Meditation based on Matthew 14: 3-12

Put yourself into this unsettling account where you have the ability to treat another person as if he were expendable because he pointed out the truth to you.  Herodias and her daughter, Salome, have the power to ask for the life of another, and Herod orders it to be done.  It causes Jesus to withdraw to a deserted place by himself, probably to grieve and to ponder his own fate as he dares to speak the truth. 

            As in the story of the Pharisee and the publican, I thank God that I’m not like them…or am I?  Where is my outrage when lives are taken or voices silenced because they speak the truth?  Usually these voices have asked me to part with something, infringing on my own comfort and security, so I am complicit while protecting my own position of privilege and power.

            And what a sad example Herodias is for her daughter as she teaches her about what it means to “please” others, not to mention demanding revenge.  But Herod baffles me.  In Mark’s version, Herod likes to listen to John the Baptist and has the ultimate power to spare his life, but he is more concerned about not going back on his word in front of everyone and so acquiesces to the sickening request.  I can relate to that as I recall times when I have covered up that which would expose my inadequacies.

            I’m really not much different from these biblical characters except I’m not literally cutting off someone’s head.  But when I pass on that rumor, I take a bit of that person and put it on a platter.  When I fail to speak up when I hear something offensive or an untruth about another, possibly another head ends up on a platter.  Not a pleasant story, and one I would rather not think about because it calls me to look at my own Herod, Herodias, and Salome.  It’s much easier to point a finger at their evil than to claim it as my own.

            Redeemer God, as I journey through Lent into Holy Week, help me to trust that the miracle of Easter can redeem me form the darkness in me which is difficult for the Light to expose.  Amen.