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Beheading of St. John the Baptist

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Because of his importance, John the Baptist is the only saint, other than Mary the Mother of God, whose conception (Sept 23), birth (June 4) and death (Aug 29) are all commemorated. Along with those dates are the commemorations of finding of his head (Feb 24: First and Second times, and May 25 the Third); and the Synaxis on January 7, the day after the Baptism of the Lord (Theophany, January 6). We hold him in such reverence because:
- he is the last of the prophets of the Old Testament;
- he is the first to announce the coming of the Messiah to people on earth;
- in his preaching, he fulfilled the role of Elijah and is the forerunner of the Messiah;
- he fearlessly preached the truth, even to the court of Herod, and was killed because of this;
- he preached to the dead in Sheol to announce that their deliverance was at hand in Jesus.
The Gospel tells us that Herod was attracted by John’s words, and that they “deeply disturbed him.” The attraction was obvious: here is the greatest Jewish prophet since the days of Elijah, preaching repentance and effecting serious change in the general population of Herod’s kingdom. Prostitutes, soldiers, and tax-collectors mingled with Pharisees and Scribes to be baptized in the waters of repentance, showing that John was truly a forerunner of Jesus. This is how the Church sees John.

Herod was disturbed because John was hitting home with his sermons, and Herod knew that marrying his sister-in-law was wrong in Jewish Law. Just how low the Herodian court had sunk is borne out in the Scriptures: the daughter of Herodias is a princess, of royal blood. She was supposed to be sequestered in the women’s court, or the women’s gallery looking over the dinner. Performing a dance was far below her dignity, and that the men invited to the dinner took delight in it speaks volumes about what that dance contained. Every movie showing the scene strikes home in terms of wild dancing, but does not show just how horrified Herod’s subjects were at the conduct of his court.

Herod could have rejected the request – he was the king! But because he does not want to appear ill-mannered, and in order to please the crowd and his illegal wife, Herod gives in. That should stand as a warning to us in our day. We are not supposed to go with the crowd, or fail to stand up for what is right.

After the beheading, it is Church Tradition that St. Joanna, wife of Chuza, King Herod’s steward, retrieved the head of John and delivered it to his disciples. She herself belonged to the company of women who assisted Jesus and the apostles, as we see in Luke’s Gospel.

It is an old custom that on this feast day, nothing round is eaten, and food must be taken from a bowl and not a plate, in memory of the martyrdom. Also, this is traditionally a day of strict fasting, although this is lessened on a Sunday.