Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS §11.6
some kind of military or revolutionary threat. 182 John was rather a kind of
Savonarola figure whose ascetic lifestyle and calls for moral reform cut too close
to the bone and caused bitter resentment among the ruling elite. 183
There are, however, several points worthy of comment here. First, we have
a good example of the arbitrary power which rulers of the period were able to exercise.
Both the Synoptics and Josephus agree that Herod was able to arrest and
execute John without any obvious 'good cause' and without any formal procedure
— 'on suspicion' (hypopsia), says Josephus. We need to bear this in mind
when we ask later whether Jesus foresaw his own death. Given the precedent of
what had happened to his mentor, the Baptist, and given that Roman power in
Judea would be, if anything, even more arbitrary and ruthless, it would be very
odd indeed if Jesus did not reckon with the possibility of his life being abruptly
cut short by quasi-judicial or other means.
Second, Mark 6.17-28 is probably the best example we have of a popular
'news-story' incorporated into the Synoptic tradition. John's popularity implies
that there would have been considerable interest in what happened to him among
the general populace. And popular interest was no doubt as much aroused about
court gossip then as now. The story of John's execution, then, is probably the
story which circulated in the village assemblies and market places of Herod's
kingdom. 184 Since there is no distinctively Christian moral or emphasis, it is unlikely
to have been constitutive tradition for the groups of Jesus' disciples,
182. Crossan, however, suggests that a call to the desert and baptism in Jordan would
imply a re-entry into the Promised Land with obvious overtones of a new (military) conquest
(Historical Jesus 231-32, 235); cf. Webb, John the Baptizer 364-65; Stegemann, Library 214,
218, 220-21, 224; Strecker, Theology 221-22 is quite sceptical. The suggestion would make
more sense if the Baptist had required the baptisands to enter the river from the east side and to
exit after baptism on the other, but the tradition contains no indication in that regard (pace
S. McKnight, 'Jesus' New Vision within Judaism', in P. Copan and C. A. Evans, eds., Who Was
Jesus? A Jewish-Christian Dialogue [Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001] 73-96 [here
80-81], citing C. Brown, 'What Was John the Baptist Doing?', BBR 7 [1997] 37-50).
183. More plausibly, Crossan also argues that the contrast between John and those 'in
soft clothing', who are 'gorgeously appareled and live in luxury [and] are in royal palaces'
(Matt. 11.8/Luke 7.25), intended a comparison between John and Herod Antipas (Historical
Jesus 236-37). Theissen argues that the other contrast, 'a reed shaken by the wind' (Matt. 11.7/
Luke 7.24), likewise refers to Antipas ('The Beginnings of the Sayings Tradition in Palestine',
The Gospels in Context 25-59 [here 26-42]; also Lokalkolorit 25-44); Crossan agrees (Birth
306-308).
184. Theissen regards it as 'popular folk tradition' and an example of the 'malicious gossip
that pursued a number of the Herodian women in the first century' ('The Legend of the Baptizer's
Death', Gospels in Context 81-97 [here 85, 94]; also Lokalkolorit 85-102). For the historical
inaccuracies in the Markan report see Theissen, 'Legend' 86-89; Meier, Marginal Jew
2.172-73. Meier also notes the echoes of various OT stories, including Elijah's struggle with
Ahab and his wife Jezebel (e.g., 1 Kgs 19.1-2; 21.17-26) and the book of Esther (173).
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