“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” That was the phrase that cost John the Baptist his life. John directly confronted Herod Antipas with the fact that he had taken his brother’s wife, Herodias.
By stating this simple truth, John was arrested and subsequently imprisoned at Machaerus, a bleak fortress on the eastern side of the Dead Sea.
As we learn from the account given in Mark, Herod had respect for John because “he knew him to be a righteous and holy man.” He even enjoyed hearing him speak, though he always left him feeling confused.
Then came the birthday banquet. While all eyes were on her, Herodias’s own daughter was the main attraction, doing a lively dance for Herod and his entourage. All these men were utterly mesmerized by her and so impressed with her dancing that Herod made a careless vow before all the men at the feast: “Whatever you ask of me, I will give you—up to half my kingdom.”
Prompted by her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist. Herod was distressed. But rather than lose face before his guests, he ordered John beheaded. His head was brought into the banquet on a platter.
Josephus, writing independently of the Gospels, also records that Herod imprisoned and executed John at Machaerus. He gives a political reason: Herod feared John’s influence over the people.
But the Gospel takes us deeper. John died because he would not remain silent about the truth. He did not lead an army against Herod. He did not organize a revolt. He did not threaten the throne. He simply looked at a powerful man living contrary to the law of God and said: “It is not lawful for you.”
Herod could imprison John. He could silence his voice. He could even take his head. But he could not make what was unlawful lawful. And John would not pretend otherwise.
That is why the Church remembers his martyrdom. There are times when fidelity to God requires very few words, sometimes only one sentence: “It is not lawful for you.” For John the Baptist, that sentence cost him his head.
© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.