The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, Martyr
For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; But God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong. God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don't exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist, That no flesh should boast before God. Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, That, as it is written, "He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord."
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. The Lord looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men.
Behold, the Lord's eye is on those who fear him, On those who hope in his loving kindness, To deliver their soul from death, To keep them alive in famine.
Our soul has waited for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in him, Because we have trusted in his holy name.
For Herod himself had sent out and arrested John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. For John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." Herodias set herself against him and desired to kill him, but she couldn't, For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he did many things, and he heard him gladly.
Then a convenient day came when Herod on his birthday made a supper for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those sitting with him. The king said to the young lady, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you." He swore to her, "Whatever you ask of me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom."
She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?"
She said, "The head of John the Baptizer."
She came in immediately with haste to the king and requested, "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptizer on a platter."
The king was exceedingly sorry, but for the sake of his oaths and of his dinner guests, he didn't wish to refuse her. Immediately the king sent out a soldier of his guard and commanded to bring John's head; and he went and beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the young lady; and the young lady gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard this, they came and took up his corpse and laid it in a tomb.
We mark today the feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist — the one Jesus called the greatest born of woman, the voice crying in the wilderness, who prepared the way and then stepped aside. His death is not a footnote. It is a window.
Notice how the Gospel doesn't rush past the details. Herod is genuinely troubled by John. He knows John is holy. He *likes* listening to him. And yet, when the moment of decision arrives — surrounded by guests, bound by a rash oath, worried about appearances — he chooses his reputation over his conscience. He lets a good man die rather than suffer the embarrassment of changing his mind in public.
That's not ancient history. That's a Tuesday morning meeting. That's a family dinner where we stay quiet rather than say the uncomfortable true thing. The tension here is not between good people and evil people — it's between the version of ourselves who knows better and the version who calculates the social cost of acting on it.
Then Paul, writing to the Corinthians, offers us this strange comfort: God doesn't wait for us to have it all together. God specifically chooses the weak, the foolish, the overlooked — not despite their limitations, but almost *through* them. What becomes clear is that our boasting is meant to be redirected, not eliminated. We don't stop being proud — we just find out what's actually worth being proud of.
John the Baptist had no kingdom, no army, no birthday banquet. He had a voice and the courage to use it. In the end, that was enough to make him matter forever.
Here are some questions to sit with today:
Where are we staying silent because the cost of speaking feels too high — and is that cost as real as we think it is?
What would it look like to boast only in the Lord today — in a concrete, practical moment?
What is it that we *know* to be true, the way Herod knew John was holy, that we keep circling around but haven't acted on?