Death of the Baptizer

John the Baptist preached about the kingdom of God calling people to repentance and baptism. He did not consider himself the Messiah; instead, he was the one to herald the coming of the Lord. He would fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah, “A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God’ ” (Isa. 40:3; cf. Matt. 3:3). John thought himself as the lesser and the one coming after him the greater. With all humility, he said, “I am not fit to remove His sandals” (Matt. 3:11). When people started to notice more people were turning to follow after Jesus Christ, the Baptizer said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:28).

Concerning Messiah’s ministry John said, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier that I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals, He will baptize you with Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:11-12). Messiah’s message, from John’s standpoint, would be one of eternal consequence.

The Baptizers life came to a tragic end when Herod Antipas ordered his head on a platter. What happened was that John spoke out against Antipas’ scandalous marriage to Herodias, a woman formally married to his half-brother Philip. Their union would not have been favorable in the public eye, particularly among first century Jews with deep roots in the Old Testament law, and Antipas would have been satisfied with simply keeping John in prison. Locking the Baptizer away from the public eye was not enough for Herodias, whom schemed to have him permanently silenced. Her plot was well calculates. Have her daughter perform for the guest at one of Antipas’ banquets, which would lead him to reciprocate with granting her daughter a request, and then her daughter would ask for the head of John the Baptist. Fool proof. And it worked (Matt. 14:3-11).

John the Baptist’s disciples then took care of the remains of their leader and reported to Christ all that happened (Matt. 14:12).

Antipas’ order to unjustly execute John the Baptist did not win any public favor, and many desired the wrong to be made right. Even those outside the Christian community believed Antipas did wrong. Josephus, for example, reports Antipas had been married to the daughter of Nabatean King Aretas, but when he divorced her to marry Herodias, peace was broken between the two kings. The ancient historian further notes when John the Baptist criticized the scandalous marriage, Antipas executed him for sedition. Moreover, when the armies of the two kings eventually faced off in battle, and Antipas’ suffered a crushing defeat, Josephus noted many Jews believed this to be a form of divine retribution for unjustly killing the Baptizer (Antiquities 18.5.1-2).

Antipas may have felt some guilt over putting John the Baptist to death, but when hearing the reports about Jesus’ ministry, he became very disturbed. Matthew writes, “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, and said to his servants, ‘This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him” (Matt. 1:1-2) Could righteous people unjustly murdered come back from the grave even more powerful than before?

Herod Antipas was correct in seeing John the Baptist as a righteous prophet from God, but missed the mark in thinking Jesus to be the Baptist reincarnated with super powers. John the Baptist was like many other prophets who were martyred for their faith. Jesus even spoke about unrighteous apostates murdering the prophets from Abel to Zechariah son of Berechiah (Matt. 23:34-36). What Antipas did not understand was that John was the herald announcing the arrival of the Messiah, and while the Baptizers ministry would decrease, the ministry of Messiah would increase. Christ performed miracles not because He was a prophet raised to life with superpowers; rather, He performed miracles because it displayed His divine prerogatives.

The Baptizer’s death would also foreshadow Messiah’s death as both of them would face an execution surrounded by some intrigue. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, would be crucified and rise again the third day, whereas John remains absent in body yet present with the Lord awaiting the resurrection.