. Philip was a common name in the family, as was Antipater.) Herod Antipas had rewarded the hospitality of his brother in Rome by stealing his wife. Herodias wanted to be a queen. The two made arrangements for Antipas to return to Galilee, get rid of his wife, and then have Herodias come to be his consort. Antipas had married a daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia. She had heard of what was going on in Rome, and, remembering what Herod the Great had done to Marianne, she asked Antipas for permission to go for a visit to the Castle of Machaerus. Once here with a little group of retainers, she fled across the desert south of the Dead Sea to Petra, the capital of Arabia. Aretas immediately made war on Antipas and overwhelmed him in battle. But the Romans intervened to compel Aretas to desist and return to his own country. Since it had almost cost Herod his life and his kingdom to obtain Herodias, perhaps all ‘this hectic confusion helped him to get confused ideas about Christ. Herodias remained Herod’s evil genius, for the end of his reign and his exile came as the result of his final yielding to her nagging demands that he go to Rome and ask to be made a king instead of a governor. This move gave his many enemies the chance to conspire against him and brought his downfall.

We are not told where and when John the Baptist had condemned Herod and Herodias as guilty of adultery. John may have preached on this subject to the multitudes in his ministry up and down the Jordan Valley. The report would have quickly come to the court of Herod. But in this condemnation John may have faced Herod and Herodias in person. Machaerus was close to his center of operations.

John and Herod

Although Herod had yielded so far as to imprison John, he did not want to kill him: “And Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him; and she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe” (Mark 6:19, Mark 6:20). This situation suggests plots, bribery, and attempts to bring about assassination, but Herod was too shrewd and kept John “safe” from the murderous rage of Herodias. Matthew informs us that even when he would have yielded to the demands of Herodias, “he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet” (Matthew 14:5).

During this imprisonment Herod invited John to preach before him in his court: “And when he heard him, he was much perplexed; and he heard him gladly” (Mark 6:20). A slight difference in the spelling of the Greek word causes some ancient manuscripts to read did many things instead of was much perplexed. In spite of his wicked character Herod seems to have been fascinated by the sheer courage of John, “be heard him gladly.” A preacher who did not know which word would be his last was speaking as God directed regardless of the consequences. Both readings, was much perplexed and did many things, fit the context and are very thought provoking. Herod, through the fearless preaching of John, looked into the blazing fires of hell. He was much perplexed as he peered at the coming doom and looked around at the entanglement with Herodias, which he was not prepared to break. Did many things suggests the feeble, halfhearted acts of repentance which the irresolute person, unwilling to quit his life of sin, uses as a stopgap to salve his conscience.

Salome

Shrewd as Herod was, Herodias was shrewder. A drunken ruler committing himself in the presence of roistering courtiers would have to save face. The birthday celebration gave her the opportunity she sought. Machaerus, while midway on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, was still in the territory ruled by Herod. Both Galilee and Peraea were in his domain. All the military, political, and social leaders of his province were assembled at Machaerus for this birthday celebration. The climax came when Herodias’ own daughter Salome, put on a voluptuous dance before the assembly. Evidently no other women were present, for Salome had to go outside the banquet chamber to consult with her mother. In the vile drinking parties of the Roman Empire of the period, prostitutes often presented such exhibitions. Rarely did a woman of position or respectability so debase herself. By the introduction of a single word Mark indicates how low the mother and daughter sank in this performance: “the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced.” Grand opera, which delights to seize upon such scenes as this, has introduced it in the opera Salome in “The Dance of the Seven Veils.” The Head of John the Baptist

Herod’s rash promise to give Salome anything she desired, even to one-half his kingdom, seems to have been a surprise to her because she went out to consult with her mother. Perhaps this offer was too high a stake to be rejected even for the chance to secure revenge on John the Baptist. But the infuriated mother was obdurate. Herod realized too late how he had been duped. Because of all his bluff and bluster in the presence of the crowd, Herod did not see how he could back down. What a picture for the close of this drinking party — a young maiden triumphantly carrying away on a platter the bloody head of the prophet of God. And what did Herodias do with this object? How long did she keep it? Tradition says that she seized a bodkin and thrust it through the tongue of John. But we wonder; did she want this object in her boudoir as the night hours ticked off and as she fought a losing battle with her conscience to gain the sleep she had murdered? The disciples of John had been permitted to visit him in his dungeon cell. They now are summoned and permitted to bury the headless body. They hurry northward to tell Jesus what had happened. Where else could they go, and what else could they do? “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).