John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, is one of the three biblical figures, whose nativity is celebrated in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. Other two, whose nativities are celebrated, are Jesus (December 25) and his mother, Mary (September 8). John’s nativity is celebrated on June 24 and his death is commemorated on August 29.
As the last prophet under the old covenant, John the
Baptist ushered Israel to the advent of the new covenant, which was brought by
his cousin, Jesus. As reflected in the Second Reading of the feast of John’s
Nativity (Acts 13:22-26), John prepared the way of the incarnated Christ in
Jesus to begin his public ministry, fulfilling Isaiah 40:3-5 (Luke 3:4-6), by
conducting baptism of penance (Luke 3:3), announcing the imminence of the
Kingdom of God, in juxtaposition to the immediacy of the public appearance of
the Messiah (Matthew 3:2). This is a
major theme of the Second Sunday of Advent.
Only Luke gives the account on the birth of John the
Baptist (Luke 1:5-25, 57-66) in addition to an account of the birth of Jesus
(Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-20). It is also Luke who describes how John’s mother,
Elizabeth, and Jesus’ mother, Mary, interacted during Mary’s visitation to
Elizabeth, and how John in Elizabeth’s womb responded Jesus in Mary’s womb
(Luke 1:39-56).
There is a contrast between John’s birth and Jesus’ birth.
Both John and Jesus were born rather miraculously, as
John was born of a barren aged mother, while Jesus was born of the virgin
mother.
Both of these births were announced by the angel of
the Lord, Gabriel, one of the three Archangels, along with Michael and Raphael.
Though the birth of John was announced to
Elizabeth’s husband, Zachariah (Luke 1:5-25) and Mary (Luke 1:36) a, the birth
of Jesus was announced to Mary (Luke 1:26-38). But in Matthew’s Gospel, it was
announced to Joseph, Mary’s husband, when he was thinking to divorce from her
secretly, upon finding her pregnancy was not due to him (Matthew 1:18-25).
Elizabeth found her surprise pregnancy at her advanced
age as God’s special grace (Luke 1:25), and Mary was told that she became
pregnant with the Son of God though was virgin because of God’s special grace
(Luke 1:28, 30). Though it is not the same as the very special grace for Mary
to bear the incarnated Son of God as the virgin, the special grace that let
Elizabeth conceive John the Baptist at her advanced age, after years of being
barren, tells that it was rather a predetermined will of God to prepare for
sending His only begotten Son. So, God gave blessed Elizabeth with a special
grace to bear John so that he would prepare for His Son to begin his salvific
ministry upon having baptized by him.
When John was born, neighbors shared the joy of
Zachariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:57-58).
And his birth brought awe not only to the neighbors but people
throughout the hill country of Judea (Luke 1:65). In contrast, when Mary gave
birth to Jesus, only a small number of shepherds on night watch visited the
newborn Messiah and then glorified and praised God for this (Luke 2:15-20).
The area of John’s preparatory ministry for Jesus
seemed to be limited in the areas of the Jordan River in Judean wilderness (Matthew
3:1; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3), Jesus traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem for his public
ministry and even went to as far as the regions of Sidon and Tyre, where more
Gentiles than Jews lived (Luke 10:14).
It was Malachi, the known last prophet about 400 years
before John the Baptist under the old covenant, had prophesized the coming of
John in the spirit of Elijah to prepare for the coming of the Son of Justice,
namely, Christ, who will bring the judgement (Malachi 3:1-24(NABRE)). And this
echoed in John’s own statement:
I am baptizing you with water, but one
mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his
hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but
the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire (Luke 3:16-17).
And John testified to Jesus:
Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, “A man is coming after me
who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.” I did not know him, but
the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to
Israel. I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon
him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
“On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will
baptize with the holy Spirit” (John 1:29-33).
For this reason, John the Baptist had been already
known by God before his birth, as reflected in the First Reading of the Vigil (Jeremiah
1:4-10) and the First Reading of the Nativity of John the Baptist (Isaiah
49:1-6), to prepare His people to receive His only begotten Son, whom He sent 6th
months later, upon letting Elizabeth conceive with him. And John the Baptist
fulfilled God’s will on him, remaining humble, while continuing to point people
to Jesus (i.e. Luke 7:18-23), until his arrest by Herod Antipas for rebuking
his adulterous relation with Herodias, who is the wife of his brother, Philip
(Mark 6:14-20).
It is obvious that God willed John the Baptist to be
born solely for His only begotten Son, incarnated in Jesus and his salvific
mission for his Kingdom. This also means that John is the very last prophetic
figure under the old covenant to usher Israel to the new covenant established
by Christ the Son. And this is what Jesus said in regard to John:
I tell you, among those born of women, no
one is greater than John; yet the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than
he
(Luke 7:28)
In other words, before the establishment of the new covenant,
nobody was greater than John the Baptist in terms of righteousness. However, as
the new covenant takes its effect for the establishment of the Kingdom, even
the greatest sinners before can be greater than John, as he or she repents and
converts. And John was humbly aware that this was what God has willed on him –
simply to serve for his cousin, Jesus, and his mission. This is why John the Baptist kept himself busy
with giving baptism of repentance and announcing the imminence of the Kingdom, hinting
the nearness of the new covenant.
John the Baptist was born, as God made miraculously removed
the barrenness of Elizabeth, to point Israel to Jesus, who was sent by Him as
the Messiah (Christ). In celebrating his nativity, let us reflect how John the
Baptist continues to direct us to Jesus. Then, we will find what obstacles need
to be removed through the Sacrament of Reconciliation in order to be closer to
Jesus. He will send us to Jesus if we are lost, as he did to his disciples who
were not able to recognize Jesus as the Christ (Luke 7:18-23).
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