Whatever grief and mourning filled their hearts and minds, and whatever threat of hopeless despair assaulted them, they came for his body and laid it to rest in the hope of the Resurrection.
That was the hope he had preached, in which he had baptized them and many others — the hope in which he lived, in which he died and was buried — and that hope has not been disappointed.
For he was a Prophet, and more than a Prophet. He came in the spirit and power of Elijah to make ready the way of the Lord. He was the Forerunner of the Christ, the Lord’s Anointed; thus did he proclaim the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. To fulfill all righteousness he baptized that same Lamb, Jesus, in the Jordan River; and then he saw Him emerge and arise from those waters to an opened heaven, the blessing of the Father, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
That is the hope of the Resurrection for all who believe and are baptized into Christ Jesus. And that is the hope that St. John the Baptist preached. In that same hope, he also continued to preach the Word of the Lord even when his beautiful feet were shut up in prison — even unto his death.
That is your hope, also. Not suffering and death per se; but that your life is hidden with Christ in God. You have already been crucified, put to death, and buried with Him by your Holy Baptism in His Name; and so it is that you are also raised from the dead, in and with Him, to live with Him in body and soul, even now by faith, and hereafter in the Resurrection unto the Life everlasting.
Do not be afraid. Do not let suffering, sickness, pain, or death perplex you. Do not despair, and do not grow weary of doing good. For your true and lasting life — your real life in body, soul, and spirit — is safe and secure in the Body of Christ Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead. He will not disappoint you. Baptized in His Name, you live in and with Him, and He lives in you.
For St. John the Baptist, his life in Christ meant preaching, imprisonment, and finally decapitation. But what are your own vocations and stations in life? What has the Lord your God called you to be and to do in His Name? Where and how would He have you live in faith, hope, and love?
If you are a husband and father, serve your wife and children faithfully and wisely, with patience and gentleness, with compassion and forgiveness, in the way that Christ serves and cares for His Bride, the Church. Give your body and life for those whom the Lord has entrusted to your care.
If you are a wife, submit to your own husband in the hope of Christ, your heavenly Bridegroom. And if you are a mother, then care for your own children with mercy and kindness, in much the same way the Church shelters and protects the children of God. Feed them and clothe them, teach them the Gospel in word and deed, and love them in the spirit and the truth of God’s Holy Word.
Whether you are married and have children or not, cherish and serve your own father and mother as long as you are able. Love and care for your church family, your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, and for your neighbors in the world. Do your job carefully and conscientiously, honorably, gladly, and well. Be content with what you have and where you are, even as you continue to work and grow, to study and learn, and as you look for new ways to benefit the people around you.
It is especially within your callings and stations in life that you bear the Cross of Christ for your neighbor. And it may well be that you suffer hardship, pain, or difficulty within your vocations, sometimes precisely because of your faithfulness. That is how it was for St. John the Baptist, and for your Lord Jesus Christ Himself. To live in your vocations according to the Word of God, under the Cross, is to live already now by faith in the Resurrection of that same Lord Jesus Christ.
Your God-given stations in life may at times feel like a prison, in which you languish and die a little bit more each day. Your commitments, obligations, and responsibilities tie you down and hold you back, like a heavy ball and chain around your neck. And you may feel yourself forgotten, neglected, overlooked, unfairly treated. So many demands and duties, so little freedom, it seems.
But lift up your head, your heart, and your hands in the hope of the Resurrection. You have not been abandoned, nor shall you ever be forsaken. Fulfill your callings and bear your afflictions patiently. The Lord knows where you are. He does know how it is. And He knows what is good and best for you. He has not turned away from you. He has not withdrawn His gracious hand. No, His strong arms are still stretched out in love for you, to strengthen and uphold you even in death.
Your dear God and Father in heaven is actually pleased with you. He rejoices and delights in you. For you are righteous and holy in Christ Jesus, the beloved Son. Your suffering for His Name’s sake does not negate any of that; it rather confirms the truth by His own Cross. Which means that His Resurrection and the power of His indestructible Life are yours also, and they shall not be taken from you, because you are His, and He is yours forever — signed, sealed, and delivered.
As your body shall be raised from death to the Life everlasting in Paradise — like unto His own glorious Body — it is also in your body now, under the Cross, that you already live with Christ Jesus by grace through faith in His Gospel, which is your redemption, the forgiveness of your sins.
So, then, do not give your body over to unrighteousness and impurity. That which is not lawful is not the way of life, it is the way of death and destruction. To disobey the Lord your God, to disregard His holy Word, brings death to both body and soul, both now and forever. So does sin bring fear and sorrow and bitter regret, resentment and anxiety, doubt, confusion, and madness.
One sin leads to another, and grief upon grief, further and further away from your faith and life.
To give your body over to sin is to live as though there were no the Resurrection of the body. And yet, apart from the hope of the Resurrection your life in the world is perplexing and precarious.
If what you see in this world is all you get, and if what you feel and experience in your body and life on earth is all there is to it — if there is no Resurrection of your body to the Life everlasting — then you are left to be driven to and fro and tossed about by the covetous lust and selfish greed and dark despair within your heart and mind, by your anger and dread, frustration and jealousy. And as such, you never would find or have any true or lasting peace or joy or rest, not at all.
Such denials of the Resurrection are why you manipulate, use, and abuse your neighbors, even your own family and friends. You entice and seduce, you trick or treat, you blackmail and bargain. Everything becomes a terrible game, a strategy, a con job, designed to relieve your unquenchable thirst, to feed your insatiable hunger, to quell your restless appetites and persistent cravings.
For all of that, for all your desperate efforts, it is never sufficient or enough. It never satisfies, and none of it will last forever or for long. None of it can keep you safe, and none of it will save you.
Apart from the hope of the Resurrection, you never will have what you want, but you will always want more and more and more. Your sin becomes increasingly desperate, reckless and wild, going from bad to increasingly worse, until it finally brings you fully into death and eternal damnation.
Tragically, all of your pointless and detrimental striving draws you further and further away from what you really need — all the while that is being freely given to be freely received in the Gospel.
The world holds out promises to you that it cannot keep or fulfill. Sex for power, and power for sex, and a thousand other trade-offs, one sin for another. Do not chase after those things. Do not try to take what is not yours. Do not trade the Resurrection of your body to the everlasting Life for the momentary gratification of your flesh. Do not fall for that enticing but deadly deception.
When it comes right down to it, this fallen and perishing world has nothing to offer but a tomb, and even that will be emptied in the final judgment. On the last day you and all the dead will be raised from the dust of the earth, to be judged according to your life in the body, the righteous unto Life everlasting, the wicked unto the neverending punishment prepared for the devil and his demons.
Where, then, are your righteousness and life to be found? The Lord has granted sure and certain promises to you — all of which He has kept and fulfilled, for you and for all people, from before the foundation of the world — in the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, the Incarnate Son. That is what is true for you, even under the hardship, weight, and suffering of the Cross. That is what is true for you, even in the face of your sins and the fierce judgment of the Law against you.
Herod was not the first king of Israel to commit adultery and murder; nor was he the first to be confronted by a Prophet of the Lord. Even such wicked sins and heinous crimes do not undo the Word and work of God in Christ Jesus. And so, St. John continues preaching repentance to Herod, the man who had thrown him into prison. He preaches repentance for the same purpose he has always preached, for faith and life in the forgiveness of sins. That is what and why John preaches.
And King Herod listens with interest to St. John, though he refuses to hear and heed his preaching. He is perplexed and he is intrigued by what John says, but he finds more pleasure in the dancing body of his niece than in the Word of the Lord. So what Herod trades for his lust is ultimately far more than half of his kingdom. He forfeits his soul by shutting the mouth of the Lord’s Prophet.
Do not do the same. Do not shut the mouth of the Lord’s messenger of repentance by shutting your ears or closing your heart to his preaching of the Cross. Rather, repent of your sins, and believe the Gospel, because the Kingdom of God is here at hand. The righteousness and holiness of God, which are proclaimed to you by and with and in this Word, are not only the condemnation of your sins by the Law, but so also the forgiveness of your sins in the Name and stead of Jesus Christ.
Do not be afraid of men or their maneuvers. Do not fear their power, nor crave their praises. But fear God, and love and trust in Him. Cling to His Word and promises. Rely on His gracious gifts. Hope in the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus. Live and love in that hope and confidence.
If your body suffers and dies, do not despair; yet shall you live. If your body is healthy and well, use it to serve faithfully. Do whatever the Lord has called you and given you to do, wherever He has stationed you on earth, in the hope of the Resurrection. Receive whatever He gives you with thanksgiving, and use whatever you have in love, because your life is safe with God in Christ.
The surety and guarantee of that good life is already granted to you, by and with the Holy Spirit, in your Holy Baptism, in the free forgiveness of all your sins, and here in the Holy Communion, in the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead, given and poured out for you and for the many, for the forgiveness of all your sins and for Life and Salvation in Him.
This same Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord’s Anointed, the true King of Israel, great David’s greater Son, has willingly suffered arrest and execution and all the punishment for his father David’s sins, for Herod’s sins, for all of your sins, and for the sins of the whole world. He has willingly done so — in holy faith and perfect love — in order to prepare this great Banquet for you and for all people, in which He serves you, His guest, with Himself, His own Body and Life. He pleases you with His grace, mercy, and peace. He gives you the fulness of the Kingdom of His God and Father. He covers your nakedness and shame, and He clothes you with His own perfect righteousness, with His own divine holiness. He raises you from death to life in both body and soul, now and forever.
The suffering and death of St. John the Baptist — like his preaching and Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins — proclaim the Cross and Passion of your dear Lord Jesus Christ, who is indeed the Head of His Body and Bride, the Church, who has risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, your merciful and great High Priest in all things pertaining to God, in whom you and all His members rise and live. For your sins are all forgiven. Therefore, your body also shall rest in peace, and so shall it be raised in glory at the last to live with God forever and ever.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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