And the executioner went and beheaded John in the prison, and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
This verse is the climax of the tragedy. John’s head is brought on a platter as a gift for the banquet. The voice of righteousness is silenced by the malicious delight of sin. Yet that outward victory is not, in the eternal sense, the victory of evil. John, though he is killed, remains a faithful witness to the end, and by his death confirms the power of truth. His death makes him a martyr for the truth. And the passing of his head from hand to hand—from the executioner to the girl and from the girl to the mother—deeply exposes the corrupted course of sin. In this way evil not only acts, but is also passed on and received without any reaction of conscience. What should have horrified the conscience here has become a desired and even pleasing object. This shows how far the human heart can go when it refuses repentance and humility. At the same time, this episode testifies that God’s truth cannot be destroyed by human violence: it can be silenced outwardly, but it continues to live and speak through those who remain faithful to the end, just as the witness of John the Baptist continues to resound through his life, word, and martyrdom, bearing witness to the invincibility of the truth even to our days.