Ironically, Jesus’ reputation – which is in tatters in the eyes of the religious authorities, his family, and the Jewish community in his hometown- appears strong in the eyes of Herod Antipas. This is the son of Herod the Great who ruled as king until his death, but now his son is ruler of only two regions: Galilee and Perea (hence his true title ‘tetrarch’). And so, the phrase King Herod, should read “King” Herod – once again, an ironic situation. Herod was born in 20BC, and so would be in his 50s at the time of this this encounter with John.
The main, second section of today’s text, is what on TV and in movies is called a flashback. The text begins with Herod’s assumption that Jesus is John the Baptist returned from the dead. Others think that Jesus is Elijah – the great 9th Century BC prophet, who some see as the forerunner of the forerunner. Then comes the flashback.
Things get a little complicated and confusing here, because Mark’s account is historically off a wee bit. Herodias was previously married to Herod’s half-brother, but not to Phillip. Salome, her daughter by that previous marriage, later married Herod’s other half-brother, Philip. In yet another irony, Herod divorced and set packing his first wife, daughter of King Artas, in order to marry Herodias. In retaliation, King Artas was later to wage war against Herod, and to defeat him, and send the Herodian king into exile in 39AD.
Interestingly, Salome is not named in the Gospels – her name comes to us from the Jewish historian Josephus (37AD-c.100AD), who pretty much corroborates Mark’s account, differing only in Herod’s motivation (religious/political), and the location of the events (Josephus names Machaerus as the site).
Herod watches Salome dance. She is described using the same Greek used in Mark to describe the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus, raised by Jesus from the dead. So, rather than a temptress performing an erotic dance (as some artists have imagined over the centuries) it is entirely possible that Herod was touched instead by a childish and rather innocent performance. This would explain why Salome was so easily manipulated by her mother – she was too trusting, and too young to know any better. Either way, the result is the same: Herod does what Jewish and Christian ethicists say is intolerable – he makes an oath, from which he cannot publicly backdown (the other guests being the political, military and social elites of his realm). John is beheaded by an executioner who just happens to be at the party, and his head is presented for all to see, on a pinax, literally a ‘flat board’ used at feasts.
A few things jump out from this text:
- The account is sandwiched between Jesus’ sending of the Twelve on their mission of discipleship, and the report of their successful return. This serves, perhaps, as a warning of the personal cost of discipleship.
- Herod too serves as a warning: his emotional swings are extreme; and John is executed despite Herod’s apparent best intentions. Intentions, it is clear, matter less than actions.
- In fact, Herod’s reaction to John’s death compares in language and description (“deeply grieved”) to those of Jesus’ in the Garden of Gethsemane.
- John serves as a symbol of courage and honesty in the face of criticism and danger.
- Mark’s repeated use of the word gar (literally for/you see) seems to indicate that he is providing an explanation of John’s death, and not merely a description of it, to an audience in need of an explanation.
- In Classic Greek two words were used for a birthday: one (genesia) was used to describe the birthday memorial of one who was dead. And it is that word which later is used for a living birthday also and is therefore used in Mark’s account. And yet, there is a sense of foreboding at this birthday party – a double meaning that is full of meaning.
- For this reason, and in light of subsequent events, one scholar describes this event as “a banquet of death.” And yet, from it comes life. Indeed, the Greek for ‘tomb’ (mnēmeion) literally means ‘token of remembrance,’ and now wherever the Gospel is proclaimed, John is remembered.
