23 The Joy of the Marty Sounds of the flute and tambourine, and dancing in sensuous abandon, reach him from above. Consider the contrast. In the halls ofHerodAntipas we have wealth, good repute among the Roman occupiers, rich food and drink, and a young woman dancing before her stepfather, while her mother looks on, calculating. Below, the nearly naked John the Baptizer, and filth. It seems like all the world to nothing. Not to the mother Herodias, though. Her husband, the brother-in-law with whom she is guilty of incest, fears John because he bears witness to the truth. She hates John for the same reason. So when the weakling king, ingratiated by the girl, promises her anything she desires, the girl, instructed by her mother, says, “Bring me the head of John the Baptizer on a platter.” At which point truth and justice yield to face-saving and vengeance. Down below, John hears the heavy door swing open, and knows it is time. He need not have told a lie to save his life. All he had to do was to stop telling the truth. If you had collared a Roman soldier or even priest and held a knife to his throat, he’d have abjured the whole pantheon of pagan gods in a heartbeat. Why, the gods themselves were traitors and liars when it suited them. Not the God of Israel.
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