What Do You Get for Faithful Service to God?

Leviticus 18:16 says, “You are not to have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; it will shame your brother,” and Leviticus 20:21 says, “If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has shamed his brother.” This is a sinful situation that requires the man of God to speak.

John spoke up more than once (“had been telling,” Mark 6:18). This greatly offended Herodias, the first-century Jezebel. It also caused problems for her weakling husband! So Herod had John arrested and imprisoned, even while he knew in his heart that John was right.

132Amazingly, Herod feared John, since he knew John was a righteous and holy man. He therefore kept him safe and kept listening to him. He was greatly perplexed, yet he heard him gladly. He feared John but was fascinated with him. John, on the other hand, had no fear of the powerful and influential. He boldly confronted these royals in their sin. And though Herod could not help but listen, he was too weak and sinful to obey John’s message.

The contrast between John the Baptist and Herod Antipas sets the stage for the final act of this tragedy:

Jesus and Pilate will provide a similar contrast when our Lord endures His passion and goes to the cross for sinners.

Herod did not know what to do with John, but unfortunately his Jezebel knew exactly what she wanted. Herodias “held a grudge against” John and “wanted to kill him.” But her weak husband kept him safe in prison, so any assassination plan would have to be put on hold. Herodias felt that “the only place where her marriage certificate could safely be written was on the back of the death warrant of John the Baptist” (Wessel, “Mark,” 670). All she needed was an opportune moment.

Mark 6:21-29

The adage “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” is certainly appropriate here (though often attributed to William Shakespeare, these words were133 actually penned by a man named William Congreve in a 1697 play titled The Mourning Bride). Herodias had been condemned by John as a treacherous and adulterous woman. How far she is willing to go to get revenge is truly amazing.

Herod threw a birthday party for himself. The Jews viewed birthday parties as pagan celebrations. Herod did not care. He had invited the important people of his little kingdom. Herodias’s daughter enters the room filled with drunken men. There is little doubt she was sent by her mother, and there is little doubt Salome (we learn her name from Josephus’s writings) danced seductively and greatly appealed to the lustful passions of these unregenerate, pagan men.

Most likely she was only in her teens. The daughter of Herodias and Philip, she was also Herod’s stepdaughter and niece! This is how low Herodias stooped. She cared more about the head of John the Baptist than she did the dignity and reputation of her daughter.

Salome’s dance pleased Herod and his guests. Parroting the language of Esther 5:2-3, he utters a proverbial saying that binds him to grant a generous gift for her performance. The ungodly has used ungodly means to get what she wants, and in God’s mysterious providence, she succeeds.

Salome goes to Mommy and says, “What should I ask for?” The unhesitating response is, “John the Baptist’s head!” “Immediately she hurried” to tell Herod. Not surprisingly, Herod was sad but spineless in his response. He could not afford to lose face in front of his guests, so the executioner is immediately sent and John is beheaded. The executioner brings John’s head in to Herod; Herod directs it to Salome; Salome then gives it to Herodias. It’s done and John is gone!

Herod feared displeasing his wife and losing face with man more than he feared God. Pride took him down, just like it did Satan and Adam. Herodias feared and hated John because he was right and she knew it. John was a nuisance to her conscience and a cancer to her reputation. He had to go. His head on a platter would solve all her problems, or at least she thought so.

134Isn’t it amazing that John the Baptist was declared by Jesus to be the last and greatest prophet? Yet John died in his early 30s, never performed a single miracle, and had a public ministry that lasted only about a year. Bad things do happen to good people. Life is often unfair. The righteous do suffer. And yes, sometimes good things happen to bad people. But never forget, God sees. He knows!

“When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone” (Matt 14:13). There is no doubt He was grieved, He was hurt, and He wept. And He would not forget! Note Jesus’ opinion of Herod: “He said to them, ‘Go tell that fox, “Look! I’m driving out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete My work”’” (Luke 13:32). And when the two met (Luke 23:8-9), the encounter revealed this tension: “Herod was very glad to see Jesus; for a long time he had wanted to see Him because he had heard about Him and was hoping to see some miracle performed by Him. So he kept asking Him questions, but Jesus did not answer him.”

Death cannot silence a life. Murdering someone will not put an end to their testimony. Remember the saying, “Even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith” (Heb 11:4). Today no one names their son Herod. Millions, on the other hand, bear the name of John. One’s tombstone may serve as a trumpet, one’s grave a megaphone of a life well lived for the glory of a great King whose name is Jesus. Throughout history the message of the martyrs continues to ring loud and clear. These choice servants of Jesus are a wonderful source of strength and encouragement. None fulfills that assignment better than John the Baptist. Herod and Herodias may have received his head on a platter, but our Lord received his soul into heaven for all eternity. John lost his head, but Herod and Herodias lost their souls. In the end there is no question who won and who lost. Bad things do happen to good people. But great things happen to godly people who put it all on the line, even their head on a platter, for the truth of God’s Word and the glory of His name!