Homily One on the Nativity of the Honorable and Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John
By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov
(Delivered in 1960)
By Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov
(Delivered in 1960)
Prophet and Forerunner of the coming of Christ,
We are at a loss to praise you worthily,
We who honor you with love.
(Troparion of the Nativity of the Forerunner, Tone 4)
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Dear brothers and sisters, today we honor the memory and joyfully celebrate the glorious birth of the great Prophet of God and Forerunner of the coming of Christ, the glorious John the Baptist. The Lord Himself teaches us to honor and glorify Saint John the Baptist, saying that among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than he (see: Matthew 11:11). Today is the day of his birth; let us listen to how the Holy Gospel tells about it.
1960 years ago in the Holy Land, a two hour journey from the holy city of Jerusalem, in the mountain city of Hebron, lived a pious couple - Zechariah, a priest of the Temple in Jerusalem, and his wife Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, walking according to all the commandments and statutes of the Lord blamelessly (Luke 1:6). But they had no children, for Elizabeth was barren, and both of them were already well advanced in years.
One day, Zechariah was ministering before God in the order of his course, and it fell to him by lot to enter the Temple of the Lord to burn incense, while the whole multitude of the people were praying outside the Temple. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. And the angel said to him, “Fear not, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.” And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well stricken in years.” The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And now you will remain silent until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."
Meanwhile the people waited for Zechariah and marveled that he tarried in the Temple. But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they understood that he had seen a vision in the Temple, and Zechariah communicated with them by signs and remained mute. And when the days of his service were ended, he returned home. After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, "Thus has the Lord dealt with me in these days in which he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men."
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth to a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had greatly favored her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child and were going to call him after his father, Zechariah. But his mother said, "No, he must be called John." And they said to her, "There is no one in your family called by this name." And they made signs to his father what he would like to call him. Zechariah took a tablet and wrote, "John (which means "the grace of the Lord") is his name." And they all marveled. Immediately his mouth and his tongue were loosed, and he began to speak, blessing God. And fear came upon all who dwelt in the surrounding region, and they spread the news throughout all the hill country of Judea. All who heard it laid it up in their hearts, saying, "What will this child do?" And the hand of the Lord was with him.
And Zechariah, his father, was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to prophesy, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited His people and redeemed them. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways.” And the child grew and became strong in spirit and was in the wilderness until the day of his revealing to Israel (see: Luke 1:8-25, 57-80).
Here is the wonderful story of the birth and growth of a holy man of God. Saint John was a prophet of God, the Forerunner and Baptist of our Savior Jesus Christ. And these virtues are so great that he is rightly considered one of the greatest saints in the Church of God, for of those born of women there is no one who is greater than he. Let us consider in more detail why he is greater than all.
First of all, Saint John was not only a holy man and Prophet, but also, as has already been said, the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord. This feature greatly distinguishes him from other Old Testament Prophets and elevates him above them. Other Prophets saw the coming of Christ only from afar and in the shadows, and therefore spoke of it obscurely, in symbols and foretelling, and all died, not being honored to see the Messiah they predicted. Saint John the Baptist saw Him and conversed with Him face to face, and therefore not only predicted, but also affirmatively testified to His appearance and was even honored to perform Baptism over Him, and through this, as it were, to dedicate Him to the great service of the human race. Thus he was more than a prophet: he was an earthly Angel of God, whom the Heavenly Father sent before His beloved Son to prepare His way (cf. Is. 40:3-5; Mal. 3:1; Luke 3:4-6). He was the friend of the Son of God, who was commissioned to announce to men the coming of the promised Messiah and to prepare them to receive Him. No Prophet had such a great honor, and this places him above all those born of women.
But John the Baptist was great not only for his extraordinary service, but also for his personal character and life itself. The Holy Evangelists say of him that he led such a strict and holy life, so ardently loved the truth and with such selflessness proclaimed it to people, and at the same time was so modest and humble in heart, that in this respect he must be recognized as one of the greatest saints of God. According to the testimony of the Evangelists, Saint John lived in the desert from his childhood, wore clothes made of camel hair and a leather belt, ate locusts and wild honey, but even of this food he ate very little, so that they said of him that he neither ate nor drank (cf. Matthew 11:18). With such amazing strictness of life he combined even greater purity of morals, so that all the Jewish people recognized him as a great righteous man, and some even wondered if he was Christ. History does not present another such man: all the Prophets, although they led a holy and abstinent life, were not as strict as John the Baptist.
The Prophet Elijah himself, in whose spirit and power he appeared, was a strict ascetic, but inferior to Saint John the Baptist in asceticism and spiritual perfection. Elijah lived in the mountains and by solitary streams, but history does not say that he was a hermit from childhood until death, like John the Baptist. Saint Elijah led a fasting life, was content with what the ravens brought him and what the poor widow of Sarepta gave him, who had only a handful of flour and a little oil in a jug, but he did not eat only locusts and wild honey, like John, but ate bread, oil and even meat. Saint Elijah was a man of great holiness and a great zealot for the law of God, but his zeal sometimes seemed to go beyond the limits of mercy for those who sinned, so God Himself moderated it. On the contrary, John the Baptist, with no less zeal for God, always acted with love, which is the bond of perfection (Col. 3:14).
Being himself the greatest righteous man, Saint John zealously preached the truth and boldly exposed the vices of people with complete self-denial. Throughout the surrounding Jordan country he preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, and when sinners came to him to be baptized, he boldly exposed them. To the Pharisees and Sadducees, hypocritical and deceitful people, he strictly said: "Generation of vipers…" (Luke 3:7). To the soldiers he said: "Do no wrong to anyone, do not slander, and be content with your wages" (Luke 3:14). To the publicans: "Do not demand more than what is allotted to you" (Luke 3:13).
He denounced not only the Pharisees, soldiers and publicans, but the entire Jewish people and even the kings. Thus, Herod, who entered into unlawful cohabitation with Herodias, was boldly denounced by Saint John, saying: "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife" (Mark 6:18). And in this case he acted with greater courage and selflessness than any other of the Prophets. True, the Prophet Samuel denounced Saul, and Nathan did so with David, but these denunciations did not cause such malice, and their consequences were not so dangerous. The Prophet Elijah denounced Ahab and Jezebel, but he, fearing the evil Jezebel, fled into the desert. Saint John was not afraid of the wrath of terrible enemies, did not hide in the desert, but courageously endured imprisonment and martyrdom.
With unwavering courage in confessing the truth, Saint John the Baptist combined great humility, which is the distinguishing feature of his spiritual greatness. Humility is a very difficult virtue for everyone in general, because every person has a lot of innate self-love; it is especially difficult for those who have many virtues in themselves and are placed in such circumstances that predispose them to arrogance. Therefore, if any of such people overcome the spirit of pride in themselves and become more humble, the more incentives for arrogance appear to them, then by this very fact they will show that they are morally great. This is precisely what Saint John the Baptist was.
His high virtues, his extraordinary life, his strict and truthful character, and his incitement of all to repentance, attracted the attention of all, and brought him such respect, that all considered him a great Prophet, and many were ready to acknowledge him as the Messiah, and sent him an honorable embassy to find out who he was and whence he came. If he had only said one word, or given a hint that he was really the one they esteemed him to be, he would have been solemnly proclaimed the Messiah. What a temptation for him! But humble John would not admire an honor that did not belong to him, so he declared and did not deny, that is, he answered directly and decisively, that not only was he not the Christ, but he was not even worthy to untie the strap of the Messiah's sandals.
He showed the same humility when the Lord Jesus Christ came to be baptized by him. Another would have gladly seized the opportunity and unquestioningly baptized the Lord in order to thereby raise his dignity in the eyes of the surrounding people, but humble John did not do so. He restrained the Lord from baptizing him, saying: "I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me" (Matt. 3:14)? And, perhaps, Saint John would never have dared to lay his right hand on the head of Jesus Christ, if the Lord had not said to him: "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15). Only the duty of truth and obedience forced him to do what he would never have dared to do in his humility.
The Forerunner showed a similar example of touching humility in another case: when his disciples announced to him that Jesus Christ baptized like him, and everyone was coming to Him, leaving him, John. Was he offended by the decrease in his glory among the people? No, he only explained to the disciples that Christ is the Messiah, and he was only sent before Him. Christ is the bridegroom, and he is the friend of the bridegroom and therefore rejoices in the success of His preaching and salvation (see: John 3:29), and said at the same time: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). In whom else of the Old Testament righteous can you find such humility?
What edification can we, dear brothers and sisters, draw from the life of the Forerunner? Very varied. First of all, if Saint John is a great Prophet and friend of God, then we must honor him with special reverence, giving him due praise. Secondly, we must imitate his virtues and good spiritual qualities as best we can. Finally, we must resort to him with prayer in our needs with the firm hope that he will give us the necessary help, for the Forerunner of Christ, being close to God on earth, became even closer to Him in Heaven and, without a doubt, strongly intercedes before Him for us out of the holy love that is characteristic of all righteous people. Therefore, let us raise our prayers to him for our health and salvation, let us also pray to him that he teach us repentance. Celebrating his memory, let us emulate the example of his holy life, so that we may find grace and mercy from God through the prayers of this great righteous man. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
