In a homily about this very feast, St. Bede the Venerable said: his persecutor (Herod Antipas) had demanded not that he should deny Christ (whose cousin and forerunner he was) but only that he should keep silent about the truth:

the truth being that his marriage to Herodias – who was both his niece and the wife of his brother who was still alive – was adulterous and incestuous.

John would not keep silent! And so he was put to death because he stood by the truth; and since Jesus is truth – he was put to death because he stood by Jesus and the Christian way of life that was on the verge of being inaugurated.

The birth, preaching and baptizing of John, son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, bore witness to the coming birth, preaching and baptism of Christ (the Messiah); and by his own suffering he showed that Christ would also suffer and die!

But it doesn't stop there – it also follows – especially because Jesus said that it does follow – those who want to follow them both (John and Jesus) into eternal life – would also have to be born, receive and practice the preaching that would come to them; and be baptized into the forgiveness of sins and the gifts of the Holy Spirit that flow from that day on Calvary! We too would have to carry our crosses daily on the path marked out by Jesus and – with the help of God – one day reach the glory of heaven that we have longed for - where John the Baptist, Jesus and all those who believed in the truth and stood by it, and even died for it are now experiencing the amazing and indescribable life of beatitude and bliss forever.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for holiness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!