In an account recorded by Mark the evangelist (Mk 6: 14-28), we see the stark contrast of two characters – John the Baptist, the courageous and faithful servant of the Lord; and King Herod, the wicked and cowardly king.

Herod had beheaded John the Baptist because of the promise he made to Salome, the daughter of Herodias (vv 21-27). This incident shows us how one can easily slip down the slippery slope of sin. Sin is always deceitful. It blinds the victim by its allurements of pleasure, happiness or gain. One who commits sin is under a delusion because sin leads its victim downward until the heart becomes hardened and the conscience seared. That was why the apostle Paul urged the Hebrew Christians to “exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3: 13).