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Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos speaks to us
Beloved brothers, today we celebrate the Nativity of Saint John, the Forerunner and Baptizer of Christ. What a great personality Saint John the Baptist was! We see that in all churches we have icons of Christ, the Theotokos, and Saint John, because he was the Forerunner of Christ, preparing the way for the coming of the Lord. However, we could say – if we read the Scriptures and, especially, the Gospel according to Luke – that he became a prophet even from his mother's womb. Saint Gregory Palamas interprets this passage this way.
Saint John was conceived six months before the conception of Christ in the womb of the Theotokos. Elizabeth, his mother, was a blessed woman who prayed for a long time to God to grant her children, and God granted them to her after much ascetic effort and fasting. Of course, she did not conceive by the Holy Spirit, as happened with Christ, but through the grace and work of God. While Elizabeth was six months pregnant, Archangel Gabriel went to the Theotokos and brought her the great news: that she was to give birth to Him Whom all the prophets awaited, to the Word of God. And, to reassure her, he said:“Go to your relative, Elizabeth” – who was her cousin – “and she too will testify about this.”
Therefore, when Christ was conceived in the womb of the Theotokos, and the Venerable Forerunner was a six-month-old infant in Elizabeth’s womb, as the Scriptures and Saint Evangelist Luke show, the Theotokos quickly went to the mountainous region where Elizabeth lived. When she entered her house and greeted her, this wonderful event took place. She greeted her as was customary then:“Peace be with you!” − and immediately in Elizabeth’s womb the infant leaped for joy. That is, Saint John, a six-month-old infant in his mother's womb, leaped as soon as he saw the Theotokos entering the house. And not only the Theotokos, but he also recognized our Lord Jesus Christ, Who had been conceived in her womb.
Why? Elizabeth had been informed that the fetus in her womb was to receive the Holy Spirit. And, indeed, he received Him, and in the Holy Spirit he recognized that the one who had come was not an ordinary woman, but the Mother of Christ, who carried in her womb the Son and Word of God, He whom all the prophets awaited. The infant leaped for joy in Elizabeth's womb. The Venerable Forerunner received the Holy Spirit, became a prophet, and made his mother a prophetess as well, so that Elizabeth said:“And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” And the Theotokos was immediately assured by what she heard and said:“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior!”Thus this recognition took place: the Holy Spirit illuminated the infant, Saint John, even before he was born, and he made his mother a prophetess. Naturally, then was confirmed the coming and incarnation of the Son and Word of God.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
A great personality, therefore, Saint John the Baptist! He was a great Prophet, the last of the Old Testament and the first to know Christ incarnate. Today we celebrate his birth. He received the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, and at the age of three, after being weaned, he went into the desert and lived among the hermits and ascetics of that time, until the day he appeared to the people of Israel. Then, at the appropriate time, again illuminated by the Holy Spirit, he went out into the wilderness of Judea and began to preach:“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” “Repent, for that day is at hand!”The Kingdom of God is nothing other than the King Himself, Jesus Christ. Saint John preached repentance, and his baptism was the baptism of repentance. It is known that he baptized Christ and later always confessed his faith. But, because Herod and his wife could not receive this testimony and rebuke, Saint John the Baptist was beheaded.
What does this mean? It means that he was conceived through the grace of God, after the fasting and prayer of his parents. Although he was an infant in his mother's womb, he received the Holy Spirit, then lived in the wilderness, leading this entire ascetic life of purity. His life was angelic, which is precisely why he is depicted with wings, because he lived like an angel. And those who live an angelic life are followers of Saint John the Forerunner. Then he was deemed worthy to baptize Christ and to confess his faith, to suffer martyrdom and to be glorified by Christ Himself, Who said:“No one born of woman is greater than John the Baptist”.
There is no greater praise than these words of Christ! Until now, no man greater than Saint John the Baptist has been born of woman! And yet, he later added:“The least in the Kingdom of Heaven will be greater than he.”Saint John knew Christ, the incarnate Word, in the Holy Spirit, but now, after Pentecost, Christians unite with Christ and become members of the Body of Christ, whereas Saint John was not a member of the Body of Christ.
Beyond all else, he holds great honor and glory among the Prophets! He is the last and greatest of all prophets, the last of the Old Testament, but also the first of the New Testament, he who testified that the Son and Word of God, Yahweh of the Old Testament, became incarnate and came to save mankind.
From the sermon on the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, June 24, 2020
Translation by Diaconești Monastery