4th after Pentecost

Today, exactly six months before Christmas, we celebrate the Nativity of John the Baptist.  John, as most of you may recall, was an older cousin of Jesus, and born to a mother who was well past the normal age of childbearing.

According to the ancient tradition recorded by St Luke in his gospel, the difference in age between John and Jesus was just six months. When the angel came to announce God’s will for Mary, Luke tells us, it was the sixth month – that is the sixth month after her cousin, Elizabeth, had herself conceived.

Being a Sunday, today’s celebration is fairly low key.  Sunday is always the Day of the Resurrection and so, with a few exceptions, we always sing one of the eight Resurrection Troparia twice at the Divine Liturgy, once before the Little Entrance, and once after it, as the first of the Troparia for the Liturgy.  Troparia for any secondary celebrations appointed come after the second singing of the Resurrection Troparion. However, I thought that, secondary celebration or not, I would say a few words today about John the Baptist.

John is sometimes, and appropriately, referred to as the last of the O.T. prophets.  Both of his parents, Zechariah, and Elizabeth were of priestly descent.  Unlike the Christian ministerial priesthood, the priesthood among the Jews was conveyed by birth into a priestly family.  Although, I believe, it was narrowed down at various stages in history, all priests at the time of Jesus would have descended from Aaron, the brother of Moses, who was the first in the line of priests appointed by God, through Moses, to serve in the Tabernacle, the portable temple which the people of Israel carried around with them in the Wilderness.  By the time of Jesus, there would have been many more men entitled to serve in the Temple than were needed.

As we heard in the Gospel reading, it came round to the division of the priesthood descended from Abijah to serve in the Temple, a beautiful stone built construction built by Herod  The actual form of service that each performed was decided by lot.  In other words, according to ancient Jewish custom, God made the decision.  On this occasion it fell to Zechariah to enter the Holy Place of the Temple itself to offer incense on the Golden altar.  Only the Holy of Holies, which was entered once a year by the High Priest was holier, and the Holy Place formed an antechamber to the Holy of Holies.

We may imagine with what trepidation Zechariah approached this once in a life time duty as he entered through the veil, alone, and stood before the Golden Altar, even though he knew that the whole congregation would be supporting him with their prayers outside.

On this occasion, at the exact time for the offering of the incense, an angel appeared to the right of the altar.  Zechariah was overcome with fear, but the angel told him not to be afraid.  I shall say a few words about the message in a moment but Zechariah, although probably trained from his earliest years to be ready for such an event, should he have the honour of ministering at the Altar of Incense, doubted.

The angel then identified himself by name. “I am Gabriel.  I stand in attendance before God, and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news.” (evangelion – Gospel).  Because he doubted,  Zechariah was struck dumb for a while, and when he came out of the Holy Place those outside realised that he had had some kind of vision.

In due course, Gabriel’s words were fulfilled, and John was born. The words that Gabriel spoke to Zechariah in the Temple set down the outlines of the special vocation of John.  “Your heart will thrill with joy and many will be glad that he was born, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord.”  There would be the natural, and great joy of any father at the birth of a son, but especially in the light of the circumstances, and the fact the Zachariah and Elizabeth had given up hope.

In course of time, however, this joy would come to be shared by a great many who will come to follow John, and to be baptised by him.  We may also remember that Jesus, on one occasion, declared that there was no prophet greater than John the Baptist.  “He shall never touch wine or strong drink.”

We also remember the traditional picture of John as a man of the desert, clothed in animal skins, unshaven, hair unkempt, and living on locusts and wild honey.

We may also have a similar the image of the Desert Fathers of later years, inspired partly by the image of John. This image also suggests that John was a Nazirite, one of a contemporary ascetic group of Jews with nothing to do with Nazareth. The term Nazirite simply means “consecrated”, or “set apart for God”.  “From his very birth”, declared the Angel “he will be full of the Holy Spirit; and he will bring back many Israelites to the Lord their God.”  So, we remember John’s desert ministry, with people flocking out to be baptised as a symbol of repentance in the River Jordan.  “He will go before him (that is God) as forerunner, possessed by the spirit and power of Elijah”.

In another reference to the ministry of John the Baptist, the New English Bible version uses a phrase, which I have always liked, that “The people were on tip-toe of expectation.”

A part of the tradition relating to the coming of the Messiah was that he would be preceded by Elijah who, of course, had not died but had been taken up to God in a whirlwind.  Gabriel had said that, from his birth, John would be full of the Holy Spirit.  It was that same spirit who had animated Elijah and enabled him to work in the power of God.

In that same Spirit and in that same power John was to “reconcile father and son, convert the rebellious to the ways of the righteous, and prepare a people that shall be fit for the Lord”.  Thus the way was to be prepared for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah himself.