John the BaptistMeyer, F. B. (Frederick Brotherton)
Religion
John the Baptist
Meyer, F. B. (Frederick Brotherton)
Bible. New Testament -- Biography; John the Baptist, Saint
"Tell Jesus"--The Sin-Bearer--The Resurrection of Jesus--The Followers
of John, and of Jesus--"He is Risen!"
We have beheld the ghastly deed with which Herod's feast ended--the
golden charger, on which lay the freshly-dissevered head of the
Baptist, borne by Salome to her mother, that the two might gloat on it
together. Josephus says that the body was cast over the castle wall,
and lay for a time unburied. Whether that were so, we cannot tell;
but, in some way, John's disciples heard of the ghastly tragedy, which
had closed their master's life, and they came to the precincts of the
castle to gather up the body as it lay dishonoured on the ground, or
ventured into the very jaws of death to request that it might be given
to them. In either case, it was a brave thing for them to do; an
altogether heroic exploit, which may be classed in the same category
with that of the men of Jabesh-Gilead, who travelled all night through
the country infested by the Philistines to rescue the bodies of Saul
and his sons from the temple of Bethshan.
The headless body was then borne to a grave, either in the grim, gaunt
hills of Moab, or in that little village, away on the southern slopes
of the Judaean hills, where, some thirty years before, the aged pair
had rejoiced over the growing lad. God knows where that grave lies;
and some day it will yield up to honour and glory the body which was
sown in weakness and corruption.
Having performed the last sad rites, the disciples "went and told
Jesus." Every mourner should go along the path they trod, to the same
gentle and tender Comforter; and if any who read these words have
placed within the narrow confines of a grave the precious remains of
those dearer than life, let them follow where John's disciples have
preceded them, to the one Heart of all others in the universe which is
able to sympathize and help; because it also has sorrowed unto tears at
the grave of its beloved, even though it throbbed with the fulness of
the mighty God. Go, and tell Jesus!
The telling will bring relief. Though the great High-Priest knows all
the story, He loves to hear it told, because of the relief which the
recital necessarily imparts to the surcharged soul. He will tell you
that your brother shall rise again; that your child is safe in the
flowery meadows of Paradise; that those whom you have loved and lost
are engaged in high service amid the ministries of eternity; that every
time-beat is bringing nearer the moment of inseparable union.
It is not, however, on these details that we desire to dwell, but to
use the scenes before us as a background and contrast to magnify
certain features in the death, grave, and abiding influence of Jesus of
Nazareth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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