Posts made in June, 2014

  Text:   Then an opportune day came – Mark 6:21   Thought:   “Hell has no fury like a woman scorned”, so wrote William Congreve, the English Playwright, in ‘The Mourning Bride’.   Herodias, wife of King Herod, seethed with anger over the way John the Baptist had denounced their marriage as unlawful in God’s eyes, because she had been previously married to Herod’s brother. Herod, fearing a populous revolt if he executed John, kept him imprisoned. But Herodias wanted much more than that, she wanted his blood! Every time John’s name came up in conversation served only to fan the flames of anger and revenge.   Then one day, unexpectedly, Herodias’ chance came. Her daughter Salome danced during a banquet. Herod was thrilled and wanting to show his pleasure, invited her to ask for whatever she wanted. After consulting with her mother, Salome marched back in and asked for the head of John the Baptist. Herod’s heart  sank, but rather than refuse the request and lose face amongst his high-ranking guests, he commanded it to be done.   The Bible called it, ‘an opportune day’, but it became an occasion to do wrong. How much better it would have been for Herodias spiritually if she had told...