Then Jesus looks at the crowd that’s gathered around them and tells them exactly what he thinks of John:
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist…” —Matt. 11:11
John is beheaded
After Jesus tells the crowd that John is the greatest man and prophet that’s ever been born, does he swoop in, guns blazing, and break John out of prison? No. He goes on with his business. Despite these glowing words about John, he presses on with his own agenda.
Meanwhile, John continues to languish in jail, but it could be worse. So far Herod has protected him because he fears this man of God. He’s even enjoyed wandering down to talk to John on occasion (Mk. 6:20), but that’s all about to change.
During a particularly huge and wild party, Herod’s stepdaughter, Salome, dances for the guests. She does such an exceptional job that Herod drunkenly swears an oath to give her anything she asks — up to half his kingdom.
Salome confers with Herodias about what she should request. And, because Herodias has borne the brunt of John’s criticism, she tells her daughter to request John’s head on a platter — which Salome does. When he hears what his stepdaughter wants, Herod’s troubled. He doesn’t want to do it, but because he swore an oath in front of his dinner guests, he immediately sends executioners down to kill John. And just like that, with absolutely no warning, John is slain. This barbarity is compounded with the indignity of John’s head being presented to Salome at a crowded dinner party.
Think about that for a second. John has done everything right… Not only does God not deliver him from jail, but he also lets John be murdered to fulfill the wish of some teenage girl. It’s not just that the manner in which he dies is awful; the reason he dies is completely ridiculous. If anyone born of a woman deserved better, you’d think it would be John.
He spent the last months of his life mourning the death of his expectations and struggling with doubt. And then he’s ignominiously killed at the request of a teenager because of a personal vendetta? Is that what obedience gets you?
God doesn’t do quid pro quo
The most difficult part about this story is the way it spits in the face of cultural Christianity. We’re consistently spoon fed a Jeremiah-29:11 Christianity that promises that our goodness, self-discipline and morality are exchanges that we make for blessings and comfort. We’re given five steps to a happy marriage and rules on growing our kids God’s way. And if our marriages fail or our children struggle, we’re left to wonder which formula we screwed up.
Despite the fact that we’re promised difficulties and hardship, we assume every terrible thing that’s happened to us is personal and intentional. We look in our dark experiences for the lessons that God’s obviously trying to teach us, as if we can turn that key and be released from whatever crappy situation we find ourselves in. Because bad stuff has to happen for a reason, right? Jesus’ friends should expect a lifetime of pizza parties and ice-cream socials.
But John wasn’t learning some valuable lesson in Herod’s prison. He didn’t have his head removed from his shoulders because of some secret sin or lapse in piety. In fact, despite the objections of my Calvinist friends, I don’t think John’s death played any major part in God’s righteous plan. It was the terrible fallout of a complex collection of free-will decisions in a horribly unjust world.
If you embrace a theology that assumes life’s struggles are for the people outside of God’s grace, you’ll only compound your suffering. Instead of enduring trouble with patience and stamina, you’ll writhe around trying to decipher the mystery of why you’re not being delivered. Is God to blame, or are you?
Does God intervene? Yes. Sometimes he does — but sometimes he doesn’t. The reasons are numerous, complicated and unknown to us. It’s why Teresa of Ávila, the mystic writer, once said of Jesus, “If this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so many enemies.” John probably felt the same way.
And Jesus’ response?
“Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”