Note: This sermon is based on an original, whose origin is unclear, that was sent to me by a friend. I've made a few changes here and there andadded my story and some thoughts.)
"Murder She Wrote"
Prayer:
In the 1980’s Susan and I used to watch our favorite TV show called: "Murder She Wrote" Jessica Fletcher. Our favorite part was guessing who committed the crime.
This passage of Scripture moves like a drama in a three acts. It is a morality play with all the necessary ingredients of intrigue, suspense, deception, and murder. It is a tragedy as dark and devious as any play ever written. This morning, I want to re-tell the story, and let the story speak for itself.
In the opening scene, rumors were spreading about Jesus, and they had come to the attention of King Herod. The miracles that Jesus performed caused much speculation about who he really was. Some people were saying that Jesus was Elijah, others said he was one of the prophets.
When Herod heard all the stories about Jesus, his answer was, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised." As we shall see, this was the voice of a guilty conscience speaking, and Herod had much to feel guilty about.
Scene two begins with a flashback that tells the full story of the death of John the Baptist. Herod has some bones to pick with John the Baptist, and it all started because of Herod's love life. Herod was rather full of himself and thought that he was above the law and above common morality.
He led a life of pleasure and hedonism. If he wanted it, he got it. Who was there to question his behavior? But what he wanted was his brother's wife, and John the Baptist was there to question it. And not only question it bur condemned it.
We can only imagine the life of Herod and the reactions of Herodias. Rome was an unbelievably mighty nation, and the political power of its leaders was truly awesome.
Herod was power hungry and greedy, but so was Herodias. I imagine her as a beautiful woman who knew she was beautiful and wanted to use her beauty to climb as high as she could get.
Her first husband was powerful, but when his half-brother, Herod, showed some interest in her, she calculated her husband’s net worth, she concluded, the grass is greener on the side, and promptly fell out of love and fell in love with a new man.
Their behavior became the subject of gossip in town soon the news hit Rome Gazette Express, because John the Baptist knew all about their immoral behavior. John, like so many today who wear his nickname, was eager to condemn.
If he had been given the chance, he would have brought the issue up at the national convention and made a motion that Herod’s home church remove him from the church roster. Instead he proclaimed his views loudly in the back alleys and on the street corners.
Word got back to Herod that this locus-eating, camel-hair-wearing prophet was talking bad about him. Herod was an interesting guy because he immediately brought John the Baptist in for a conversation.
No doubt, John explained the Old Testament laws to Herod very carefully and concluded, "Therefore, you see, it is clearly unlawful to first steal, then marry, your brother’s wife." John never lacked for courage. Herod felt it was his obligation to have John locked up until the dust settled.
Herod was still fascinated with John the Baptist. On many occasions, Herod had John hauled to the throne room so they could have a chat. Herod didn’t like or agree with what John had to say, but he liked to listen to him.
Sometimes late at night when Herod wrestled with his guilty conscience, he would call John out of his cell and have a long talk. On the other hand Herod’s new wife Herodias, had no use for John the Baptist whatsoever. She must have thought she could be a "gold-digger wife" and no one would notice. She hated when people know and say the truth about her. She felt a queen should be above gossip of the streets.
They had no right to talk about her like that. And she harbored a seething hatred for John the Baptist. I imagine some late night conversations between Herod and Herodias going like this: "Honey, you are the king and that John should not be allowed to talk about you the way he does. Why don’t you silence him?"
"Well, dear, he is a pesky sort of person, but there is something about him that I like." "Not me! I don’t like him at all. And neither should you. You are the king. Silence the disrespectful cad." "I don’t think he is disrespectful. Just committed. He really believes what he believes. I admire a man who knows what he believes and sticks to it."
"But he is saying awful things about you, and me. I hate him. I want him dead. Wouldn’t you have him put to death just for little old me?" "Hey, you stick to woman things, and I’ll run the country."
Herodias was even angrier when she realized out that her new husband refused to have John killed even when she had begged him to do it. She hated John all the more, and now she was just about as mad at Herod as at John. But this was a woman who knew how to get her way, so she began to look for an opportunity to get what she wanted any way she could.
Her opportunity came on Herod’s birthday. There was that stag parties which respectable women were not invited.
Herod invited the leading men of Galilee, including the highest-ranking government and military officials of the kingdom, for a guys’ night out. There was lots of eating and too much drinking. I picture these events as much like the nightclubs we have today where women dance around poles, all without benefit of clothing.
It was the kind of affair that wives hated. The men were out all night, came home drunk, and there were always suspicions about what else they had done while at Herod’s guy bash.
But on this particular night, Herodias and her daughter Salome were hiding in the shadows. When it came time for the belly dancing, Herodias sent in her beautiful, young daughter Salome instead of the paid stripper. I suspect that Herodias knew enough about lap dancing to teach her daughter how to do it well.
All the men, including Herod, were thoroughly drunk. And Salome’s dance was a great success. The men were accustomed to their strippers being just a bit on the degraded side. But here was not only a gorgeous young girl, but she was the famous stepdaughter of the king.
How often does one get to see the king’s stepdaughter doing lap dances? They would have given her money in the customary fashion, but there was no clothing left in which to stuff the bills.
The king was too drunk to be embarrassed or ashamed about the highly suggestive dance. So in a moment of extraordinary passion, Herod got up and made a promise: "Ask for anything you want, up to half my kingdom, and I will give it to you."
The crowd of men roared to their pleasure. And Salome was pleased and surprised. But before she could answer, she wanted to consult with her mother. I imagine Salome, still pulling clothing back on herself as she ran to her mother, saying, "Mom, he promised me anything! This is better than the lotto 649.
We can have anything we ever wanted! Let’s ask for a fabulous house or expensive diamonds and jewelry. Oh, mother! This is our chance. We can have anything we want. For what shall I ask him?"
But Herodias was consumed with her hatred even more than her greed. Her plot was working perfectly. With squinting, angry eyes, she said, "Go back in there and ask for the head of John the Baptist!" Young Salome protested, "But Mom! We can have anything we want. Let’s get something wonderful."
Herodias barked her reply, "You go back in there and do exactly as I say. Ask for the head of John the Baptist. Now go!" And reluctantly, Salome did as she was told.
When Herod heard Salome’s surprising request, he shot a glace around the room, knowing for the first time that his wife was behind this whole scheme.
He had been had, and he hated being manipulated. His first impulse was to rescind the promise, but what would all the men around him say. They would see him as a wimp, spineless king, or maybe afraid of John the Baptist. He had made a foolish promise in an all-too-public manner, and now he couldn’t go back on it.
He was in a sour mood now, but he commanded that the deed be done. Soldiers hustled off to the dungeon where John was being kept. Perhaps John thought he was being escorted for another late night discussion with the king. Rather they ushered him to the chopping block, and off with his head.
Soon the guards returned with John’s head perched on a silver platter. The drunken crowd once again roared with cheers. They all proclaimed that Herod was a man’s man. They were too drunk to notice the sadness on Herod’s face. The party was over for him, and he quickly left the party.
Poor Salome was sad and depressed as well. Tears came to her eyes when she recalled the repulsive expressions on the drunken faces of all those rudely men.
A shiver raced up her spine when she recalled their whoops and hollers every time she took more clothing off. But then she thought about her opportunity lost.
She dreamed of all the expensive gifts she could have asked for. She was filled with anger at her mother who had forced her into it in the first place and then had ruined it all by asking for the wrong thing. As she drifted off to sleep, she kept muttering to herself, "I could have had half the kingdom."
But Herodias went to sleep that night with a grin on her face. She was so pleased with herself; she had gotten her way at last. Oh, sure she had paid a high price. Half the men in Jerusalem had just seen her daughter naked and lusted after her. Now every time she would appear in public, men would be looking up and down at her.
Young Salome would no longer enjoy the innocence that should belong to her teen years. But it was worth every moment to Herodias her mother. She didn’t care what it had done to her daughter. She didn’t care that her husband was filled with rage that she had tricked him. She didn’t care what all those men thought of her or her daughter.
She only cared that John the Baptist would never call her a "gold-digger adulteress" again. And her face broke into a broad smile as she drifted off to sleep. We leave this story with the apparent victory of Herodias and the tragic death of John the Baptist.
But as their stories unfold, we find that Herod and Herodias paid the price for their selfish actions. Josephus a Jewish historian tells us that both Herod and Herodias eventually committed suicide.
A wise man once said to me: "Sin will take you further than you are willing to go, and it will cost you more than you are willing to pay". This story reminds me, may be, all of us, that kings and mighty men /women may plot their plans, but God judges all.
During his life Herod proclaimed himself as the greatest man who ever lived, but in the end his guilt and personal failures led him to ruin. The problem with a sinful lifestyle is that it leads to ruin whether you are a king, queen, or just common person like you and me, "there is no right way of doing what is wrong". Only the way of God leads to true happiness, contentment, and eternal life.
So there we have it - a classic morality play " Murder She Wrote". The message lies in the story itself. Each and every one of us must look at the story and find ourselves.
Let us pray to God that we will all find contentment in our relationships, and in mundane things of life. And have the courage to avoid the temptation to hate, to revenge, to lust for power, and to greed. For those represent the broad way that leads to destruction. Instead, let us chose the narrow way that leads true happiness, and to life everlasting. Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
July 13, 2003