Will You Stand Up For Jesus?

𝐀𝐔𝐆. 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐓

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝟏 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝟒:𝟏-𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟗𝟕:𝟏-𝟐, 𝟓-𝟔, 𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟐 “𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭.” 𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐊 𝟔:𝟏𝟕-𝟐𝟗

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “… 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎.” (𝒗.20) 

         Just like the other Gospel narratives of Jesus, this account of Mark is replete with messages which could also be taken as an instruction for us who consider ourselves as Christians and, thus can be regarded as followers of Christ.

         Just like the Gospel passage today which tells of the beheading of John the Baptist and we can appreciate the substance of this narrative if we will try to digest the two parts in this passage to help us extract the underlying message of what Jesus wants to convey to us.

         The first part tells of the main characters in this Gospel – Herod Antipas or Herod the Tetrarch who ruled part of the kingdom left by his father Herod the Great who is known to have ordered the massacre of the little children in Bethlehem.

         The story speaks of Herod Antipas who 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 believe in the evangelist.

         And this is where we can also draw some form of 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.

         We 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 do not reflect any of the spirituality that we have when we are 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 to some of us who at times 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 we have 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 is what Paul warns in his letter: “𝑫𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒚 (𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈). 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕.” (𝑬𝒑𝒉 5:18) I’m sure those who at one time or another have experienced getting drunk will agree with Paul’s admonition because there are things we do with wild abandon when drunkenness affects our decision-making process.

         In this present generation, drunkenness no longer refers to the consumption of alcoholic drinks but there are people who also get drunk because of the tremendous power and authority they hold. Some get drunk from the wealth, influence, and fame that they enjoy, and recent events have provided us with actual examples of how people can get drunk from their possessions.

         And the personalities who were dragged into the flood-control project scam that includes elected public officials have only themselves to blame. Drinking moderately is an oft-repeated advice to those who gather for a drinking session and perhaps those involved in this current fund malversation imbroglio should have heeded these words of caution that anything in excess is bad.

         The second part of this Gospel instructs us on how to go about our mission to make disciples of all nations (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟖:𝟏𝟖) and this time, the model to which Mark is leading us is John the Baptist.

         What Mark is telling us is that for anyone who would like to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and take over the mission he left behind following his Ascension to heaven, we all must have the courage and the boldness to speak the truth.

         John had the courage to rebuke Herod for his adulterous relationship with Herodias who was previously married to his brother Herod Philip. Herodias herself is the daughter of Aristobulus, one of the half-brothers of Herod Antipas. In effect, Herodias is actually the niece of Herod Antipas. And this adulterous and incestuous relationship was what John spoke against which earned the ire of Herodias who plotted to eliminate John.

         It is this character of John the Baptist who never minced any words to speak the truth that Mark is trying to show to us in that anyone who will want to take over where Jesus and the Apostles have left will have to do what John the Baptist did – to speak 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 with bringing the Gospel of Christ to others can 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."        

         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 the gospel that we preach and teach such that it is imperative that others must see Jesus present in our lives. This was what John the Baptist did. He told the truth. He was the conscience of God, and he gave his life for the truth. How about you? Will you also stand up for Jesus? (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘈𝘶𝘨. 29, 2025)