The story of the beheading of John the Baptist bothers me on a lot of levels. No doubt I’ve written about this before. But in hearing the reading again on his passion feast day this time I focused on Herodias’ daughter.
The story always makes me queasy – from thinking of the beheading itself to the uncomfortable grossness of Herod enjoying his neice’s (aka his step-daughter’s) dancing way too much – so much so that he pledges to give the girl whatever she wants.
But here’s the thing… The unnamed girl we only get to know as “Herodias’ daughter” seems to have no agency of her own and yet makes decisions that greatly impacts others.
Was she made to dance at the feast? Did she do so willingly or unwillingly? Perhaps she was a people-pleaser and her mother wanted her to dance and so she did.
As a result of her dancing she is told she can have anything she wants. Anything. And yet she does not know what she wants. She goes to her mother to “figure out” what she should want.
Herodias is clearly evil. She is the one who has John the Baptist arrested and imprisoned. She gets Herod to do her bidding on this account. Herodias has great agency and great power – and she knows what she wants.
Herodias “harbored a grudge” against John the Baptist – a grudge so deep that she wanted to kill him. She held all these evils in her mind and heart and connived until she could make her evil plan a reality.
Herodias’ daughter – perhaps naively, perhaps innocently, or perhaps in agreement with her mother – does her part to make Herodias’ dreams come true.
In contemplating this I think of Herodias’ daughter as someone who doesn’t realize how evil her mother is. She looks to her mother as her leader — a decision by her could only be good. She is her mother after all and “mother knows best”.
The girl, seeking to please her mother and not otherwise knowing how to figure things out for herself, goes to her mother. “What do I want?” easily and all too simply becomes “What does my mother want?” The girl foolishly trusts her mother because she does not see the evil, conniving, and planning behind her mother’s actions. The girl is an unwitting puppet – a pawn in Herodias’ chess game.
Clearly the girl cannot discern the answer to “What do I want?”. She wants someone to give her the answer. She has no individual agency – no capacity to make her own choice. The only thing she knows she wants is for her mother to tell her what she wants.
Where in my life do I do the same thing as Herodias’ daughter? Where do I err in seeking counsel and guidance and help? Am I able to recognize my misplaced trust?
Herodias wants what she wants and will not stop until she gets it. The girl does not know what she wants and so is easily swayed and led by a misguiding hand.
We know the girl does not actually want John the Baptist’s head because immediately upon receiving it she turns it over to her mother.
Was the girl horrified or pleased? Did the girl have any independent thought of her own regarding her request, its result, and the consequences? Did the girl have any regrets?
Where in my life am I like Herodias’s daughter and blindly follow and swallow what I am fed?
What will it take for me to remove the blinders and think for myself?
I pray to not be like Herodias’ daughter but I fear that in some ways I am. With so many leaders and voices and everyone making self-serving suggestions, decisions, and offering guidance that guides you to where they want you to follow is it any wonder why so many of the people in today’s world have gone astray from God’s ways? …It is hard to know you are blind when you have always been blind. It is hard to see what you don’t know what to look for. It is hard to look for what you don’t know is there.
Only God can help you. Lean into God. Trust in Jesus. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. Let Jesus rub the clay into your eyes so that you may clearly see — and once you can clearly see you can clearly act, with your own agency and free-will. Ask Jesus “What should I want?” and Jesus will tell you the answer: “Me.” If you want Jesus you can have Jesus — and with Jesus you will see the Truth, know the Truth, and be able to follow the Truth –just like John the Baptist.
Gospel
Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers,
his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.
Herodias’ own daughter came in
and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once
on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders
to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Give God Your Yes 