John’s Mission and Death

Disciples were being daily added to Christ, and people flocked from cities and villages to hear him. Many came to him for baptism; but Christ baptized none. His disciples performed this ordinance. And while Christ’s disciples were baptizing large numbers, there arose a question among the Jews and the disciples of John, whether the act of baptism purified the sinner from the guilt of sin. The disciples of John answered that John baptized only unto repentance, but Christ’s disciples unto a new life. John’s disciples were jealous of the popularity of Christ, and said to John, referring to Christ, «He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from Heaven.»

In this answer, John virtually says, Why should you be jealous on my account? «Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled.»

John, so far from being jealous of the prosperity of Christ’s mission, rejoices as he witnesses the success of the work he came to do. He assures his disciples that his special mission was to direct the attention of the people to Christ. «He must increase; but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthy, and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from Heaven is above all. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.»

John assured his disciples that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world. As his work was closing, he taught his disciples to look to Jesus, and follow him as the great teacher. John’s life, with the exception of the joy he experienced in witnessing the success of his mission, was without pleasure. It was one of sorrow and self-denial. He who heralded the first advent of Christ, was not permitted personally to hear him, nor to witness the power manifested by him. John’s voice was seldom heard, except in the wilderness. His life was lonely. Multitudes had flocked to the wilderness to hear the words of the wonderful prophet. He had laid the ax at the root of the tree. He had reproved sin, fearless of the consequences, and prepared the way for the ministry of Christ.

Herod was affected as he listened to the pointed testimony of John, and, with deep interest, he inquired what he must do to become his disciple. He was convicted by the plain truths uttered by John. His conscience condemned him, for a woman of vile passions had gained his affections and controlled his mind. This unprincipled woman was ambitious for power and authority, and thought if she became the wife of Herod, her object would be gained. As Herod listened to the practical truths proclaimed by John, reproving the transgression of the law of God, and setting forth the future punishment which the guilty must suffer, he trembled, and greatly desired to break the chain of lust which held him. He opened his mind to John, who brought Herod to the law of God, face to face, and told him it would be impossible for him to have part in the kingdom of the Messiah unless he should break away from the unlawful connections with his brother’s wife, and, with his whole heart, obey the commandments of God.

Herod was inclined to act upon the advice of John, and stated to Herodias that he could not marry her in defiance of the law of God. But this determined woman would not be thwarted in her designs. Intense hatred was awakened in her heart toward John. Herod was weak in principle, vacillating in mind, and Herodias had no great difficulty in re-establishing herself in his favor, and holding her influence over him. Herod yielded to the pleasures of sin, rather than submit to the restrictions of the law of God.

When Herodias had gained influence over Herod, she determined to be revenged upon the prophet for his daring to reprove their course of crime. And she influenced him to imprison John. But Herod intended to release him. While confined in prison, John heard, through his disciples, of the mighty works of Jesus. He could not personally listen to his gracious words; but the disciples informed him, and comforted him with a relation of what they had seen and heard.

John having spent his life in the open air, in active, persevering labor, enduring privations, hardship, and toil, he had never before experienced the trials of confined living. He therefore became desponding, and even doubts troubled him whether Christ was indeed the Messiah. His disciples had brought to him accounts of the wonderful things they had witnessed in the ministry of Christ. But he concluded that if Christ was indeed the Messiah, he would publicly proclaim himself as the Saviour of the world.

John had indistinct ideas of the kingdom Christ came to establish, as also had the disciples of Christ. They thought Christ would establish a temporal kingdom, and reign upon the throne of David in Jerusalem. He became impatient because Christ did not immediately make himself known, assume kingly authority, and subdue the Romans. He hoped that if Christ established his kingdom, he would be brought out of prison. He decided that if Jesus was really the Son of God, and could do all things, he would exercise his power and set him at liberty.

John sent his disciples to inquire of Christ, «Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?» The disciples sought the presence of Christ; but they could not communicate with him immediately, because of the crowd who were bearing the sick to Jesus. The afflicted, blind, and lame, were passing through the throng. The disciples of John saw the miracles of Christ, and that at his word the lifeless clay became animate, and the glow of health took the place of the pallor of death. Jesus said to the disciples of John, «Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.»

In these words, John is gently reproved for his impatience. The cautious reproof returned to John was not lost upon him. He then better understood the character of Christ’s mission. And with submission and faith, he yielded himself into the hands of God, to live, or to die, as should best advance his glory.

After the disciples of John had departed, Jesus addressed the multitude concerning John, «What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?» Jesus knew that a reed trembling in the wind was the very opposite of John’s character. John could not be moved by flattery, nor be deceived by prevailing errors. Neither could he be turned aside from the work he came to do, by rewards, or worldly honors. He would preserve his integrity at the expense of his life. Steadfast as a rock stood the prophet of God, faithful to rebuke sin and crime in all their forms, in kings and nobles, as readily as in the unhonored and unknown. He swerved not from duty. Loyal to his God, in noble dignity of moral character, he stood firm as a rock, faithful to principle.

«But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.»

The people whom Christ addressed well knew that the apparel worn by John was the opposite of that worn in royal palaces. Christ virtually inquires, What motive induced you to flock to the wilderness to hear the preaching of John? The wilderness is not the place to find those who live delicately, and who clothe themselves in rich, soft apparel. Christ would have them observe the contrast between the clothing of John and that of the Jewish priests. The prophet wore a plain, rough garment, possessing no beauty, but answering the purpose for which clothing was first designed. In marked contrast to the clothing of John, was the gorgeous apparel of the Jewish priests. The burden of the priests and elders was outward display, thinking that they would be reverenced in accordance with their external appearance. They were more anxious for the admiration of men, than for spotless purity of character and holiness of life, that they might meet the approval of God.

Christ admonished his disciples, and also the multitude, to follow that which was good in the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees, but not to imitate their wrong example, and not be deceived by their ambitious pretension.

He says, «All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen of men; they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.»

John saw that the Jews who made high pretensions to piety, were exalting and glorifying themselves. Portions of the law were printed and bound upon their foreheads, and about their wrists. God had commanded the children of Israel to have a ribbon of blue in the border of their garments, upon which was embroidered words of the law, which expressed in short the ten commandments, to remind them of their duty to love God supremely, and to love their neighbor as themselves. The farther they departed from their primitive purity, and simplicity in their words and example, and the more their works were directly contrary to the law of God, the more particular were they to make broad their phylacteries, and add to the words that God had specified that they should have in the ribbon of blue. In their outward appearance, they were expressing exalted devotion and sanctity, while their works were in the widest contrast.

The spirit of reform was stirring the soul of John. The spirit of wisdom and the power of God were upon him. Inspiration from Heaven and holy zeal led him to denounce the Jewish priests, and pronounce the curse of God upon them. They made high pretensions to godliness by their gorgeous apparel, while they were strangers to mercy and the love of God. And while the Pharisees were very exact in their dress to inspire awe and command respect of men, they were abhorred of God. They did not conform their heart and life to the will and word of God. They deceived themselves with the vain supposition that eternal blessings were theirs by virtue of the promises made to Abraham, the father of the faithful. They were not clothed with humility. They bore no resemblance to the faith and piety of Abraham. They had not earned by integrity and purity of life, moral worth, which would ally them to Abraham as his children, to share with him the promises. ( To be Continued .) —

John’s preaching aroused intense interest everywhere. His earnest appeals and denunciations stirred the consciences of men. People flocked from towns, cities and villages, attracted to the wilderness by his earnest and fervent exhortations, his courageous warnings and reproofs, such as they had never listened to before. There was no outward display in the dress of John to attract or to awaken admiration. He resembled the prophet Elijah in the coarseness of his apparel, and in his plain and simple diet, locusts and wild honey, which the wilderness afforded, drinking the pure water flowing from the eternal hills.

Herod’s purpose to release John from prison was delayed from time to time through fear of displeasing Herodias, who was determined he should be put to death. While Herod was delaying, she was active, planning the most effectual manner to be revenged on the prophet John, because he had ventured to tell Herod the truth, and reprove their unlawful life. Herodias was acquainted with the character of Herod, and she knew that her best course to accomplish her purpose was through the gratification of intemperate appetite. She knew that although Herod kept John in prison, he designed to release him, for he honored and feared John, because he believed him to be a true prophet of God. John had made known to Herod the secrets of his heart and life. The reproofs he had given him, had struck terror to his guilty conscience.

In many things Herod had reformed his dissolute life. But the use of luxurious food and stimulating drinks was constantly enervating and deadening the moral as well as the physical powers, and warring against the earnest appeals of the Spirit of God, which had struck conviction to the heart of Herod, arousing his conscience to put away his sins. Herodias was acquainted with the weak points in the character of Herod. She knew that under ordinary circumstances, while his intelligence controlled him, she could not obtain the death of John.

She had tried, but unsuccessfully, to gain the consent of Herod to have John slain. Her revengeful spirit was at work to accomplish her inhuman design by strategy. She covered her hatred as best she could, looking forward to the birth day of Herod, which she knew would be an occasion of gluttony and intoxication. Herod’s love of luxurious food and wine would give her an opportunity to throw him off his guard. She would entice him to indulge his appetite, which would arouse passion and lower the tone of the mental and moral character, making it impossible for his deadened sensibilities to see facts and evidences clearly, and make right decisions. She had the most costly preparations made for feasting, and voluptuous dissipation. She was acquainted with the influence of these intemperate feasts upon the intellect and morals. She knew that Herod’s indulgence of appetite, pleasure and amusement, would excite the lower passions, and make him spiritless to the nobler demands of effort and duty.

The unnatural exhilaration which intemperance gives to the mind and spirits, lowers the sensibilities to moral improvement, making it impossible for holy impulses to affect the heart, and hold government over the passions, when public opinion and fashion sustain them. Festivities and amusements, dances, and free use of wine, becloud the senses, and remove the fear of God.

Herodias had prepared everything within her reach, which would flatter his pride and vanity, and indulge his passions. «And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.»

As Herod and his lords were feasting and drinking in the pleasure saloon or banqueting hall, Herodias, debased with crime and passion, sent her daughter, dressed in a most enchanting manner, into the presence of Herod and his royal guests. Salome was decorated with costly garlands and flowers. She was adorned with sparkling jewels and flashing bracelets. With little covering and less modesty she danced for the amusement of the royal guests. To their perverted senses, the enchanting appearance of this, to them, vision of beauty and loveliness charmed them. Instead of being governed by enlightened reason, refined taste, or sensitive consciences, the lower qualities of the mind held the guiding reins. Virtue and principle had no controlling power.

The false enchantment of the dizzy scene seemed to take away reason and dignity from Herod and his guests, who were flushed with wine. The music and wine and dancing, had removed the fear and reverence of God from them. Nothing seemed sacred to Herod’s perverted senses. He was desirous to make some display which would exalt him still higher before the great men of his kingdom. And he rashly promised, and confirmed his promise with an oath, to give the daughter of Herodias whatever she might ask. «And she went forth and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.»

Having obtained so wonderful a promise, she ran to her mother, desiring to know what she should ask. The mother’s answer was ready, The head of John the Baptist in a charger. Salome at first was shocked. She did not understand the hidden revenge in her mother’s heart. She refused to present such an inhuman request; but the determination of that wicked mother prevailed. Moreover, she bade her daughter make no delay, but hasten to prefer her request before Herod would have time for reflection, and to change his mind. Accordingly, Salome returned to Herod with her terrible petition, «I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.»

Herod was astonished and confounded. His riotous mirth ceased, and his guests were thrilled with horror at this inhuman request. The frivolities and dissipation of that night cost the life of one of the most eminent prophets that ever bore a message from God to men. The intoxicating cup prepared the way for this terrible crime. «And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother.» ( To be Continued .) —

Herod had been exalted by his lordly guests for constancy and superior judgment. And he did not wish to appear fickle or rash in character. The oath had been made on the account of Herod’s guests. And had one of them offered a word of remonstrance, to deter him from the fulfillment of his promise, he would gladly have saved the life of John. Herod gave them opportunity to speak in behalf of John. They had traveled long distances to the mountains in the wilderness to listen to his earnest, intelligent, and powerful discourses. Herod told them if it would not be considered a special mark of dishonor to them, he would not abide by his oath. It was on their account he carried out his promise. Why was there no voice to be heard in that company to keep Herod from fulfilling his mad vow? They were intoxicated with wine, and to their benumbed senses there was nothing to be reverenced.

Although the royal guests virtually had an invitation to release him from his oath, their tongues seemed paralyzed. Herod himself was under the delusion that he must, in order to save his own reputation, keep an oath made under the influence of intoxication. Moral principle, the only safeguard of the soul, was paralyzed. Herod and his guests were slaves, held in the lowest bondage to brute appetite. The guardians of the people, men in authority, upon whose decision the life of eminent men have hung, should have been condemned to death if found guilty of intemperance and crime. Those who have power to enforce laws, should be law-keepers. They should be men of self-government, fully enlightened in regard to the laws governing their physical, mental, and moral being, that their vigor of intellect may not be clouded, and that their standard of refinement and moral feeling may be exalted.

Herod commanded the executioner to perform the terrible act of taking the life of John. This request was carried out, which branded Herod forever with dishonor. The very act which he thought, while his reason and judgment were perverted, was maintaining his honor and dignity, made his name detestable. The head of the honored prophet of God was soon brought in before Herod and his guests. Those lips that had answered the inquiry of Herod why he could not be his disciple, and which faithfully declared the necessity of reform in his life, were now sealed. Never more would his voice be heard in trumpet tones calling the sinner to repentance. The reproofs of John had stirred Herod’s conscience, and had caused his proud heart to tremble. But now he, himself, had commanded the head of this remarkable prophet to be severed from his body, to gratify the revenge of a licentious woman.

Herodias received the bloody head of John with fiendish satisfaction. She exulted that she had her revenge, and that Herod’s conscience would no more be disturbed. But this inhuman act on her part made her name notorious and abhorred. She had, by this satanic conduct, enshrined this good and self-sacrificing prophet in the hearts not only of his disciples, but very many who had listened to his warning message, who had been aroused and convinced by his teachings, yet had not moral courage to take their stand openly as his disciples. His reproofs and his example in reform were remembered, and this inhuman act of Herod, in taking the life of John, rejoiced Herodias, but brought sorrow and regret to many hearts. But Herodias could not silence the influence of John’s reproofs. They were to extend down through every generation to the close of time, and her corrupt life, and her satanic revenge, stand upon the page of sacred history, making her name infamous.

In the martyrdom of John, we have the result of intemperance. This eventful birthday of Herod should carry an earnest and faithful lesson of warning, and exhortation to Christian temperance. The lovers of pleasure should look upon the birthday feast of Herod as a warning to beware of self-indulgences and popular pleasure. Herod and his guests were partly intoxicated. Reason was servant to the baser passions. And after Herod and his guests had gorged themselves, like beasts, with luxurious food, they added to their surfeiting, drunkenness. The mental powers were enervated by the pleasure of sense, which perverted their ideas of justice and mercy. Satan seized upon this opportunity, in the person of Herodias, to lead them to rush into decisions which cost the precious life of one of God’s prophets.

The minds of Herod and his guests, under the effects of intemperance in eating and in drinking, were in a state of animal excitement. Herod was under the delusion that his oath, made under the excitement of feasting, dancing, and revelry, when nothing was too sacred for them to profane, must be kept. The life of one of the greatest prophets that God had sent as a messenger to the earth, was in the balance, and this company of great men pronounced sentence of death after the intellect and manhood had been sacrificed to sensual indulgence.

Herod was brought to the test before his guests. Would he lift himself up against the Lord of Heaven, and exalt his oath above the commandment of God, which saith, «Thou shalt not kill»? Would he preserve his honor and dignity as a king, and violate the law of God in sacrificing the life of an innocent man? Or would he humble himself to ask his guests to release him from his rash oath. If Herod and his guests had preserved the vigor of their intellect, their minds would have been awake to sense the noble demands of justice and duty. Calm reason would have borne sway, and they would have recoiled with horror at the thought of beheading an innocent man, and he an exalted prophet of God.

When Herod commenced his feast of revelry, if one had suggested to him the part he would act before its close, in taking the life of John, he would have answered, «Is thy servant a dog that he should do this? But, under the excitement of wine, his rash vow was made, that led to results that he would not cease to regret as long as life should last.

After the feast of Herod had ended, the effects of his intoxication and revelry had passed away, and reason had resumed her throne, the king was filled with remorse. He was constantly seeking to find relief from the sting of a guilty conscience. His faith in John as an honored prophet of God, was unshaken. As he reflected upon his life of self-denial, his powerful discourses, his solemn, earnest appeals, his sound judgment as a counselor, and then reflected that he had put him to death, his conscience was fearfully troubled. While engaged in the affairs of the nation, receiving honors from men, he bore a smiling face and dignified mien, while he concealed an anxious, aching heart, and was constantly terrified with fearful forebodings that the curse of God was upon him.

When Herod heard of the wonderful works of Christ in healing the sick, casting out devils, and in raising the dead, he was exceedingly troubled and perplexed. His convictions were that God, whom John preached, was indeed present in every place, and that he had witnessed the wild mirth and wicked dissipation in the banqueting room, and that his ear had heard his command to the executioner to behead John. His eye had seen the exultation of Herodias, and the taunting and insult with which she reproached the severed head of her enemy. And many things which he had heard from the lips of the prophet, seemed now to speak to his conscience in louder tones than his preaching in the wilderness. He had heard from the lips of the prophet that nothing could be hid from God.

When Herod heard of the works of Christ, he thought that God had resurrected John, and sent him forth with still greater power to condemn sin. He was in constant fear that John would avenge his death by passing condemnation upon him and his house. «And king Herod heard of him [Christ] (for his name was spread abroad); and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.»

The Lord followed Herod as is described in Deuteronomy, «The Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear, day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.»

The life and mission of John were ended. Christ had said of him that he was more than a prophet. Again he said, «Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.» He had been executed as a criminal, not because of any guilt resting upon him, but for the reason that he had fearlessly reproved crime. His spotless life, his practical piety, his virtue and justice, condemned the dishonest and sinful lives of the Jews as well as the Gentiles.

Said Christ, in vindication of John, «But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.» Not only was John a prophet to foretell future events, but he was a child of promise, filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth, and was ordained of God to execute a special work as a reformer, in preparing a people for the reception of Christ. The prophet John was the connecting link between the two dispensations.

The religion of the Jews, in consequence of their departure from God, consisted mostly in ceremony. John was the lesser light, which was to be followed by a greater light. He was to shake the confidence of the people in their traditions, and call their sins to their remembrance, and lead them to repentance; that they might be prepared to appreciate the work of Christ. God communicated to John by inspiration, illuminating the prophet that he might remove the superstition and darkness from the minds of the honest Jews, which had been, through false teachings for generations, gathering upon them.

The least disciple that followed Jesus, that witnessed his miracles, and listened to his divine lessons of instruction, and heard the comforting words which fell from his lips, was more privileged than John the Baptist, for he had a clearer light. No other light has shone, or ever will shine, upon the intellect of sinful, fallen man, save that which was, and is, communicated through Him who is the light of the world. Christ and his mission had been but dimly understood through the shadowy sacrifices. Even John thought that the reign of Christ would be in Jerusalem, and that he would set up a temporal kingdom, the subjects of which would be holy.

While John was in prison, he had contemplated Christ’s taking his power and authority, and subduing the kingdoms of the world under his rule. Then he expected to be released from prison. As his expectations were not realized, he became impatient. Unbelief took possession of his mind, and he sent his disciples to inquire of Christ, «Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? John did not clearly discern the character of Christ’s kingdom. The future immortal life through Christ was not distinctly understood by him. Christ’s first advent to the world was to dispel the dense moral darkness and blindness of fallen man, in consequence of sin. «The light shone in the midst of darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.» The lessons of practical instruction which Christ gave the people shed a flood of light on the prophecies.

Although not one of the prophets had a higher mission or greater work to perform than had John, yet he was not to see even the result of his own mission. He was not privileged to be with Christ and witness the divine power attending the greater light, which was manifested in the recovery of health to the sick, of sight to the blind, of hearing to the deaf. He did not see the light which shone through every word of Christ, reflecting glory upon the promises in prophecy. The world was illuminated with pure light from the brightness of the Father’s glory in the person of his Son; but John was denied the privilege of seeing the display of wisdom and power of God in the unsearchable riches of the knowledge of Christ.

Those who were privileged with being with Christ when he walked a man among men, and listened to his divine teachings under a variety of circumstances while preaching in the temple—walking in the streets, teaching the multitudes by the way side, and in the open air by the sea-side, and while an invited guest seated at the table, ever giving words of instruction to meet the cases of all who needed his help; healing, comforting, and reproving, as circumstances required—were more exalted than John the Baptist. —