Office of the Dean, Sydney College of Divinity
The Politics of Blood and the Hope of Resurrection: The Birthday Celebrations of Herod Antipas in an Eschatological Perspective
Although the account of the birthday celebrations of Herod Antipas clearly concerns the demise of John the Baptist (Mark 6:14–29; Matt 14:1–12[13]; cf. Luke 9:7–9 and Josephus, Ant. 18:116–119), how does it serve the Christocentric and eschatological focus of the Gospels? This paper explores this tragic event as an expression of the politics of blood that is integral to human ideology, according to apocalyptic perspective. Herod’s ‘kingdom’ of blood stood in the way of the kingdom of God, announced by the Baptist and brought near by the coming of the Messiah. The good news continues to proclaim that the cycle of celebrating the past triumphs of death is now broken by the eschatological hope of resurrection.