Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist is celebrated on June 24, and today we commemorate his martyrdom by beheading. His death is recorded not only in the Gospels, as in today’s reading (Mark 6:17–29), but also by the Jewish historian Josephus, who mentions it in his Antiquities (15, 8, 2). Though Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, regarded John as a just man, nevertheless, when John publicly criticized him for his unlawful marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, as well as for his other misdeeds, he had John imprisoned (Luke 3:19–20). Josephus also informs us that it was in the fortress of Machaerus, on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, where John was detained. Herodias had revenge in her heart and waited for the proper moment; it came when her unnamed daughter danced before Herod and his guests. Thus, to fulfill a royal whim, he, of whom our Lord said: “history has not known a man born of woman greater than John” (Matt. 11:11), gave his life in final witness. This feast was celebrated in Jerusalem as early as the first part of the fifth century, and it seems to have been celebrated in Rome by the sixth century. That the feast should be celebrated on August 29 is probably due to the fact that a church dedicated to St. John in Sebaste (today’s Sivas, Turkey), where his tomb was believed to have been, was dedicated on this day.