Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist

Today we remember the death of John the Baptist, through a story that the Gospels of Mark and Matthew tell at length, like a scene in a play. John had told Herod Antipas what he thought of his marriage to Herodias, who was his brother’s wife. Herod had him arrested, but — Mark says, with surprising subtlety — he liked listening to him, even though what he said troubled him. It was Herodias who wanted him dead. The opportunity came at the king’s birthday banquet. Herodias’s daughter danced in front of the guests, and Herod, in front of everyone, promised to give her whatever she wanted, up to half his kingdom. The girl went to ask her mother’s advice, and came back with the request: the Baptist’s head on a platter. The line Mark adds next is the one that weighs: the king was deeply grieved, but because of his oath and his guests he did not want to refuse her. He had a man killed so as not to lose face at the dinner table. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who was not a Christian, confirms the event and places it in the fortress of Machaerus, by the Dead Sea, though he gives a political reason: Herod feared the man’s influence over the crowds. If your name is John, today is your name day.