READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Jeremiah 1:17-19
Hebrews 11:36-39
- St. Mark 6:17-29
Grace to you all and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. (Phile 1:3)
Who speaks to you today, from His Epistle this morning
saying:
“They were stoned,
they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in
skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of
whom the world was not worthy”
The celebration of the Martyrdom of John the Baptist was
actually yesterday, August 29th. It is considered a Double Major feast day.
This means that there are extra things accompanying the day in church. There
are nine lessons read at Matins, instead of the usual three. Two Vespers
services are dedicated to it, both the evening before and after.
The Mass, or Divine Service, is a full one including the
Gloria in Excelsis, proper collects, readings to the day, and the Nicene Creed.
A Double Major feast day outranks simple and semi-double feasts, meaning it
takes priority in the calendar unless a higher-ranking feast (like a 1st or 2nd
class or a Sunday) occurs on the same day.
In our Church tradition, there is a hierarchy of
feasts.
In order: a 1st Class feast is the highest rank. Days like
Easter, Christmass, and Pentecost take priority over everything else that could
be celebrated that day.
2nd Class includes most feasts of the Apostles, the Holy
Name of Jesus, and major events in the life of the Virgin Mary.
Now pay attention here, Sundays. The regular Sundays that we
celebrate year after year, such as today which would have been the 13th Sunday
after Trinity are next in line. This is because Sundays are weekly celebrations
of the Resurrection and naturally possess a high rank. In the traditional
calendar, a standard Sunday will override most feast days.
Which brings us to today’s celebration of the 4th place, or
Double Major.
So yes today we break those Church rules, if you noticed,
but who’s going to stop us? In fact, we can do whatever we want, in church, and
all protestants do, though its not good for them. The reason we can say this is
because celebrating the beheading of John the Baptist is not in the Bible. As
in, no prophet or Apostle ever says, “On this day we celebrated John”.
Now tell me today, which path you choose: John or Herod. And
before you make the ultra-self-righteous choice of John, let me clue you in on
what is happening. John is following the 10 Commandments, specifically number
6, where you are to fear and love God so that you lead a chaste and decent life
in word and deed and each love and honor his spouse.
What if I told you that Herod is also following the Law of
God, would you believe me?
First, Herod is king, anointed by God. From the Old
Testament, “David told Saul, "I will not raise my hand against my lord,
for he is the Lord’s anointed" (1 Sam 24:10), and we know what a great
king Saul was. At this point in history, he was not even the real king, yet
David still spoke these words.
Jesus reteaches this point in front of Pilate saying, “You
would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (Jn 19:12).
Herod’s authority comes from God.
Even Samuel said of kings, “He will take your daughters”
(1 Sam 8:13), as Herod seems to want to do in today’s Gospel.
Second, Herod is also keeping his word. In Deuteronomy 23:21
we hear God say, "If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not
delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and
you would be guilty of sin." By executing John, Herod was choosing the
lesser of two sins in his own eyes by avoiding the profound sin of lying and
breaking a vow made before witnesses.
Finally, Herod is doing it all for love. John is breaking
the law. God says, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against
the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am
the Lord” in Leviticus 19:18. Then there is Ecclesiastes 8:15: "And
I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and
be joyful”, teaching that love should keep peace and joy for the community.
And Proverbs 5:18 that says to protect the honor of your family: "Let
your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth."
All Scripture. All God’s Law
What do you do, dear Christian??
Maybe you can feel a little bit what John felt, in front of
his executioner.
Maybe you feel a little bit of what the Last Day will be
like, when Jesus sits in Judgement of you.
Dear Christians, even if the devil uses the Bible, it is
still God’s own Word. So, you have the advantage. You know the author. You even
know how to contact Him to ask Him to send His Holy Spirit to you, that you may
gain understanding. As you open your Bible, pray that you may so read, mark,
learn, and inwardly digest what is being fed to you.
Dear Jesus, son of God and Son of man, reveal to us Your
Will. Who is John the Baptist?
He is Elijah to come. He is more than a prophet. He is the
greatest born among women. He is a reed not shaken by the wind. And he is
rejected by men.
St. John the Baptist: forerunner of Christ, minister of the
baptism of Jesus, a burning and shining lamp to the world, an angel of purity
before his birth, a special friend and favorite of Christ, intrepid preacher of
truth, a voice crying in the wilderness, an example of profound humility, a
glorious martyr of zeal for God's holy law, and gloriously fulfilling his
mission.
Jesus chose John. Jesus also chose Herod, but Herod chose
himself. Therefore, it is John who is to be trusted and not Herod, because of
Faith. It is John who shows true love, not self-serving love, for love rejoices
in the Truth (1 Cor 13:6). Love does no wrong to a neighbor and perfect love
casts out fear. Herod was not afraid of God, but men.
It is John who truly keeps his word, his vows. His whole
life was one dedicated to his vow of poverty and to not drink wine or any
strong drink, in order that he be filled with the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:15). Much
more than that, he keeps God’s Word. A sinful vow is not a vow. A vow to do
evil must be repented of, not kept. John was revealing Herod’s sin that he
would repent and live.
Which brings us to the topic of king. Can a king remain a
chosen king while choosing to sin against the God Who gave him that authority?
Do we get a free pass to rule how we want, love how we want, and act how we
want simply because we can find justification somewhere?
The title of king is not the Title of God. Herod was a king,
he was not God. He was a sinner in need of repentance. He was not sinless and
certainly not to be worshipped as “can do no wrong”.
The True King keeps His Promises. The True King Loves as His
Father in Heaven loves. The True King lays down His life for His friends and
does not allow another to take away that glory of the cross.
Jesus is the fulfillment of both John the Baptist and Herod,
for both men fail. Herod most spectacularly, living in abject hatred of all
things Jesus-related. And John because He could not bring about the true
kingdom with his preaching of repentance. Where Herod stubbornly continued to
rebel, John bowed to the dust, “He must increase, and I must decrease”.
It is not man that has revealed to you the Truth, but your
heavenly Father. It is He Who chose to spread His Gospel throughout the earth
and have it preached that those hearing it, may believe. Though John received
the greatest honor in being able to say, “Behold the Lamb of God Who takes
away the sin of the world” and Herod got to keep “his kingdom”, the Spirit
alone shines light on the Truth through the Word alone.
Herod had not only committed adultery in his marriage, he
had committed adultery in God’s Word. He had changed the deal, changed what God
had said about husband and wife. He made a new “word of god”, a false word and
a false god. Same as the serpent in the beginning: “Did God really say one man
and one woman?”
It is Jesus Who agrees with the beginning, with the Head of
all things, because He was there, creating all of it with the Father and the
Holy Spirit. And it is Jesus Who said: you shall not commit adultery. And it is
Jesus Who said, I have come to suffer and die that they may have life, and have
it more abundantly.
Where Herod’s god brings death, Jesus, true God and true
man, brings life. Herod wants John out of the way. Jesus wants John living
forever in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness. There can be
no comparison in words-on-paper here. When God speaks, He speaks words of life
in Christ. When the devil or sinners speak, it is always words of death.
So when it comes to celebrating John and placing his feast
day among the myriad number of reasons to celebrate every word the comes from
the mouth of God, we do not do so according to the Law, but according to the
Gospel.
Meaning, we get to. We get to hear of John. We get to see
his life. We get to hear his prayers and his preaching and we get to gather in
the Church he attends to do it, rallying around the same Lamb, Who takes away
the sin of the world.
Amen.
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