“Herod’s trial of conscience” by Fr. John for The Texas Catholic.
The death of John the Baptist is a chilling story for multiple reasons. It is a story about the fury of Herodias, who hated John so much for speaking the truth about marriage that she manipulated Herod, her would-be husband, into murdering him. It is also a story about the weakness of Herod, who just waited too long to do what he knew was right – to the point that doing the right thing required a sacrifice he felt incapable of making.
In Mark 6:14-29, the occasion for the evangelist to tell the story about John is his effort to account for the anxious conscience of Herod. Jesus is working miracles and teaching with unimaginable authority, and the people are wondering who He is. Theories abound. Some say He is Elijah, while others say He is a prophet like any other (Mk 6:15). But Herod declares, undoubtedly with great alarm, “It is John whom I beheaded! He has been raised up!” (Mk 6:16)
Doesn’t this happen to us, too? When we know we did something wrong, our conscience nags us until we repent. Until we repent, we can see signs of our wrongdoing everywhere and obsess about it. We become defensive and anxious about whether we will be exposed. (If you want a terrifying illustration of this, read Shakespeare’s Macbeth.) I don’t think I’m over-interpreting the text when I suggest that Herod’s guilty conscience led him to assume that this marvelous preacher was the man he had murdered coming back to accuse him.
Herod’s conscience is center stage in the story of John’s death. While John was alive, he preached the truth to everyone —including when it put him at personal risk. Thus, when he told King Herod that his marriage to Herodias was illegitimate (for she was the wife of his brother Philip), he got himself into big trouble. Herodias wanted to kill him, but Herod “feared” him and knew that he was “a righteous and holy man” (Mk 6:20), and so he just kept him in custody.
Thus, Herod entered into a major trial of conscience, as he was caught between two irreconcilable forces: his knowledge of the truth, and his refusal to accept it. He knew John was righteous and holy, and thus he “liked to listen to him” (Mk 6:20). And yet he feared him, since what he said “very much perplexed” or disturbed him (Mk 6:20). I can imagine their encounters: Herod summons him from prison to listen to him. John preaches and Herod admires. But then he sadly sends John back to prison, as he refuses to live up to the wonderful words he recognizes.
I imagine this happened many times, and that each time Herod was more troubled and weakened. It is sad that he never summoned the strength to do what was right, because eventually time ran out and a decision was forced upon him in terms far more dramatic than he had ever faced before. Herodias found a way to compel him to decide, and to stack the deck so severely against him doing the right thing. We know the story. On Herod’s birthday, his daughter danced beautifully, and her father publicly promised with great fanfare to grant her whatever she asked. She went to her mother, Herodias, who told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Herod, “deeply distressed” (Mk 6:26), saw no way out of his oath without embarrassing himself in front of his guests. If he could not find the strength to do the right thing before, when only illicit romantic pleasures were at stake, how could he now, when his pride and authority as king are also at stake? So, he doubled down on his sin and aggravated the wound of his conscience: He murdered John the Baptist.
Let us take this as a lesson! The sufferings we experience when our conscience nags us are a gift! It is good to be made aware, while there is still time, that we should right some wrong. It is good for us to be pushed to do so before the stakes increase. Repenting quickly and completely is always the best course of action after sin. If we refuse to acknowledge the truth, or if we try painfully to postpone doing what we know is the right thing, we make things worse and risk waiting too long – until the point when righting the wrong would require a sacrifice far greater than we had initially feared. What might God being asking each of us to sacrifice? With whom to reconcile? What courageous act to accomplish? Let us each take a step, and take it today.