Friday 29 August 2025

Psalm 126

Background
Today we remember the death of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. Matthew wrote his version of John the Baptist’s execution by drastically editing the much longer story in Mark 6:17-29. The result is that he presents Herod and his lover Herodias with no redeeming features. They are pure evil. We cannot be but shocked by their demonstration of unaccountable power, a sense of entitlement, unregulated sexual desire, hatred and vengeance. The courageous and righteous John, by insisting that Herod must obey God’s law against having sex with his sister-in-law (Leviticus 18:16, 20:21), sealed his own fate. He was a hapless victim of opportunistic plotting and murder.

John was a martyr. And Matthew suggests in verses 1-2 that Jesus will be too. The argument is twofold.

First, people behave in identifiable ways, according to influential traditions. The Herod who authorised John’s beheading was in the tradition of his father (Herod the Great). The latter slaughtered the innocent young children of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16-18). After John’s execution, Herod heard of Jesus, and recognised the continuity of charisma and values between the two; they were both prophets. That was the meaning of Herod saying that Jesus was ‘John raised from the dead’. So, like John, Jesus is destined for martyrdom. They are a natural pair. (And note how John’s disciples not only retrieve John’s corpse for burial, but also keep Jesus informed.)

Secondly, the story of John’s death (verses 3-11) is the only section of Matthew's Gospel in which Jesus does not figure. In the brutal exercise of raw power, the wicked world is fully exposed. It reveals the total contrast to Jesus’ vision of wonderful new possibilities for the renewal of individual and corporate life as gifts of God’s grace, through Jesus himself. The innocent Jesus must surely be crushed by successors to Herod who continue to manage the tyranny and evil of political power let loose to defend its own interests.

To Ponder:

• Gentle and good people usually underestimate the awfulness of human behaviour when it is stripped free of moral constraints. Christians, however well-intentioned, cannot put the world right. What small ‘seeds of difference’ do you and your congregation sow in your locality? How is that feature of discipleship best strengthened?
• In many parts of the world Christians are persecuted and killed, almost on a daily basis. How is it that we hear so little about it? Where can you turn to discover new ways of supporting fellow Christians and others of goodwill and integrity, who are under enormous stress?

Bible notes author: The Revd David Deeks
David is a Methodist supernumerary presbyter, living in Bristol.