By Saint John Maximovich
Among
the Church's feasts, there are three in
honor of God's saint which in their
significance stand out from the others devoted
to the saints and are numbered among the great
feasts of the Church of Christ. These feasts
glorify the economy of God for our salvation.
These three feasts are the Nativity of St. John
the Forerunner, his Beheading, and the feast of
the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.
The apparition of the holy Archangel Gabriel to
the priest Zacharias in the Temple, with the
announcement of the birth to him and the righteous
Elizabeth, of a son who would prepare the way for
the Lord, the Savior of the world, and the
subsequent fulfillment of this premise, are the
first of the events related by the Evangelists.
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).
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