The Daily Office for October 7, 2012
Scripture Readings
Old Testament
Psalm
New Testament
Gospel
Reflection
The occasion of John’s death in today's Gospel reading signaled a time for Jesus to retreat so He wouldn't provoke an early death before His appointed time. Herod the tetrarch, the son of Herod the Great, was the ruler of Galilee and Peraea. His ignorance of Jesus prior to this time is probably due to his self-indulgent, luxurious life-style that had little contact with religious figures. His guilty conscience over John’s death caused him to think Jesus was John risen from the dead. His fear of the resurrection indicates its widespread belief in those days. Matthew then recounts the story of John’s murder at Herod’s hands.
John had been arrested because he challenged the illegitimacy of Herod’s divorce and incestuous remarriage. Herodias was the daughter of Aristobolus, a half-brother of Antipas. She had been married to her uncle, Herod Philip, and had borne him a daughter, Salome. However, she divorced her husband and married Antipas, who was already married himself. The king’s own anger was already against John, but he feared the multitude and kept him alive because the people believed he was a prophet (indeed he was the last of the Old Testament prophets). Herodias was a vindictive, ungodly woman who wanted John dead and devised a plan to get rid of him. At the king’s birthday party, her daughter performed a provocative and sexually enticing dance which so appealed to the drunken Herod that he promised, with an oath, that she could have whatever she wanted. Set up by her mother, she asked for John the Baptist’s head. The morally weak king complied and the forerunner of Jesus was slain. However, the vindication of the family was short-lived. Historical records confirm that the Herodian family never escaped bloodshed and violence
John’s loyal disciples came bravely and obtained his body for burial and then informed Jesus, who departed into a desert place apart. We cannot fully comprehend the pressure Jesus was under at this time. Yet, in spite of His own heartache over John’s death, He performs two major miracles. Because of His love for the people, He cannot avoid healing and feeding.
Collect for the Day
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us your gift of faith that, forsaking what lies behind and reaching out to that which is before, we may run the way of your commandments and win the crown of everlasting joy; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.