Birthday Party Gone Wrong
Everyone loves birthdays! Birthdays are a mark of ushering in another year in remembrance of when one was born. People celebrate their birthdays in different ways, some travel, some make donations to their preferred charities, others hold parties. One common thing is giving and receiving gifts and sharing the day with loved ones. Someone’s birthday is indeed a special day!
I am sure as you read, you can recall the events that transpired on your birthday whether you received a gift or not. Of all the birthday parties ever recorded, one that comes to mind leaves an indelible mark, one that is traumatizing. Recorded in The Holy Book, Bible, the context of the story was motivated by ill intention, bitterness, and envy because of the revealed truth. I often wonder what would have happened if that wish wasn’t granted.
It is rare for someone to be sad on their birthday. Even for King Herod, as described in the Bible couldn’t have possibly been happy by the turn of events on his birthday. Much as what he and Herodias did was unlawful and frowned upon, he did not wake up on his birthday thinking he would grant the wish that he did. It is recorded King Herod liked to listen to John the Baptist preach. However, he obviously did not heed. On his birthday, guests were invited to the palace. There was lots of scrumptious food and drink. Then, there was the dance. It is from this dance that things went south to what even the King did not anticipate. This is the story of John the Baptist’s death. John is killed out of envy by Herodias who uses her daughter to ask of her corrupted wish.
King Herod had imprisoned John the Baptist on account that he had called him out on being with Herodias. John stated that it was unlawful for Herod to be with Herodias because she was his sister-in-law. Herodias was the wife to King Herod’s brother, Philip. Be it as it may, both the King and Herodias did not want to hear of it. The king wanted to kill John but was afraid of the people, for the people believed that he was a prophet, and rightly so. Herodias schemed on how she would do away with John, and she found a way, the most horrific and treacherous way.
On king Herod’s birthday, Herodias daughter performed a dance before the King and his guests. King Herod was so delighted and swore that he would grant her whatever she wanted. Encouraged by her mother, she requested to have the head of John the Baptist on a platter! The king was distressed and because he wanted to keep his word on his promise, he granted Herodias’s daughter’s wish. He had John beheaded in prison.
Though this was not King Herod’s birthday gift, all that comes to mind is that on his birthday, a celebration of life, at his command John the Baptist lost his life on earth but certainly not eternally. Much as Herod and Herodias were indifferent and didn’t care to make right what John had proposed, Herodias’s daughter must have been traumatized to have John’s head on a platter which she presented to her mother. What benefit was that to her? Her rejection of the truth was fueled by bitterness that resulted to John’s death. Though not recorded of what happened to her thereafter, all I hope is that the reality of John’s head on the platter moved her to see the truth and hence changed her ways. Maybe. Maybe not. (Mark 6:14-29)
