Surely someone of John's caliber would merit special treatment from both God and man. However, nothing could be further from the truth. John was trained in the wilderness, and lived a lifestyle that most would consider impoverished. He also landed in prison when he called out Herod for his adultery in marrying his brother's wife. At one point John was so discouraged that he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he was really the Messiah or should they look for another? (Matthew 11:13) This was an amazing statement coming from the same man who declared, "Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29).
Unfortunately, things only got worse for John. One day as he sat in prison, Herod was throwing himself a birthday party across town. He had invited all of the local politicians and lords, and had undoubtedly pulled out all of the stops. For their entertainment, Herod's stepdaughter Salome (who was also his niece), put on a provocative dance that left them lusting and in in awe. She pleased Herod so much that he offered to give her anything that she desired, up to half of his kingdom. Of all of the things that she could have asked for, Salome and her mother Herodias demanded that the head of John the Baptist be brought to them on a platter. For Herodias was still angry about John calling out her adultery.
Herod reluctantly gave in and immediately sent an executioner to the prison. Putting myself in John's shoes, I wonder what he thought when he heard the commotion as the guards walked to his cell. Perhaps he thought that Christ and the disciples had come to rescue him. But it was not so. This was not an escape but an execution. After John was beheaded, Salome paraded around the party with his head on a platter.
What a spectacle, this prophet of God being violated and humiliated like this. Where was God? Why didn't Christ come to save him if he really loved him and had the power to do so? What sense did this make? Put simply, to the human mind it makes no sense. There are three things that are indisputable about this situation. First, Christ had the power to make John rich, keep him out of prison, spare His life, or literally anything else that He wanted to do. Second, Christ loved John dearly. Third, He purposely chose to allow both his arrest and his execution without so much as an explanation or a prison visit. Makes perfect sense right?
If someone were to stop reading the story here, they might get the idea that evil triumphed and the good guys lost. However, if we keep reading we find that Herod was terrified when he heard about Jesus, along with His preaching and miracles. Herod was afraid because he thought that Jesus was actually John the Baptist resurrected. This wasn't true, but it became true later. The important that needs to be understood here is that in the end, both Herod's worst nightmare and John's greatest hope both came to pass.
Allow me to explain. Ever since the fall of Adam, man has always been saved by grace through faith. Even with Abraham we find that the Gospel was preached unto him (Galatians 3:8). The OT saints were saved by faith in the coming Messiah, and we are saved by faith in the Messiah that has come. However, God is so Holy that He must judge sin and cannot allow unjustified sinners into His presence. And even though the OT saints had been forgiven, their sins still had not been paid for by Christ. So when OT saints died they couldn't go directly into the presence of God in Heaven. Instead, their souls went to paradise in the center of the earth. This is clearly seen by the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. When Christ died on the cross for sin, He descended into paradise, and when He arose from the dead, they arose with Him! Matthew 27:53 says that they "came out of their graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." Forty days later they ascended to Heaven with Christ.
Some of the readers may already know where I'm headed. These saints that died before Christ, arose with Christ and went into Jerusalem and were seen by many. Although it doesn't say, we can be confident that John the Baptist was among this group. It also doesn't take too much of an artistic license to assume that Herod saw him walking about among the living. I imagine that Herod was shaking in terror as his worst fear had come true. In my "sanctified" imagination I can see John winking at him.
In the end, Herod's greatest fear and John's greatest hope can be summed up in one word, Resurrection. This is where the Christian's hope lies. Although it might seem cruel to us that Christ allowed those horrible things to happen to John, the x factor is that Christ has an eternal perspective. Everything that happens to us is for our good and God's glory (Romans 8:28), but most of that will only be revealed in eternity. Paul said, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (II Corinthians 4:17). Put simply, temporary suffering here equals eternal glory on the other side. It may be that when we stand before Christ as He issues out crowns and rewards, that we actually wish that we had suffered more.
When God doesn't make sense, we must humble ourselves enough to accept that the eternal God of the universe has far more wisdom than our four pound brains can comprehend. We must also trust that God loves us and in His sovereignty, He is working on our behalf. Admittedly, this is easier said then done. Even the great theologian, Jonathan Edwards struggled with this very issue. John Piper made reference to him while trying to bring clarity to God’s sovereignty in our suffering. He said;
“It is not surprising, then, that Jonathan Edwards struggled earnestly and deeply with the problem that stands before us now. How can we affirm the happiness of God on the basis of His sovereignty when much of what God permits in the world is contrary to His own commands in Scripture? How can we say God is happy when there is so much sin and misery in the world? Edwards did not claim to exhaust the mystery here. But he does help us find a possible way of avoiding outright contradiction while being faithful to the Scriptures. To put it in my own words, he said that the infinite complexity of the divine mind is such that God has the capacity to look at the world through two lenses. He can look through a narrow lens or through a wide-angle lens. When God looks at a painful or wicked event through His narrow lens, He sees the tragedy of the sin for what it is in itself, and He is angered and grieved: “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 18:32). But when God looks at a painful or wicked event through His wide-angle lens, He sees the tragedy of the sin in relation to everything leading up to it and everything flowing out from it. He sees it in relation to all the connections and effects that form a pattern, or mosaic, stretching into eternity. This mosaic in all its parts—good and evil—brings Him delight." (John Piper. Desiring God, Revised Edition (pp. 45-46). The Crown Publishing Group.)
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