This sermon was delivered on July 11th, 2021 for the weekly worship service at the Kensington in Gelesburg, IL
Today’s story from Mark brings us one of the most famous episodes in Mark’s gospel- it’s a story of intrigue and drama, fear and power. It’s the story of Salome and the death of John the Baptist. And oooooh it’s a good one.
Let’s start with a little bit of history. According to the historian Josephus, Salome was the daughter of Herod Philip and Herodias, and while she isn’t specifically named in this story, historians agree that this story is about Salome. Her parents, Herod Philip and Herodias, had gotten married after her grandfather executed her father and uncle and then married her off because she was an orphaned minor AND Herod the Great wanted to preserve the Hasmonean bloodline.
But then, Herodias and Herod Philip divorced and she married Herod Antropas- who was Herod Philip’s half brother. Now, Herod Antropas was the ruler of Galilee and had been appointed by Rome. He had been previously married to Phaselis- the daughter of King Aretas of Nabeta. Does this sound like a soap opera yet?
Yes this is the same Herod we meet again later in the Gospel accounts and who is famous for his role in Jesus’s executions. So yes, that Herod. But anyway, John the Baptist REALLY didn’t approve of this marriage made from two divorces and some murder and intrigue. In fact he publicly condemned the marriage.
This was probably not the best move. Because it REALLY made Herod Antipas angry- like really angry. Angry enough to have John the Baptist arrested. But, that’s all Herod was willing to do because he was actually scared of John the Baptist because John was such a holy and righteous man. He didn’t exactly know what to do with him, so he kept him imprisoned.
Herodias however was not scared. She was mad. And well, you know what the old adage says about a woman scorned. John the Baptist had publicly embarrassed her by condemning her marriage, and she held one HECK of a grudge.
So that brings us to Herod’s Birthday Bash. His step daughter, Salome, is the entertainment. She performs a dance for the high officials, military commanders, and socially high ranking men of Galilee. Now the biblical account doesn’t tell us what kind of a dance this was.
Author Oscar Wilde’s 1891 play, Salome, posits that this was a dance of seven veils and was meant to be lustful and sexy. But Wilde’s version is based on a long standing tradition of french poets and writers who had written about Salome’s sex appeal. The Strauss opera based on Wilde’s play even alludes to a sexual relationship between Salome and John. And Rita Hayworth turned the dance into a striptease in the 1953 film. But, truly, the biblical account doesn’t get that steamy. It just says that Herodias’ daughter came in, danced, and pleased Herod and his guests.
Now this still makes me a little uncomfortable. I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea of a teen girl dancing for a bunch of grown men as their entertainment. There’s a power dynamic there that just doesn’t sit right with me. But that might be my modern feminist reading putting meaning where there isn’t any. But Herod is so pleased with the dance that he offers Salome anything she wants-even half his kingdom. In a modern context, she probably would have asked for a car. But what does a first century teenage girl want?
Well, it seems she didn’t know. So she asked her mother- you know Herodias- the woman with the giant grudge against John the baptist. And Herodias suggests that Salome ask for the head of John the Baptist. I can’t imagine that a teenage girl actually wanted the severed head of a man of god presented to her on a platter, but that’s what she asked for and that’s what she got. And she then presented it to her mother. Ew.
Aside from providing narrative context to how John died, why on earth is this story in the gospel account? What does it have to do with anything? Why do the salacious details of this story matter?They don’t. What matters in this story is Herod.
I sincerely dislike taking a story that features women and saying it’s really about a man, but in this case, that’s the entire point of the story. I think we are meant to get a clear picture of the kind of ruler Herod is. Herod is scared. Scared of John, scared of Jesus, scared to make a decision, scared of scandal, scared of rebellion, scared.
Herod was scared of John’s ministry- particularly because of John speaking out against Herod’s marriage to Herodias. John’s public influence and denouncement might have encouraged rebellion against herod’s rule. He was scared of John’s religious status and following to the point of being superstitious, which is why he had him imprisoned instead of killed in the first place.
At the beginning of this story, we learn that Herod was afraid that Jesus was actually John raised from the dead. And later in the Gospel accounts we learn that Herod was afraid to convict and crucify Jesus himself. He didn’t want to be considered responsible for Jesus death the way he had been blamed for John’s. Later in history, Herod was afraid of Caligula and Agrippa (his own nephew) and stockpiled a huge cache of weapons to try to defend himself and his rule- spoiler alert, that didn’t go well either.
Why do we care that Herod Antipas was a big ole scardey cat? Because fear makes people easy to manipulate and control. Fear makes people easy to use. Harod’s fear made him easy to manipulate and Herodias knew it.
When Salome did her dance and Herod offered her a reward, he did offer it in front of every important man in Galilee, and because he did that, Herodias knew that no request would be denied. Herod would have been afraid of losing face in front of these men. He would have been afraid of looking weak. Herodias knew Herod was a fearful man- he had already shown that he was scared of John.
So of course she used that weakness to her advantage. Herodias was the reason John was killed- not Salome, not Herod, but Herodias who knew that her husband was scared and weak and saw a moment to swoop in and what she wanted all along.
This story provides us with the context to understand what happens later in the gospel when Jesus is sent to Herod for judgement. By understanding that Herod was a weak and fearful man- easily persuaded by dancing teeangers and vengeful wives, we can see exactly why Pilate sent Jesus to him. Pilate KNEW that Herod wouldn’t do anything. Pilate knew that if Herod wouldn’t convict Jesus, Pilate wouldn’t have to either. Weak and fearful people make for easy pawns.
But I can’t stop thinking about Salome- the daughter who was also used in this scheme. There is no indication in scripture or in historical accounts that she was deceitful or conniving. Nor are there any accounts of any sexual innuendo or a strip tease or even evidence of what kind of dance she did.
So how did we get from this story- one of Herod’s fear and Herodias’ taste for revenge to a series of movies, plays, art, and poetry all depicting Salome as a temptress and tart? Doesn’t this sound eerily similar to what we talked about when discussing the way Eve has been portrayed?
There’s something about a woman’s role in a man’s mistake that always gets put back on the woman’s behavior- and somehow it always gets linked to sex. And quite frankly, I’m not ok with it. Sure, there’s a woman to “blame” in this story, but it isn’t Salome! It’s Herodias.
Is there good news in this story? Perhaps there isn’t. But perhaps there IS a lesson. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time. This was our glimpse at Herod, and understanding him in the context of his fear makes his role in the crucifixion more clear.
This is our only glimpse of Herodias, and understanding her helps us understand Herod. As for Salome, I appreciate this reading of the story because we can maybe let her off the hook a little bit for John’s death. We can focus instead on the role of fear, and focus less on a dance and the dancer.
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