The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist
(Mark 6)
This curious sidebar in Mark’s gospel describing the martyrdom of John the Baptist resolves what happened to one of the first century’s greatest religious leaders. It also anticipates Jesus’ death.
John was an enormously popular religious prophet whom evidently even Jesus followed for awhile. His being executed without trial and like a dog shows how state power can lay aside human rights with little more consideration than for a paper cup. More than the other evangelists Mark will describe Jesus death as similarly gruesome and unjust. The Jewish leaders have false witnesses testify against Jesus. Pilate will hardly give him a hearing at all. And Jesus hangs on the cross for a full six agonizing hours in this gospel.
“Where is justice?” we want to cry out. It is with God, and He has introduced it into the world with the paschal mystery of Jesus. Just as Jesus’ brutal death ended in the glory of the resurrection so the lives of those who believe in him will be saved. For now we move under Jesus’ inspiration to fortify our society’s mechanisms of justice. We also pray that when injustice strikes despites our efforts to keep it at bay, its victims will be also inspired to respond with the love of enemy which Jesus taught.
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