T. S. Eliot once said, “I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope,for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought; so the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.” Encountering today’s rather dark and gloomy (just like today’s weather) gospel, T. S. Eliot offers a way to hear the good news. Wait without hope, love, and thought until the darkness becomes the light, and the stillness the dancing. Jesus’ name is mentioned in today’s gospel lesson, but there’s no actual saying of his. So as a person who would like to meditate and contemplate on his words, I feel quite perplexed to find his message in today’s lesson. But there’s someone else who indeed delivers the gospel. I’m not going to tell you who, but I would like you to guess. Here are the characters who talk in the lesson: St John, Herod, some people around him, Herodias, and her daughter Salome. St John the Baptizer may be considered as someone whose life solely revolves around Jesus and whose focus centers on Jesus. It is as if his identity from the very beginning, even before he’s actually born and in his mother, Elizabeth’s womb, is already set. When two soon-to-be mothers, Elizabeth and Mary meet each other, when Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting, the unborn John leaps in his mother’s womb, reports St Luke. From that very moment, it seems it is already evident who he is called to be, what he is called to do, and what kind of death his life would face. Throughout all four Gospels, St John’s vocation is quite clear. He’s the voice in the wilderness. He’s to prepare the way of the Lord. To be the prophetic voice in the wilderness is his identity, who he is. To prepare the way of the Lord is his mission, what he does. If you can recollect your memory of this past Advent season, two lessons are about John’s prophetic role before the coming of Jesus in this world. The prophetic voice of Isaiah in the Hebrew Scripture, which is “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” parallels with that of John. In today’s gospel, we hear the tragic story of St John’s death. As we reflect on this gospel lesson, particularly John’s death, we might wonder if his death, not just his ministry of baptizing people with water for repentance and teaching, is part of preparing the way of the Lord and making straight in the desert. His death completes his mission. Which also means that Jesus is invited to walk on that way that John prepares. As his way paves the way of Jesus, his death foreshadows the death of Jesus. He seems to send a message to Jesus that he also has to go through the path of death and walk on it himself. The early 17th century painter Caravaggio has two famous pieces that depict the beheading of John. One painting titled as ‘the decapitation of St John the Baptist’ shows the moment of his body pushed on the ground by an executioner/headsman with a knife; this man next to the headsman giving a direction of this process; one woman holding the plate to carry John’s head, and the other woman whose hands are covering her ears looking horrified. And there are two bystanders behind the window who are watching it curiously. Another painting is Herodias’ daughter, Salome carrying the head of John on the plate with the executioner grabbing John’s hair.
Both paintings can bring so much emotions. Caravaggio’s realistic imagination can shock us as it reminds of John’s humiliation and indignity in his death, if not its cruel and violent features. There’s a sense of unfairness, injustice, and also disappointment. We don’t want someone like St John, the prophet and the forerunner who prepares the way of Christ to face this kind of death. This is far from that of Hollywood movies’ heroic version which we are quite used to seeing. At least in our culture, heroes must face a glorious death, not this kind of tragic, unfair, and cruel ending of John. What can be more infuriating is how his execution becomes possible. I can romanticize his death by saying that this is all meant to be and is a part of God’s providential plan. But at least what we hear from today’s gospel lesson is that his tragic death directly results from Herod’s drunkenness and Salome’s impressive dance. Of course, before that, St John has been a critic of Herod’s immoral and unethical decision to marry his niece who is already married to his brother. John’s criticism of Herod is not for the sake of his own righteousness. He risks his life to turn Herod away from the evil. Paradoxically, this is an act of love and justice. He really is a courageous and righteous voice in the wilderness while he’s seen as a sacred irritant to those in power, Herod and Herodias in particular. Let’s also remember what Jesus once refers him as that “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist.” (Mt 11:11) St John, however, doesn’t get to have a heroic death like Bruce Willis in Armageddon. What a tragic, horrendous, terrible way for him to die! But deep down in our hearts, we know that there’s no death in reality that can be romanticized or sentimentalized as in Hollywood movies. And out of all the deaths, John is far from a Hollywood version, so is Jesus the Son of God on the cross. It is hard to deny that John and Jesus are quite similar. Both face a tragic and horrendous death, a very political one. Both preach the same message of repentance and the coming reign of God. And this close connection is shown in a very interesting way in the eyes of Herod. After beheading John and hearing about Jesus’ ministry, he relates them to each other. Not only are they cousins and both come across as a political threat, Jesus is a resurrected John to Herod. Some say he’s Elijah, or a prophet of the ancient tradition. But what he really believes is that John is back again from the dead. The beheaded one is risen from the dead. Herod’s understanding of Jesus as a resurrected John might tell us that he’s awfully guilty. We hear from today’s gospel that he is deeply grieved for the execution. He knows John is a righteous and holy man. He fears John as well as holds grudge against him too. John in a way plays as the voice that awakes Herod’s conscience. The other aspect to this perceiving of Jesus as a resurrected John is that Jesus’ own life can be in danger. Herod or Herodias might want to get rid of this resurrected John again. Jesus who talks about the kingdom of God, the reign of God already sounds just like John, a political threat to their regime and conscientious spirit to their hearts. And they do succeed in contributing to the death of the resurrected John. The fact that both John and Jesus died is depressing. At times, we might feel like the power that be continues to win and succeed in eliminating the righteous ones in our world as if there’s no justice prevailing. But the hope ironically comes out of the mouth of that one who murders the righteous one. And this is Herod who delivers the good news of Jesus. “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” Jesus who is seen as the resurrected John is not simply another version of John. Jesus is the one who resurrects those who are dead. Jesus resurrects John. He resurrects many Johns who have faced unfair, unjust, and tragic deaths. This hope of the resurrection in Jesus is painfully realistic, seeing things as they are. This hope Jesus brings is beyond wishful optimism. This crucified and risen hope hops despite of its rather pessimistic view of the world. Because of this very truth and hope embodied in the person of Jesus, we are not afraid of death at all. We face it and go through it, never around it. It’s all because we believe that Jesus himself represents our resurrected selves. Our world has changed so much. Our American politics become weary. Global economics are unstable. We might want to shrink and hide until this stormy climate of politics passes. But as followers of Jesus who knew what kind of death he would face in the death of John, we want to walk that path of death and resurrection. That’s what we’re called to do today. This is the good news of Jesus. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
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