Feast of Martyrdom of John the Baptist

When people ask what the Old Testament and the New Testament are, the most common sense answer one gets is that Jesus is the watershed. Before his birth, it was the Old Testament. After the first Christmas, it is the New Testament. A pretty good answer for a primary one pupil. A more sophisticated answer would run something like this. "Testament" means a covenant between God and men. The Old Testament was a covenant between God and the Israelites while the New is a covenant between God and all mankind. However, this kind of reason is not thought out well enough because it was Jeremiah who announced a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31). In the oracles of Isaiah, he already mentioned all peoples coming to worship Yahweh in Zion, the holy mountain where God's holy city, Jerusalem, was located (Isaiah 2:2-3). Therefore, the idea of a new covenant made between God and all mankind had been floating around in the air in around 600 B.C. Therefore, the simplistic idea of cutting history neatly into two parts, the Old Testament era and the New Testament era, ignores historical reality. Remember that while Jesus was preaching and contrasting the Old Testament and the New, he made it clear that he did not come to abolish the Old (Matthew 5:17-18). Therefore, the Old Testament did not vanish into thin air once Jesus appeared. Of course, it was Jesus who was responsible for sealing the New Testament with his own blood on the cross. Therefore, it is safe to say that the New Testament begins with Jesus.
While traditionally, Samuel was the first prophet in the Old Testament, John the Baptist was the last. After him, there was no more prophets of the Old Testament type. He was the precursor of the Messiah who was the fulfillment of the Old Testament. In Matthew, Jesus has the following to say about John the Baptist.
Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matthew 11:11).
Then, Jesus added the following comment based on which people claim that John the Baptist was the last prophet of the Old Testament.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John (Matthew 11:13).
Naturally, the Baptist began his mission with the baptism of people. People came to him to confess their sins and received his baptism. As the Precursor of the Messiah, he baptised people to prepare their hearts to receive the Messiah. According to the gospel of John, a few disciples of Jesus actually were disciples of John before they "deflected" to Jesus (John 1:37). As the precursor, John knew his position. So, when Jesus became more popular, like him, baptizing people (John 3:22, 26), John's disciples were very anxious and asked John for his opinion, John told a parable of a bridegroom and his friends. He compared Jesus to a bridegroom and he himself the friends of the bridegroom. He concluded.
He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).
[The Church insists that Jesus did not baptize. The verses mentioned about in fact talk about Jesus' disciples baptized!]
As a prophet, John the Baptist could not remain reticent when he saw the sins committed by Herod Antipas. As the leader of the Jewish people, the Jews looked up to Antipas. If he set a bad example, people would follow suits. Therefore, John the Baptist had no choice but to reprimand Herod. Consequently, he was beheaded (Matthew 14:10).
The reading in Jeremiah today is a bit sarcastic in celebrating the martyrdom of John the Baptist.
And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land.
They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you (Jeremiah 1:18-19).
This passage is a very accurate description of the life of John the Baptist, except for the second half of verse 19.
What did Yahweh mean when He said "... but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you."? But Herod had beheaded him! Even if we believe that Yahweh is with us, do we need to wait until Judgment Day for Yahweh to deliver us? If we are lucky, if it is God's will, we may save our skin. Otherwise, we had better pray that we do not lose faith together with our souls.

My dear Advocate, life may not be a bed of roses. May we not lose sight of our call and heroic examples set up by the saints. May our life be a pleasant melody, singing praises to Your kindness. Amen.