In the account of the beheading of St. John the Baptist, it was Herod who lost his head and John who kept his. That might seem to be an odd thing to say but it is the truth nonetheless. Herod is confused about everything and afraid. He does not seem to get who Jesus is and who He is not. Is Jesus Elijah or a prophet or John the Baptist back from the dead? It seems that Herod does not even consider that Jesus is the Messiah, the promised Savior who is God’s Son in flesh and blood.
Herod is afraid. He is afraid of what John the Baptist has to say about Herod’s own immoral life but he is just as afraid of shutting John up since he knows that John is a prophet sent from God and a man of God. So what would he do with John? He locked him up and let John sit it out in prison while Herod tried to figure a way out.
Herod is weak. While he stews and frets about what to do with John, his own unlawful wife had it figured out and conned Herod into her plan through the use of an erotic dance performed by her daughter and Herod’s own step-daughter. So Herod is not only a weak leader but a weak man who can be manipulated by unseemly desires.
Herod is a fool. Herod threw himself a birthday party extravaganza and thought the people invited came because they liked him. The reality is that they came because he was a man who held an office with power, even if he did not know how to use it. And when his stepdaughter had ignited the fires of his desire with her dance, Herod was foolish enough to promise her whatever she wanted up to half his kingdom – and he made the pledge in front of everyone!
Herod is also stupid. He played right into the hand of his unlawful wife and when she figured out a way to silence John the Baptist, she also figured out how to lay the blame upon Herod and not herself. Faced with the prospect of either killing a prophet of God and a holy man or showing himself to go back on his word, Herod chose to put John to death.
John kept his head through all of this. When he was locked up, he sent his disciples to Jesus so they would know Jesus was the One who was to come and not look for another. Even from the prison cell John pointed to Jesus the Lamb of God. His hope is rested upon Christ and he lives not in fear.
While in prison, he did not take back his words or deny the Lord – even to save his life. He was a prophet, alright, and he stood by the Word of the Lord even knowing it would cost him his life. He was faithful unto death and so he received the crown of everlasting righteousness.
John kept his head in everything. He knew his place. Jesus must increase and I must decrease. That is the voice of a man who knows who he is and who knows the promise of God that will not fail him. Even though this decrease meant martyrdom, John trusted in the Lord and that faith was counted to him as righteousness – just as it had been for Abraham before him.
John kept his head in all of this. He was not a superman but a man of faith. He trusted in the Lord when trust was all he had and no way out. He trusted in the Lord when trust meant eternal life over this life. When Herod died, He was left forgotten except by the annals of God’s Word which alone remembers his name. When John died, his remains were placed in a tomb so that from it he might await his own resurrection from the dead to the new and glorious flesh that no one would ever be able to kill again.
We have two models here. One is a model of immorality, weakness, fear, and foolishness. The other is a model of faithfulness, trusting in the Lord when it is not easy and at the risk of your own safety and security. In these two models are choices for you and for me. The sad reality is that too many of us end up looking much like Herod. We believe the lies we tell about ourselves, we hide the sins we commit, we resist the call to repentance, we let our desires lead us where we know we should not go, and we are strangers to God’s House and His Word. The times in which we live call for Christians to be like faithful John than fearful Herod.
Christian nationalism is not the answer. As Lutherans we do not see the Kingdom of God with national borders or flags and we do not elect the kingdom of God in the ballotbox. Luther’s two kingdoms at least reminds us that God will judge both the government and the Church but they have very different callings and purposes in the world. Christian nationalism falls short. Suffer as we might the threats and persecutions of our leaders, we are not working to bring heaven on earth but to make sure earthly sinners are raised in Christ to new and everlasting lives by the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body. The kingdom of God will not come by violence nor will it come through the power of hate.
Of course, we can all use a better class of leaders and we should pray those we have hear and heed the voice of God on our behalf and for the sake of all people. But our call is to be like John and not to succumb to the foolishness, weakness, and stupidity of the Herods of this world. We are to be faithful when it hurts to be faithful. We are to be people of God’s Word who know who Jesus is and who confess the name of the Lord without fear. We are to be so confident of the promise of the resurrection, of the new and glorious body that can never die, and of eternal life that we are willing to suffer all even death rather than give in or give up on this Gospel and this Church (which is the promise confirmands and new members make and we all made!).
This morning Whit was baptized into the Kingdom of God and given new birth through the womb of this font. His life is in Christ, now the earthly life of we see and the life of the world to come we know by faith. With us he has been given a new heart and a new head, Christ our Lord. With us he has been given a new life and a new home, with Christ forevermore on high.
I don’t know whether this is a starker and clearer contrast between faith and fear, life with God and life in the world, living by desire or by the truth that endures forever, than the contrast between Herod and John. John was beheaded but he kept his head in trial and trouble. Herod lost his head and his memory lives on as an example of what not to do and who not to be. Yes, you are suffering. But Christ has you in His hand and will reach into the darkness of death to raise you to eternal life with Him. Because Jesus lives, John lives and you live and I live. And that, my friends, is the only thing that matters.
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