Matthew 14:10

10. Beheaded John in the prison From the banquet of dissolute royalty the executioner goes, probably by night, to the prophet’s dungeon. No doubt the victim met the messenger with serene fortitude, and passed with final triumph through his severe transition to his blessed reward. He was the greatest of prophets and the last of the pre-Christian martyrs. He was the moral terror of his guilty age. Nobly did he fulfil his office as reformer and preparer. If at one moment he was perplexed with the mysterious slowness of his principal, never, for even that moment, did his faith in the true one fail. Not many months did he precede his Lord in the path to glory.