‘LORD, THAT I MAY SEE.’
A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY.
Gospel
Mark 6:14-29
The beheading
of John the Baptist
1.
King Herod had heard about Jesus,
2.
since by now his name was well known.
3.
Some were saying, ‘John the Baptist has risen
from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’
4.
Others said, ‘He is Elijah’; others again, ‘He is
a prophet, like the prophets we used to have.’
5.
But when Herod heard this he said, ‘It is John
whose head I cut off; he has risen from the dead.’
6.
Now it was this same Herod who had sent to have
John arrested and had him chained up in prison because of Herodias, his
brother Philip’s wife whom he had married.
7.
For John had told Herod, ‘It is against the law
for you to have your brother’s wife.’
8.
As for Herodias, she was furious with him and
wanted to kill him; but she was not able to,
9.
because Herod was afraid of John, knowing him to
be a good and holy man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him
speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.
10.
An opportunity came on Herod’s birthday when he
gave a banquet for the nobles of his court, for his army officers and for the
leading figures in Galilee.
11.
When the daughter of this same Herodias came in
and danced, she delighted Herod and his guests; so the king said to the girl,
‘Ask me anything you like and I will give it you.’ And he swore her an oath, ‘I
will give you anything you ask, even half my kingdom.’
12.
She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall
I ask for?’
13.
She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist.’
14.
The girl hurried straight back to the king and
made her request, ‘I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head, here and now,
on a dish.’
15.
The king was deeply distressed but, thinking of
the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to
her.
16.
So the king at once sent one of the bodyguard
with orders to bring John’s head.
17.
The man went off and beheaded him in prison; then
he brought the head on a dish
18.
and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to
her mother.
19.
When John’s disciples heard about this,
20.
they came and took his body and laid it in a
tomb.
This is the
story of the God-fearing man who lives in a world of evil people. To the degree
these are God-fearing and to the degree the others are evil, there will be
persecution. John is an example of one who puts God and his law first in his
life. Herod, Herodias, and her daughter those whose conscience is dead and
desire only the indulgence of their desires.
Jesus realises
that the fate of John will be his own. Like John, he does not flinch but continues
in the way of obedience to his Father. He has total trust in the goodness and
power of God to restore everything he loses at the hands of evil men. The restoration
will be ‘a hundredfold,’ namely the Resurrection and a place at the right hand
of God.
We too are
in the same kind of world. Let us have the same kind of faith as John and
Jesus. Though we too may suffer for our belief, we are conquerors through
Jesus. ‘Those who are victors will sit on my throne as I sit on the throne of my
Father.’ (Rev 3:21).
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