Although Herod knew John to be a holy man and righteous man, he had him put in prison and ultimately had him killed. We commemorate today the beheading of John the Baptist at the hands of King Herod Antipas. As a penitential preacher, John did not shy away from condemning the unlawful marriage between Herod Antipas and Herodias, the wife of his brother who was still alive when this marriage was contracted. Although John the Baptist was opposed to the marriage based on moral grounds, Herod Antipas looked at it from a political point of view. He feared that it was only a matter of time before John’s influence over the people be turned into a rebellion against him. It is for this reason that he had John arrested and imprisoned. Although it appears that Herod had no intention of killing the Baptist, the same cannot be said of his wife who kept looking for opportunities to do so. Her wish was granted at a banquet honoring Herod’s birthday. The account of the death of John the Baptist that we read today (from Mark) is given in the context of the beginning of Jesus’ identity crisis that reaches its climax in chap. 8:27-30. When Jesus began his public ministry, Herod had already put the Baptist behind bars. Shortly thereafter, John was beheaded. It therefore came as a surprise to Herod that someone was out there whose work appeared to be a continuation of what the Baptist had started. Who was this man? And why was everything said about him reminiscent of his old nemesis John the Baptist? Had the Baptist come back to life? The imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (or the martyrdom of John the Baptist as today’s feast is known) foreshadowed the passion of Jesus Christ. For even though both Herod and Pilate acknowledged the holiness of life of the two individuals, they nonetheless condemned them to death. In a way, the two deaths had to take place. Moreover, the martyrdom of John the Baptist was necessitated by the role John had been sent to play: to prepare the way for the Lord. Consequently, once his job had been done and Jesus appeared onto the scene, he had to get out of the picture (or as he himself phrased it, “he had to decrease so that Jesus could increase” cf. John 3:30). The Passion of the Baptist was, therefore, a prelude to the life and ministry of Jesus. His death planted the seed for the ministry of Jesus. The Baptist “gave” his life for Jesus and is rightly considered a martyr.