While we celebrate the lives of most of the saints on the day of their deaths, or rather on the day that they entered into the life to come, we also celebrate their birthdays in the church calendar: the birthday of Our Lord (on December 25th), of His blessed Mother (on September 8th), and of St. John the Baptist (today, June 24th). Celebrating the gift of life, the goodness of life, indeed the sanctity of life, the Church also celebrates the conceptions of Our Lord (on March 25th) and of His Mother (on December 8th). Our feast day today is a reminder that there are only six more months until Christmas. In fact some Church Fathers and even some modern liturgical scholars believe that perhaps we celebrate December 25th as the Feast of Christ’s birth, not because it replaced the Roman Feast of the Invincible Sun, but because of a particular chain of events in which God was working His purpose out.
The Gospel of Luke tells us that Elizabeth and Zechariah were an elderly, righteous couple. They loved God and walked in His ways, but they had no child, which many people thought was a sign of punishment from God. Zechariah was a priest, and according to this theory, the high priest who alone went into the Holy of Holies to make sacrifice and only once each year, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The Day of Atonement falls in late September or early October. At that time, Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, appeared to Zechariah and told him that his prayers, and the prayers of Elizabeth, his wife, had been heard and answered: they would conceive and have a son and his name would be ‘John.’ This child would grow up to turn the hearts of many to God. He would have the spirit and power of Elijah, the great prophet who had been taken up into heaven in a whirlwind. This child would prepare the way for the Lord. Zechariah doubted, so he was struck dumb, unable to speak until the birth of the child – the High Priest should not doubt the word of the Lord. When Zechariah returned home, true to the angel’s word, they conceived a child.
St. Luke tells us that in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, in other words, in late March, the angel Gabriel again appeared; this time to a young woman in Nazareth – to a virgin whose name was ‘Mary.’ Gabriel announced that Mary would conceive and give birth to the Son of God. She replied with humility and obedience – “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.” We keep the feast of the Annunciation on March 25th. After her angelic visitor departed, Mary went to Ein Karem, about five miles southwest of Jerusalem, to be with her cousin Elizabeth and to assist her during her pregnancy. John leapt in the womb of Elizabeth, rejoicing at the presence of Christ in the womb of Mary; we celebrate this on the Feast of the Visitation, July 2nd. It was on that occasion that Mary uttered those wonderful words “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Savior.” Her words have become our words as the Church sings them daily at Vespers; this, of course, is the beautiful song, or canticle, we call Magnificat.
Nine months after John was conceived, he was born on June 24th. Six months later, nine months after he was conceived, our Lord was born, on December 25th. This chronology is all based on Zechariah making his offering on the Day of Atonement. In the 4th century St. Ambrose of Milan noted that Zechariah was High Priest entering the Holy of Holies when Gabriel appeared and Bl. Theophylact of Ochrid, the 11th c. Bulgarian archbishop and scholar of scripture wrote: “it was certainly at the time of Atonement, when the high priest alone entered the Holy of Holies. From this we learn that just as this high priest (Zechariah) received offspring when he entered the Holy of Holies, so too the Lord Jesus, in truth the only and the great High Priest, when he entered the Holy of Holies, that is, when he ascended and entered into heaven in the flesh, received the fruit of his visitation among us in the flesh, namely, our adoption as sons and our salvation.” When John was born and there was confusion concerning what his name would be, Zechariah asked for a tablet and wrote “his name is John” and immediately his tongue was loosed so that he could speak again and glorify God and prophesy concerning this child. He said “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His people.” We know the song of Zechariah as the Benedictus, one of the canticles we sing at Matins.
John was sent to prepare the way for Christ. The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of John, saying “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” John went out into the wilderness, across the Jordan River, to the very same place where Elijah was taken up into heaven, and there John preached saying, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” In that place John preached and baptized those who heard his message and wished to turn their lives around and return to God. When Jesus came to John to be baptized, John knew that he was unworthy even to untie the sandals of the Savior. But John did baptize Jesus so that Jesus could begin to take our sins upon himself and begin to cleanse fallen creation. At that point John’s work was complete, his purpose was accomplished and so he said of Jesus “he must increase but I must decrease.” Not long afterwards, John incurred the wrath of King Herod for denouncing Herod’s immoral life, and so John was put to death, beheaded, and we keep the Feast of St. John’s martyrdom on August 29th.
While all of this history is interesting, and John’s life reminds us of the many wondrous ways that God works to prepare His people and bring about our salvation, our return to Him, there are also some very important lessons which we need to draw from John’s life. John was sent to prepare the way for people to return to God. This is also the vocation of every Christian; even as we work towards our own salvation we must help to show others the way. We must work to make the way clear amidst life’s confusions and provide loving assistance along the way. Then John also reminds us all of the tremendous importance of repentance. We cannot be reconciled with God, have communion with God, or expect salvation without a profound, continual change of heart and mind. Every day we need to turn from sin and death, from self-centeredness, from placing ourselves first. We need to see ourselves as we are and be truly sorry, desiring to make things right. Then we may return to God, acknowledging our need for Him, trusting in Him, following Him. And finally we should work to echo John as he said of Jesus, “he must increase but I must decrease.” Always – always we must work to set ourselves aside and place God first – to know His will, to walk in His ways, to give Him the glory, to serve Him in all we do. St. John the Baptist still works today to prepare the way of the Lord – every time we remember his words, remember his life, remember his example, and strive to follow. Holy John Baptist, pray for us.