St. John the Baptist
The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
By St. John of Shanghai and San Fransisco
The announcement of the holy Archangel Gabriel to Zacharias in the Temple begins the New Testament Gospel. The announcement of the same Archangel Gabriel six months later in Nazareth to the Virgin Mary concerning the birth from Her of the Son of God, Who was to become incarnate, is a continuation of the revelation of the Pre-eternal Counsel concerning the salvation of the human race.
Three months after, the Annunciation, St. John the Forerunner was born
"in a city of Judah," and six months after him Christ Himself was born
in Bethlehem.
These events are closely bound together. "The glorious conception of
the Forerunner proclaimeth beforehand the King Who is to be born of a
Virgin" (Exapostilarion, Sept. 23, Feast of the Conception of John the
Baptist). The announcement of the Archangel Gabriel in the Temple,
announced later to all living nearby by Zacharias, in the magnificent
hymn, which he sang after the birth of the child, John and the
restoration to him of the gift of speech (Luke 1:67-79), is the
forerunner of the angelic hymn: "Glory to God in the highest;" which
was sung in Bethlehem by the angels when they announced to the
shepherds the Nativity of Christ.
The Nativity of John the Baptist is the first joy sent down by God to
the human race, the beginning of its deliverance from the power of the
devil, sin and eternal death.
It is true that even before the Forerunner, the Most Holy Virgin Mary
was born, and angels announced Her birth to Her parents. However, at
that time, only Her parents knew of the exalted lot that was prepared
for the Virgin Who was born, and they themselves were not fully aware
of what had been announced to them beforehand. Therefore, it was only
they, who celebrated at the birth of their Daughter, while the rest of
the world only later understood the joy that had been announced (to
it), by this birth.
For this reason, the feasts of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos
and Her Entrance into the Temple were established in the Church and
began to be solemnly celebrated significantly later than the other
great feasts, whereas the Nativity of John the Forerunner is one of the
most ancient and most venerated of Christian feasts. Sermons on this
feast have been preserved from the first centuries.
From the day of the Nativity of John the Forerunner, the preparation of
the human race begins for meeting the Son of God on earth. Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people . .
. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High: for
thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways (Luke
1:68, 76). These God-inspired words of the priest Zacharias, after he
had regained the gift of speech, were made known in all the land of
Judea, causing disturbance to all living there, who asked each other in
astonishment: What manner of child shall this be? (Luke 1:66).
Involuntarily the thought arose: Is this not the Messiah Himself? Judea
was in an especially tense state of expectation of the Savior. Thus,
the child John prepared the way for the Lord by his very birth; and
even while he was still in the womb of His mother, by his leaping (Luke
1:41) he announced the coming birth of the Child Jesus, as if crying
out: "Christ is born, give ye glory. Christ comes from heaven, meet ye
Him" (Irmos, Canticle One of the Canon, Feast of the Nativity of
Christ).
Being born exactly half a year before Christ, John the Forerunner by
the exact time of his birth depicted his mission of preparing the way
for the Lord. He was born at the time of the year (June 24) when the
day begins to grow shorter after the summer solstice, whereas the
Nativity of Christ occurs (December 25) when the day begins to grow
longer after the winter solstice. These facts are an embodiment of the
words spoken later, by the Forerunner, after the beginning of Christ's
preaching: He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).
"The herald of the Sun, the Forerunner" was John the Baptist, who was
like the morning star that announces the rising of the Sun of
Righteousness in the East.
Just as the very event of the Nativity of John the Baptist was the
antechamber of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, so also the feast
of the Nativity of John the Forerunner is also the antechamber of the
feast of the Nativity of Christ. "The star of stars, the Forerunner, is
born on earth today, from a barren womb, John the beloved of God, and
manifests the dawning of Christ, the Orient from on high" (Glory at
Lauds, of the Feast, June 24). "The whole creation rejoiceth at thy
divine nativity: for thou wast shown forth as an earthly angel, O
Forerunner and a heavenly man, proclaiming to us, the God of heaven
incarnate" (Cantile Five of the Canon). "O Prophet and Forerunner of
the coming of Christ, we who venerate thee with love, are in perplexity
how worthily to praise thee; for the barrenness of her who bore thee
and the dumbness of thy father are loosed by thy glorious and precious
nativity, and the incarnation of the Son of God is preached to the
world" (Troparion of the Feast).