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Context No. 1487 of 4322 · Mark

Context · Reflection

Mark 6:21-25: in context

21Then a convenient day came when Herod on his birthday made a supper for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. 22When the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those sitting with him. The king said to the young lady, “Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” 23He swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” She said, “The head of John the Baptizer.” 25She came in immediately with haste to the king and requested, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptizer on a platter.”

On his birthday, Herod throws a banquet for his nobles and officers. The daughter of Herodias dances and pleases him and his guests, and the king, carried away, makes an extravagant oath: ask me whatever you want, and I will give it, up to half my kingdom. The girl runs to her mother to ask what she should request, and Herodias, who hates John the Baptist for condemning her marriage, seizes the moment: ask for the head of John the Baptist. The girl returns at once and demands it on a platter, and Herod, though grieved, will not break his oath before his guests.

Herod's ruin here begins with a rash, boastful oath. Swept up in the moment, wanting to impress his guests with his generosity, he makes an extravagant promise, up to half my kingdom, without any thought of where it might lead. It is the vanity of the vow that traps him; he spoke to look magnificent before his dinner guests, and the words, once spoken, became a snare. When the monstrous request comes back, he is grieved, but he keeps the oath rather than break it, because breaking it would mean admitting before his guests that he had spoken foolishly. Pride finishes what vanity began: he would rather commit murder than lose face. There is a double warning in this. The first is against rash words, the extravagant promise or boast made in the heat of a moment to impress, without counting where it might lead; such words can become a trap we cannot easily escape. The second is against the pride that keeps a foolish or wicked commitment rather than admit a mistake. Herod could have broken an oath he never should have made; instead he kept it, and a good man died, because Herod cared more about his standing before his guests than about doing right. It is a fearful thing to be so bound by pride that we will do evil rather than admit we were wrong before others. Better to break a rash vow and bear the embarrassment than to keep it and do harm.

Do I make rash, boastful promises to impress others, and then, out of pride, keep a foolish or wrong commitment rather than admit my mistake, when it would be far better to bear the embarrassment of breaking a rash vow than to keep it and do harm?

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