half my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” The mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.” The girl hurried to the king and made her request, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist, here and now, on a dish.” The king was very displeased, but he would not refuse in front of his guests because of his oaths. So he sent one of the bodyguards, with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded John in prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to the girl. And the girl gave it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard of this, they came and took his body and buried it.

Reflections
I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist, here and now, on a dish John the Baptist was imprisoned for denouncing Herod’s adulterous relationship with his sister-in-law Herodias. Incarceration was meant to silence him. But speak the truth he continued to do, with Herod secretly listening to him with fascination. Like Herod, we attempt to conceal the falsehoods about us, yet are mysteriously drawn by grace to the truth. Do we ultimately silence the truth about us, preferring to live a lie? Do we have the courage to allow the truth to reveal ourselves to us? Or, like John the Baptist, are we willing to speak the truth notwithstanding the dire consequences?

© Copyright Bible Diary 2018