Mark 6:26-29 - The king was greatly distressed

6:26-28

“The king was greatly distressed”. He didn’t want to kill John, but equally he did not want to lose face in front of all his guests, having made an oath. Like Pilate, he chose the wrong path and immediately had John killed. The head of John the Baptist was brought into the banquet. This must have been an utterly gruesome sight. The head was given by the girl to her mother. 

6:29

John’s disciples “took his body and laid it in a tomb”. I.e. John’s body was treated with due reverence. We know from Acts 19 that John the Baptist had a following for many years and had spread well beyond Jerusalem. Indeed, in John’s gospel the early chapters spend a lot of time stressing that John the Baptist did not want long term followers, but had come to prepare the way for Jesus, and that Jesus is the one to be followed.