Do You Truly Feel the Horror of St. John the Baptist’s Martyrdom?

National Catholic Register, 29 August 2024

It’s impossible for any Christian today to experience the full impact of what is related in the Gospels — but we must try.

Does the sacred liturgy get in the way of the sacred Scriptures?

In a certain sense, yes, which is why Catholics ought to be grateful that the creator of The Chosen, Dallas Jenkins, is Protestant. That is evident in his treatment of the martyrdom of John the Baptist, the feast of which falls on Aug. 29.

A Catholic highlight of this summer was Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the popular series, at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. While Roumie’s Catholic faith is prominent, the creative team behind The Chosen is largely Protestant, though there is consultation with Catholics and Jews. The Chosen helps Catholics “get past” the liturgy to the Bible.

It’s impossible for any Christian today to experience the full impact of what is related in the Gospels. With millennia of Christian history between then and now, we already begin by knowing who Jesus is — or at least that billions believe him to be divine.

Thus the key question at the heart of the Gospels — Is Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah, the Christ, God himself? — does not resonate with us as it did for those who first heard him preach. We are not as astounded at his miracles as they were. We cannot grieve his loss at the Crucifixion as they did.

The liturgy gets in the way, too, so to speak. Within hours of the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion being concluded on Good Friday, priests, altar servers and sacristans are already preparing for the Easter Vigil. It’s more difficult to grieve when you know that the tomb will soon be empty.

It is not a peculiarly Christian problem. At the commemorations of D-Day earlier this summer, no one felt the anxiety that marked the vigil of the invasion. The history of D-Day tells us about the worries of the commanders, but we can no longer feel it. We know the outcome before we start reading.

All that has developed since the Gospels were written stands between us and the original experience of the disciples. That is not a bad thing. It’s better that we have the doctrine of the Eucharist. It does mean, though, that we cannot listen to the Bread of Life Discourse in John 6 as the first disciples did. It has lost the power to shock now as it did then, when Jesus spoke about giving his flesh for food and his blood for drink. We know the authentic interpretation already.

Earlier in the summer, Season 4 of The Chosen was released for free streaming. The first episode deals with the martyrdom of John the Baptist. The choice was made to show the beheading alongside flashbacks to the circumcision of the infant John, when his father Zechariah prays his great prayer, the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79). The horror of the beheading is presented alongside the hope of the Baptist’s birth. John’s death is depicted as fulfilling the prophecy of his mission to go before the Lord Jesus — in life and in death.

Director Jenkins explained that he added the Benedictus scene just before filming began. He found that the beheading episode was heavy, dark and sorrowful. Indeed, the ending was a “bit of a bummer.”

That was striking. Do Catholics feel the horror, the heaviness, of John’s martyrdom? Is anyone truly sad at Mass today for the feast day of the Baptist’s martyrdom? The liturgy situates the saints — precisely as saints already in heaven — within the Paschal mystery. The tomb is already empty.

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