The Death of John the Baptist, Who Fulfilled His Calling

For rebuking Herod’s immorality, John the Baptist was thrown into prison and put to a cruel death. While he was there, word reached him that Jesus was working miracles and preaching the gospel. Uncertain whether his devotion had been in vain, he sent his disciples to put the question to Jesus.

Jesus made John no promise of rescue. Instead he told the messengers to report the signs that announce the Messiah’s presence: the blind see, and the dead are raised. This means that John’s calling had already been completed. He was no longer to be the one crying out, and now he had to prepare to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

In the eyes of the world John’s death may look empty and wretched, yet he bore his calling to the very end and completed the course God had set before him. The sermon declares that true faith means faithfully fulfilling the task God has entrusted, even in suffering and persecution, and that the hope of the Kingdom of Heaven that comes of it matters more.