Machaerus: One of the three palaces that Herod had in three different places. Machaerus was a palace in a fortress on a hill overlooking the Dead Sea in what is now the country of Jordan. It was there that Herod Antipas imprisoned and beheaded the Baptist. That's how the historian Flavius ​​Josephus has written.

John the Baptist morally questions the actions of King Herod, who married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. As a result, he is imprisoned. However, the king visits him in prison. Herodias has a grudge against the Baptist, who tried to deprive her of her comforts and happiness. Herodias' daughter, Salome, dances at Herod's birthday party, where political and social figures are invited. The dance delights everyone. "Ask for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you," the king boasts to the teenager Salome. The girl goes inside and asks her mother what to ask for. Her mother suggests asking for the head of the Baptist. The Bible says that he had to give in, considering the guests and his word. Perhaps the most absurd and heinous murder in the New Testament is that of John the Baptist.

We can look at it from different perspectives. Approaching the incident as 'a woman's revenge' would be too naive. Although the Bible may seem to suggest such a reading at the first glance.

Herod is the one in power. He is the center of the story. The Baptist had accused him - not Herodias. The decision should have been his. The Word of God came to him. But what did he do? He imprisoned the Word. He did not ammend his life. He kept the Word in the basement and slept with sin in his harem.

After all it was a small kingdom. He was not even its king. Just a vassal. But, the words he speaks - gives a pretention that he is the Lord God Himself. He would dare to say "Ask whatever you wish..."!

Jesus tells us a story - the story of the seeds sown by the sower. The thorns that grew there were lustfulness and arrogance of authority. If the thorns, not the Word, are considered important, then isn't it certain that the thorns will grow and choke the Word? It was not Herodias, but the lustfulness Herod fostered within that did away with the Baptist.

The Baptist was a living parable!