Many people followed John, and he did his job by preparing the way for Jesus, but John was just the "warmup band." Jesus was the "main event."
Matthew 14 says Jesus miraculously fed five thousand people and walked on water after John was gone. Those things were far greater than anything John was doing, but John's followers probably wouldn't have heard about them if John was still around. People tend to stay with what they know, and John had to be removed.
Why the brutality? Probably so people would hear about it. God's ways are not our ways.
How did the news affect Jesus? He was related to John, and John baptized him. Matthew 14:13 says Jesus went off by himself in a boat when he heard. What do you suppose he did? How long was he gone? Did he mourn?
When Jesus returned to shore, the crowds were waiting for him, and he immediately continued his work. The Father was moving, so Jesus followed the Holy Spirit and did his thing.
When I think about how I might die, I prefer to think of passing away in my sleep. When my wife was alive, I used to hope that we would both go at the same time so neither of us would have to live without the other. But those notions are naive. Most examples of death in the Bible are violent and/or agonizing, but God is merciful. Stephen suffered a violent death by stoning, but his concern was for the people doing it. God helps us get through things while He accomplishes his purposes. The stoning had to occur, and Stephen had to make his request as he died. Otherwise, Saul would have been lost, and we would not have Paul's writings.
My wife had to be removed. Had she remained, my attentions would be on her, not on what the Father has in store for me to do. He has other reasons for removing her, too, but I do not know what they are. They will become apparent with time.
One of the ways my wife used to help me was to help me temper my communications with others. She didn't like me arguing, and I used to curtail heated debates with relatives for the sake of "marital bliss." She also helped me to simplify my messages, and provided me with wise counsel when it was needed. I always had her read my works before I published them. She was particularly helpful before I had clear guidance from the Holy Spirit, but apparently her help is no longer required. God knows what He is doing.
So, from now on, it's just me. Me and the Holy Spirit. I know He has things for me to say, and things for me to do. If I offend, I apologize. Please don't shoot the messenger. I'm only here to do my job. I know I have a job to do because I am still here, and I will be immortal until I have completed it...
...and then I get to go be with my wife.
All glory to God.
UPDATE, February 12, 2023...
My wife and I were nearly in an automobile accident around 1 AM on August 10, 2019. Had I not been tired and driving slower than the speed limit we would have arrived at the intersection in time to be broadsided by a woman who ran a flashing red light. I am convinced that collision would have shoved us into the path of oncoming traffic where we would have been hit again by an oncoming van.
We had spent the week moving our daughter back to Midland after she had lived for a year in northern Michigan. I had driven a U-Haul® truck packed with her household stuff and we had unloaded some of it into a storage unit on the other side of town (#197, 1 + 9 + 7 = 17, 17). As I cleaned out the truck at our house before returning it the next day, I realized I was short a blanket. I had not counted the number of blankets we rented when I opened the package and had assumed they supplied us with the right number.
Thinking we might have left it in the storage shed, I had my wife come with me for the drive across town. It had been a long week and the alone time together in the car was needed. She had been with our daughter for a few days to help pack and clean, while I had stayed home to care for our daughter's guinea pigs. It was a warm and peaceful night.
There was no U-Haul® pad in the storage shed, so we headed home. It was after midnight.
As we drove home, I tried to drive the speed limit, as I always do, but I could not. I was very tired and my speed kept drifting downward as I tried to make corrections. As we approached a major cross street, the traffic light was flashing yellow for us and red for the cross-traffic. (For those who know Midland, we were on Patrick approaching Waldo from the east.)
While we were still a significant distance from the intersection, I noticed the yellow and red running lights of a car approaching from the right and it did not appear to be slowing down to stop for the flashing red light. I began slowing down to avoid entering the intersection, and came to a stop before the "stop line." The car drove straight ahead and hit the left-front panel of a van that was coming toward us. The car then veered to the left and over the curb, missing a utility pole, and then came to rest in some light bushes.
I pulled ahead, parked, and stayed at the scene to provide authorities with my observations of what had happened. I do not know if anyone was seriously hurt, but there were a lot of flashing lights.
I became fairly certain that evening that my wife and I had been spared terrible trauma, and I believe the scenario could have easily ended both of our lives. I believe if had I been driving the speed limit I would not have seen the offending car, as it would have been "in my blind spot," and we would have been hit by both conveyances. The LORD spared us.
This morning, I was inspired to do some calculations about this event. It turns out August 10, 2019 was seventeen (17) months and eleven (11) days before my wife's death on January 21, 2021. This confirms to me that we were spared from departing this earth together on that warm, summer night.
When I wrote the original post, my comment about going "at the same time so neither of us would have to live without the other" was inspired by thoughts about that August night.
These "coincidences" continue to appear. This is just crazy!