The Death of John The Baptist
Sermon Preached by Reverend Stuart Langshaw on Sunday, 14 July 2024.
Mark 6:14-29, Gospel for Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Year B
Plates and dishes of spaghetti seem to have no rhyme or reason. There is no pattern to them. The individual strands get all mixed up with all the other strands, and dive in and out. It would be very difficult indeed to unravel the strands of a bowl of spaghetti.
That’s the way it was with the royal Herod family in the New Testament and their marriages, and who was whose offspring. Now I don’t expect you to remember all that I’m about to say. But I hope that you will follow the family tree of the Herod family in the back of the pew sheet as I move along. It will help to make all this clear.
When Jesus was born, the king was Herod the Great. He was responsible for massacring the infants about the time of Jesus’ birth. Charming man. He was much married. He’s at the very top of the family tree diagram.
*His first marriage was to a lady named Doris by whom he had a son named Antipater, whom he murdered. I told you he was charming.
*His second marriage was to Mariamne the Hasmonean, by whom he had two sons, Alexander and Aristobulus. Whom he murdered. But not before Aristobulus had had a daughter named Herodias, the villainess of today’s gospel reading.
*Herod the Great’s third marriage was to another Mariamne – the Boethusian. By her he had a son called Herod Philip – whom he did not murder. But – Herod Philip married Herodias, who was the daughter of his half-brother Aristobulus. Therefore, Herod Philip married Herodias, his niece.
Herod Philip and Herodias had a daughter named Salome, who danced before Herod Antipas.
*Herod the Great’s fourth marriage was to Malthake, by whom he had two sons, Archelaeus and Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas is the Herod of our Gospel reading. He was the ruler of Galilee.
Now – to remind us – Herod Philip had married Herodias and they had a daughter Salome.
Poor old Herod Philip! He inherited nothing from his father Herod the Great. So Herod Philip lived a wealthy but private life in Rome.
Herod Antipas (ruler of Galilee), went to Rome and visited his half brother Herod Philip, seduced Herod Philip’s wife Herodias, persuaded her to leave her husband Herod Philip and to marry this royal seducer, Herod Antipas. Together with her daughter Salome, Herodias moved to Galilee.
To separate some of the spaghetti strands – Herodias was the daughter of Herod Antipas’ half-brother, Aristobulus, and so she was Herod Antipas’ niece when they married. Uncle married niece.
But Herodias had also been the wife of another of Aristobulus’ half-brothers, Herod Philip, and thus she was also Herod Antipas’ sister-in-law. Brother-in-law married sister-in-law.
I think I prefer Spagetthi Bolognese!
One more bit of complication. Back to the much-married Herod the Great. His fifth marriage was to Cleopatra of Jerusalem, by whom he had a son called Philip the Tetrach. This Philip the Tetrach married Salome the dancer! Now … Salome was this Philip The Tetrach’s niece because she was the daughter of his half-brother Herod Philip … and she was also his great-niece because she was the daughter of Herodias, who was Philip the Tetrarch’s niece-in-law. More spaghetti Bolognese!
If you would like now to go outside and bash your head against the wall I will quite understand.
It’s interesting that the report of Jesus’ power and miracles that had reached Herod Antipas made him think that John the Baptist had come back from the dead. And Herod Antipas was responsible for John the Baptist’s death. Herod Antipas’ wife Herodias did not like John the Baptist at all – well, she really didn’t like his trenchant criticism of her marriage with Herod Antipas. In our Gospel reading, John had said to Herod Antipas, it is not awful for you to have your brother’s wife. He had seduced Herodias away from Herod Philip in Rome to a place of power and prestige in Galilee. The only explanation that Herod Antipas had for the remarkable, reports he had of Jesus’ teachings and work was that John the Baptist was back. Or Elijah. Or one of the prophets.
John the Baptist ran foul of the Galilean royal family for standing up for the truth and ultimately it cost him his life. Queen Herodias was like the Queen of Hearts in Alice In Wonderland – “Off with his head!” she said bout John the Baptist. It was as though John had drawn a line in the sand, and he would not go beyond it, no matter how rich and powerful and royal his opponent.
History is filled with the accounts of those who have stood up for the truth, and have been prepared to pay the price. Whatever that price might be. Jesus had said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” That was certainly true personally, but maybe not always so politically or even legally.
Whistle blowers are not appreciated by those against whom they blow their whistle, either in our day or back in John the Baptist’s day. And John the Baptist did blow the whistle against king Herod Antipas’ marriage. It was in contravention of the Jewish law. It broke Leviticus 18:16 and Leviticus 20:21 – “If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.”
It’s as if John said loudly between whistle blasts, “It’s not lawful, O King. It’s not right , O King. It contravenes the laws of decency and morality, O King.” (:900)
From time to time we all have to take a stand for what we believe to be true. The case of Senator Fatima Payman in the past couple of weeks is an example. A victim of the politics of our day. She stood up, she crossed the floor of the Senate to vote against her party because of what she believed to be true, and she paid a costly price. Each and every Sunday as we engage in our worship, the liturgy that we use had as its lead-author Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. His document of Forty Two Articles has become the basis of our Thirty Nine Articles that make us distinctive as Anglicans. His Book of Common Prayer is the standard of worship for us Anglicans even today, 500 years after his death. Cranmer too was a victim of the politics of his day. Mary I, Queen of England, was completely opposed to the theological views of Archbishop Cranmer, and had him burnt at the stake in Oxford on 21st March 1556.
Thomas Jefferson, the third President of America, said:- “In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
What are we prepared to take a stand on? Where do we draw our line in the sand and say, “I will not go beyond this”. On the whole we live a very comfortable Christian life here in Australia. The stands that we are called on to make won’t cost us our lives. And they will probably be on matters of morals and behaviour, rather than on matters of theology and belief. But for Christians, matters of morals and behaviour spring from our theology and belief.
Would we take a stand against racism, against ageism, against mistreatment of women, against domestic violence? A stand AGAINST something is actually a stand FOR something … FOR defending the dignity of people whoever they are, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity… because we believe that we are all made in the image of God. The popular view is that politics and religion don’t mix. But when political forces go against Christian beliefs and ethics, Christians must take a stand. We must write to our local member of Parliament, maybe attend a rally, maybe sign a petition, maybe take even a leading role in a matter.
John the Baptist did this against his king and queen. Archbishop Cranmer did this against his queen. These are people who have shown us THEIR way .. perhaps even THE way if matters in our national life demand our action.
Take a stand … Would we? Will we?