A Martyr for Truth and Justice

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Passion of St. John the Baptist. Earlier in the summer, we celebrated a feast dedicated to the nativity of John the Baptist and now the focus has shifted to his passion and death. This highlights how the life of this unique saint runs parallel to the life, mission, and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. As John the Baptist preceded Christ in his birth and public ministry in preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah, so John has also preceded Christ in his own suffering and death. John thus completes his arc as the forerunner of the Lord and, as the Collect prayer at the beginning of Mass today says, he dies as “a Martyr for truth and justice.” John’s whole life and even his death is a preparation for the coming of the Lord. As John has suffered at the hands of a weak, feckless leader in King Herod, so Jesus will also suffer at the hands of the weak and feckless leader, Pontius Pilate. Those who live sensuous, self-indulgent lives and who lack any love and respect for truth and justice have no regard for those who have integrity and who stand for the truth and for what is right without regard for themselves and their own lives. John stood for what was right and just even though it might cost him his own life.

Although the death of John the Baptist is mentioned in all three synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of Mark is selected for today’s feast. I suspect it is because Mark provides the most detail for this episode. He gives us insight into the inner disposition of both Herod and Herodias towards John. Since John had said that it was not lawful for Herod to have Herodias as his wife because she was still married to Herod’s brother, Herodias despises John and wants him put to death. On the other hand, Herod seemed to have a somewhat softer and more receptive disposition towards John. We are told in Matthew’s Gospel that Herod wanted to kill John, yet we are given a much different impression in Mark’s Gospel. In Mark, we are told that “Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody.” Herod is disturbed by John’s words, yet he still enjoys listening to John, which is a unique and interesting detail. Why does Herod enjoy listening to someone who is actively calling him out publicly for his grave sin? The text does not give us the reason. My impression is that deep down, Herod knows that John is speaking the truth. The truth tends to resonate with us. As human beings who are made for truth, it is difficult for us to stomach lies, deception, and hypocrisy. A desire for truth and justice is innate in each one of us because God, who is truth and all-just, has created us good in His own image and likeness. When we find ourselves living a lie, we become uncomfortable, yet our circumstances might prevent us from turning to the light of truth. This might be the result of fear, such as fear of peer pressure, embarrassment, or losing something else we value. In the case of Herod, he knows that John speaks the truth, yet he cannot bring himself to admit it openly because of his fears, whatever they might be – fear of exposure, fear of losing his power, fear of embarrassment, etc. And so, he listens to John, enjoys what John is saying, perhaps even agrees with John to an extent, but does nothing more to rectify his situation.

Then, when Herod is presented with a situation in which he must make a difficult decision, he acts according to his feckless character rather than out of an interior conviction of truth and justice. A king might have authority over the life and death of his subjects, but that does not give him the right to put people to death for any reason. He has no obligation to fulfill the frivolous oath he made to Herodias’ daughter because what she is asking for is immoral. He has an opportunity to stand for truth and justice and yet he caves in to his irrational fears. He is more concerned with people pleasing than with doing what is right. Thus, when a weak leader lacks virtue and does not stand for what is right, a just and innocent man loses his life.

To the person without faith, the story of John the Baptist might seem an absurdity. John does what is right and defends what is true and just, yet he is the one who suffers for it. The fickle king Herod continues to live on while the virtuous John is beheaded. It seems that there is no retribution, no vindication for the just man. If we consider John the Baptist on his own without regard to his integral connection to Jesus Christ, then his life would indeed seem fundamentally absurd. Yet, John’s life and death are taken up into the life and death of Jesus Christ and are transformed by the Lord’s Resurrection from the dead. Hence, John continues to stand as a witness to truth and justice for all Christians throughout history. We are encouraged by his example to strive to follow the ways of righteousness and holiness without fear of suffering or death knowing that Christ has ultimately conquered sin and death.

By Fr. Matthew Mary