The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day in March was Choose to Challenge. As I pondered the words, I ask myself “Challenge what”? I answer: Challenge, inequality, poverty, bias and stereotypes; challenge exclusiveness ad discrimination; challenge racism and hate, and the list could go on and on.

As I ponder this theme, I am reminded of a story in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark that speaks to a different challenge – the challenge of women banding together to harm someone else. Their tool, conspiracy with the help of a drunken leader. Herodias, one of the Bible’s famous villains and her daughter conspire to murder John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin.

Herodias was a Jewish princess, a clever politician, and a powerful influential woman in the early Roman empire. She married her half-uncle, Herod Philip, and shortly after her marriage, she bore a daughter. It was not long before her husband’s brother, Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, fell in love with Herodias and desired to marry her.

But there was one obstacle: both of them were married. Herod Antipas who played a big part in the execution of Jesus Christ, had married the daughter of the Nabataean King Aretas IV and Herodias was married to her half uncle. To solve this problem, they both divorced their spouses and married each other.

According to the Bible, when Herodias found out that John, the Baptist opposed their marriage and deemed it unlawful, she wanted him dead. To prevent his death, her husband imprisoned John. Antipas did not want to put John, the Baptist to death because although he liked to listen to his preaching (Mark 6:20), he feared him. Furthermore, Antipas may have feared that if he killed John his followers would riot.

Herodias, on the other hand was constantly on the lookout for a way to silence John. Her opportunity came on Herod’s Antipas’ birthday. During the celebrations that were filled with debauchery and drunkenness, Herodias’ daughter danced for Antipas and it delighted him greatly. Losing control of what little inhibitions he had, Herod took an oath, in front of witnesses that he would give her whatever she wanted.

Herodias, her mother, pulling the strings of revenge in this plot saw her opportunity and instructed her to ask for the head of John the Baptist as a reward. Although he was appalled by the request, sadly, Herod Antipas agreed because he did not want to break his oath or seem weak in front of the witnesses if he denied her request. So, the imprisoned John was beheaded and his head given to the daughter who gave it to her mother on a silver platter.

 Food for Thought: Four things we should challenge

• Challenge Wickedness

What happens when your sexual interests lead you to fall in love with your own relatives? What do we do when we notice these patterns of dysfunction around us? We need to ask the Lord to give us a healthy vision and understanding of what is His idea of idea of a healthy relationship; what is right in His eye eyes compared to what we may be getting used to seeing.

Often, we do not realize that dysfunction is going on around us because we may hear that it is normal to be a particular way do a particular thing; but it takes God giving us a godly vision and perspective of wholeness and health to set us down the path of freedom. Unlike Herodias and Herod Antipas, we should try to live decent, righteous lives. When faced with it, we should acknowledge our wrong-doing and not seek endlessly to escape the consequences of our actions. Moreover, we shouldn’t stand by passively and allow wickedness to flourish around us.

• Challenge Drunkenness

 Herod’s judgment was distorted by pride and drunkenness. He couldn’t bring himself to admit that he had made a mistake and was not prepared to lose face before his banquet guests. From a health standpoint, Herod got so drunk he made a ridiculous offer to a dancing girl: “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom” (Mark 6:3, N.I.V.), and he wasn’t a big enough man to admit to his folly and withdraw his promise.

 It is always foolish to make grand gestures under the influence of alcohol. Proverbs 20:1 (N.I.V.) says, “Wine is a mocker; strong drink is raging and whoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” That means—drink too much wine or liquor, and that drink will make a fool out of you. We must avoid drunkenness and its effects on both body and mind.

• Challenge Yourself to Trust God Always

Many have asked, “Where is God in this story when John’s head is cut off? Did he stop working to save us? The answer lies in the Mark’s sandwich stories. Immediately before the Herod narrative, we read of Jesus commissioning His twelve disciples to go, in pairs to take the good news of salvation to the villages. Immediately following the Herod narrative, we read of the return of the Twelve to Jesus.

So, what was God doing? The answer is: God was continuing to be at work to save mankind. By His Spirit and through those called by Jesus to proclaim and enact His kingdom, God was working so that others might be drawn to know Him. Then as now, while suffering is on full display for all to see, the Holy Spirit is at work calling men to repentance.  Let’s challenge ourselves to depend upon God’s leading through His Holy Spirit, and let’s make sure we are not bypassed.