REFLECTIONS TODAY
The passion of John the Baptist prefigures Jesus’ own. Just as John is arrested and bound, so will Jesus be arrested, bound, presented before the court of Pontius Pilate, and sentenced to death (Mk 14:46—15:1). John’s sentence is pronounced amid revelry and debauchery. Whatever tinge of conscience Herod Antipas had is drowned by the hatred of Herodias who uses her daughter to trap Herod to give in to her wish. “Hell has no fury like a woman scorned,” a saying goes. Herodias wants to kill John for exposing her unlawful marriage to Herod. Mark presents the story of John the Baptist’s martyrdom as a forewarning to the disciples and other believers that anyone who wishes to follow Jesus will pay a price. Indeed, he will receive a hundred times more: houses, brothers, and sisters—but also persecutions (10:30). One has to be ready to “give up” something: family, possession, or life itself. But then what is life on this earth compared with eternal life with God? St. Paul declares, “I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him” (Phil 3:8-9).
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” St. Pauls, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.