Why didn't God save John the Baptist from such a horrific death, given his greatness?

John the Baptist was perhaps the greatest prophet to come, because of the life he led; he deprived himself of everything and was still a joyful man, because he knew his Lord. Suffering does not keep you from joy. This is the glory of the Catholic Church, which has always taught that suffering is never wasted; the Protestants do not know what to do with suffering, thinking it a curse or a sign that God has left them, but the Catholic says, 'Bring it on,' because he knows suffering is from God and is always used to create virtue, patience, and closeness to Him. A lot of us also need suffering to lessen our time in purgatory, because whatever we do not make up for here we make up in the next life, since we cannot enter heaven until we are perfect. So who knows what John needed to clean up in his own life; by having his head chopped off, his days in purgatory were diminished or cut off. Again, the suffering is not wasted; God uses it to bring us where we should be.