29
August. 1662 Book of Common Prayer: Beheading of John the Baptist.
Beheading of St.
John Baptist. The observation of this Festival is of
early date in the Western Church, probably from a desire to carry out, in the
case of St. John Baptist, the usual commemoration of martyrdom without
trenching on the greater Festival of his Nativity. Why it was fixed to this day
does not appear. -- August 29th.
Elaborating a bit further.
The Beheading of
John the Baptist is remembered in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer on 29 August.
It remembers the Biblical narrative his martyrdom by beheading on the orders of Herod Antipas by a vengeful
request of his begrudged daughter Salome. John had been
calling out the immoralities of the royal court.
On August 29, 2012, during a televised public audience at
the summer palace of Castel Gandolfo, Mr. Joseph
Ratzinger, called Pope Benedict XVI, asserted the discovery of John’s fragmented head. Additionally, Mr. Ratzinger stated that the relic was now in the Basilica
of San Silvestro in Rome; the relic-story,
like the others, is a story with long legs and a long history. It’s good
marketing and good for business. That
was the view of Frederick the Wise, Luther’s mentor. A leg here.
A head over there. A tooth there.
And so it goes with relic-mongery. But back to the story.
According to the Synoptic Gospels, Herod, a tetrarch or sub-king of Judea, imprisoned the bold forerunner of Jesus, the son of a loyal priestly
line, Zechariah and Elizabeth. From infancy, he was full of the Holy Spirit
(Luke 1.15).
He baptized Jesus.
But, John decided to go modern. He adopted Joel Osteen and Rick Warren’s
“seeker sensitive model.”
He openly reproved Herod for divorcing his wife and
unlawfully taking Herodias, the wife of his brother, Herod Philip I. Believers
respected him, but he offended some in the court.
At a gala event for Herod, Herodias's daughter danced
before the king and his guests. We’ll assume it was not to commemorate the
Baptist’s exhortations or to review his endorsement of Jesus Christ. We’ll
assume it was akin to something one might see on “Dancing with the Idols.”
The young maiden’s dancing gratified old Herod. In an
assumably drunken condition, he promised her anything up to half of his
kingdom. Hmm, she thought. Better ask
the Queen Mum. Then, she consulted with her mother. The verdict?
We want the head of Baptist.
Herod agreed. John
was achieved his “Purpose Driven Life” and “Your Best Life Now.” He was executed in the prison.
The Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, in his Antiquities
of the Jews, reviewed the event. Herod took the Baptist’s head "lest the
great influence John had over the people might put it into his [John's] power
and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do anything he
should advise)…so he thought it best to put him to death." The historian further claims that many Jews
thought the military disaster that befell Herod at the hands of Aretas, his father-in-law, was God's punishment for his unrighteous behavior.
(Cf. Jewish Antiquities, XVIII, v,
2)
This much, John the Baptist had visibility and
significance as the Gospel writers so quickly.
We read these accounts so often; we are refreshed and encouraged by
honor, courage, fidelity, and the fear of the LORD in this Elijah and
forerunner of the Sovereign Redeemer.
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