The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-08-30
LESSON FOR SEPT. l..
DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST


LESSON TEXT-Mark s;ia-a.
GOLDEN TEXT-"Be thou faithful unto
death. and l viii give thee the crown OF
nfe."-Rev, 2:ie,
The story Of Hamlet aud Banquo's
ghost is no more vivid or dramatic
than the story OF the tragedy OF John
the Baptist.
And King Herod heard OF him."
v. 4. OF course Herod would heal OF
the rising young cousin Of John who
was creating such o stir throughout
| GaliIee. His coarse, sinful, licentious,
heart cringed at the rebuke OF such a
life of purity, n that performed SO
many good deeds, one who was con-
stantly ministering to others as con-
trasted with the life Of Herod, who
only mfnistered to his own selfish
lusts. Small wonder he should ex-
claim, 1T is John whom beheaded,
| and one can hear in fancy the rising
| tide Of terror that surged through his
heart as he must have screamed, He
is risen from the dead!" The first
three verses Of the lesson are a VIVID
picture OF how the fame Of this young
Galilean affected the conscience
stricken and guilty-hearted usurper
upon the throne.
Who was this Herod? In the first
place, he was guilty Of the sin OF In
| cest, for he had married the wife OF
his brother Philip, who vas still lV
ing. From verse eighteen Of the les
son we learn further that the bold and
courageous John he'd rebuked him OF
this evil and as q result Herod had
EAST him into prison, and though he
may have desired, yet he did not az
yet dare to take his life. Added to
this Is the anger Of a sinful woman.
The purest flower that blooms 10 a
Eodly woman. The vilest and most
vindictive creature upon earth Is
most frequently a fallen woman. We
need to remember in this case that
Herodias was aware Of the heights
from which she had fallen for she
was Of Jewish descent. She had first
married Herod Philip I, then eloped
to marry this Herod Antipas, who was
also her step-uncle and who at the
time had a wife living.
John a Just Man.
This precipitated a wal which re-
suited in the overthrow and utter
loss of the army belonging to the
father of Herod's lawful wife. Why
did Herod hesitate to comply with all
that Herodias desired? Verse 20 tells
us, because John was a just man and
an holy" Righteousness Is often a
mans surest safeguard Herod was
not altogether devoid Of conscience as
we have already seen, and this is
further evidence of that fact. Verse
20 adds that when Herod heard him
he was ~"perplexed and heard him
gladly.G We believe that Herod was
seeking some sort Of a recanting upon
the part Of John, that he was glad
(anxious) to hear from his lips some
sort of statement that would justify
his liberation and was perplexed over
the persistence of John, who, though
in prison, never for n moment low
cred his standard Of divine righteous
ness, nor trimmed his sails 80 as to
Catch the wind OF Herod's popular
flavor. That this was Johns attitude
and that 1t was known to Herodias Is
evident from the beginning OF the
verse 81, land when a convenient day
was come" Herodias was all too
ready and willing to seize her oppor-
tunty.
To evidence her depths Of depravity
and also her anxiety, note that Hero
dias was willing to sacrifice the mod
esty Of her own daughter to gain her
end. The use Of the word herself"
v. % R. ", is evidence that 1t was
an unusual thing for this daughter Of
a queen thus to exhibit herself.
Now note the oath Of the liquor and
lust.drunken king. What an appalling
request. What a terrible consequence.
What lengths men will go to keep
their word" given thoughtlessly or ut
tered in the heat Of passion. This Is
one of the blacklist pictures OF his.
tory. A 1ust-driven, licentious poten
tate, a rebuked but vindictive queen
slave OF these same passions.
Not Real Sorrow.
The child Of the home thrust forth
before the gaze Of the court to help Sc
cure the ends Of a murderous mother.
A godly. fearless saint who had q great
message from a great God, and with
out hating, hesitancy or compromise
continued to deliver that message till
stricken down in the midst Of IN orgy
OF passion. Herod's sorrow was not
unto repentance" ". 26) but rather
that of a guilty conscience.
We need now to return again to the
first verse Of the lesson and we can
we'll believe II must have been a sad
wall, HE is risen" (v. 16). History
tells us Herod lost his kingdom and
that he and Herodias died In exile.
Let us turn from this awful picture
and look at John. How different. Thus
dies he who was the greatest born Of
a woman. Thus died mi who dared
to rebuke evil in high places. One
who would not compromise to save
his life, and one who was faithful unto
death (see the Golden Text. Can we
hesitate to believe that John received
his crown?
A suggested outline for this lesson
ia as follows:
I. A TerrerstrIel;en Conscience
v. t4f6.
/. Jesus name spread abroad. ". IA.
2. Men sought to explain Jesus, v.