Mandated To Speak The Truth

𝐀𝐔𝐆. 𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐋𝐞𝐯 𝟐𝟓:𝟏, 𝟖-𝟏𝟕

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚: 𝟔𝟕:𝟐-𝟑, 𝟓, 𝟕-𝟖 “𝐎 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏𝟒:𝟏-𝟏𝟐

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “…𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅.” (𝒗.5) 

         Only those who have a genuine relationship with God and who profess faith in the Trinitarian God would know who Jesus is. Probably not the average man on the street much more a person who has never been to a church.

         This was the case of Herod who just couldn’t make out who Jesus was and this was not without reason. Herod lived in Tiberias which was part of Galilee but which at the time was populated by Gentiles and there was no account that Jesus went to Tiberias.

         Because Herod didn’t know who Jesus was the first thing that came to his mind was the name of John the Baptist: “𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕… 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅,” (𝒗.2) To refer to Jesus as John was probably out of guilt that Herod felt for the murder of the prophet who is remembered for paving the way for the coming of Jesus.

         Others said Jesus was Elijah (𝐌𝐤 𝟔:𝟏𝟓). Again, this was based on the conduct of the Jews who were awaiting the return of the great prophet who also was expected to announce the coming of the Lord. And others simply dismissed Jesus as “𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐨.” (𝐌𝐤 𝟔:𝟏𝟓)         

         This scenario is no different from what we see in the ordinary course of everyday life today. The “unchurched” who wasn’t provided with catechetical instruction in their growing up years will not be able to give us even an abstract view of who Jesus is and this is the reason why there is now a revival of the faith that is sweeping the country to bring the unchurch into the Christian faith.

         What this passage today is telling us is that past sins especially that which was as grievous as the murder perpetrated by Herod will not go away especially if it remains buried in the memory of an unrepentant sinner because the natural tendency is it will keep coming back as the sin continues to haunt an offender like Herod.

        The irony of it all was that Herod loved to listen to the prophetic words spoken by John the Baptist and the only thing that he couldn’t accept was when the prophet started speaking against his illicit relationship with Herodias who was previously married to his brother Philip.

         And Herod Antipas feared John the Baptist because he spoke the truth about his adulterous relationship with Herodias. But he also respected John because he knew that he was a man of unquestionable integrity and that many people believed in the evangelist. This is where we draw a parallelism because this oddity in the character of Herod can also be found in many of us who unknowingly are treading on two parallel courses in our spiritual and temporal journey.

         Some of us may be faithful in our attendance in the Eucharistic Celebrations or the Mass and also in Prayer Meetings if we belong to a community or prayer group and we lift up our hands and say “yes Lord,” “Amen, Lord” but our temporal lives and our disposition do not reflect any of the spirituality that we have in the spiritual setting.

         The sin of Herod was that he gave in to his impulsive nature when he failed to discern the request of Salome, the daughter of Herodias, for the head of John to be delivered on a plate. Such impulsiveness is not new as there are times when some of us also lose our sense of right judgment and we do things that we regret afterwards.

         There was someone who once said there are quick decisions and there are good decisions, but it is very seldom that a man will arrive at a good quick decision. There was no doubt that Herod made a bad quick decision, but have we asked ourselves how many times have we also made a quick decision that turned awry or bad.

         Herod was drunk at the time, and he failed to rein in his impulsive nature and this was what Paul warned in his letter to the 𝑬𝒑𝒉 5:18: “𝑫𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒚 (𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈). 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕.”        

         What this gospel written by Matthew shows is that we who would like to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and take over the mission he left behind must have the courage and the boldness to speak the truth. John had the courage to rebuke Herod for his adulterous relationship with Herodias, and he put his life on the line for telling the truth.

         Jesus is telling us to pattern our lives to that of John the Baptist who never minced any words who spoke the truth to the point of death. As evangelists or catechists whose primary duty is to bring the unbelievers and the doubters to Jesus Christ, this example of John is the model that Jesus is asking us to follow. Historical accounts claim that Herod Antipas had talked to John to soften his critique of the former’s relationship with Herodias but John stood his ground and risked is life rather than compromise.

         We who are now tasked to bring the Gospel of Christ to others and take the same path that John the Baptist took when he placed his life in the hands of God and the Catechism of the Catholic Church provides us an inspiration when it said in 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢 2471:“𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 "𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩." 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 "𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥."

         In situations that require witness to the faith, the Christian must profess it without equivocation, after the example of St. Paul before his judges. We must keep "𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯."       

         In each one of us there is a John the Baptist that exists who will never waver in expressing his conviction to what is right. But there also are those who like Herod will extinguish the truth through lies and manipulation. What this Gospel presents to us are two characters to which we may fall into. We can be the purveyors of the truths of the Gospel or we can also become the stumbling blocks to the spiritual growth of others. How and which way we will choose will determine our heavenly future.

         Like John the Baptist, we are to bear witness to the truth and as Christians we must not be ashamed of testifying to what the Lord has done in our lives. We are actually the Gospel that we preach and teach such that it is imperative that others must see Jesus present in our lives. This is what John the Baptist did. He spoke the truth. He was the conscience of God and he gave his life for the truth. And we too are mandated to speak the truth. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘶𝘨. 2, 2025)