The Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24. The narrative of the nativity of John the Baptist is found only in Luke’s Gospel. In terms of the birth of John the Baptist, Luke puts the announcement of his birth (Luke 1:5-25) and his nativity (Luke 1:57-66), followed by Zechariah’s canticle, known as “Benedictus”(Luke 1:67-79). The First Reading is Isaiah 49:1-6, the Second Reading is Acts 13:22-26, and the Gospel Reading is Luke 1:57-66, 80, to reflect the birth and life and ministry of John the Baptist.
The First Reading (Isaiah 49:1-6) is the Second
Servant Song. The servant here is collectively the people of Israel (Isaiah 49:3).
But it is more specifically pointed to John the Baptist among the Israelites,
as indicated with these words:
For now the Lord has spoken who formed me
as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel
gathered to him; I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my
strength! It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the
tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light
to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth
(Isaiah 49:5-6).
The above statement tells that John the Baptist was
already commissioned by God to serve as the forerunner of Christ, to prepare
the way of Christ to inaugurate his salvific mission to bring his Kingdom.
The above words of the Second Servant Song are echoed
in these words of Archangel Gabriel to Zechariah:
Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your
prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall
name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his
birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink neither
wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his
mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord
their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the
hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of
the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord
(Luke 1:13-17).
Unless being commissioned prenatally by Yahweh (יְהוָֹה)
to bring His first chosen people, the Israelites, back to Him (i.e. Isaiah
49:5), John the Baptist would not have been already filled with the Holy Spirit
while he was either an embryo or a fetus in the womb of Elizabeth (Luke 1:15).
Because he was already filled with the Holy Spirit before his birth, John the
Baptist was prenatally endowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including
wisdom and knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:9), as well as, prophecy (1 Corinthians
12:10). In fact, John the Baptist is regarded as the last prophet under the old
covenant. So, Malachi figuratively prophesized the coming of John the Baptist
as the precursor to the Christ (Messiah)(Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1-5, cf. 19-21, NABRE). God commissioned
John the Baptist while he was still in Elizabeth’s womb to prophesize the
coming of the Christ (Messiah) and his Kingdom being at hand to bring the
Israelites back to God (i.e. Matthew 3:1-12//Mark 1:2-8//Luke 3:1-20).
It is also important to know that God already gave John
the Baptist the name, “John”, as his conception was announced to his father,
Zechariah (Luke 1:13). However, upon his birth (Luke 1:57), on the day of brit
milah (בְּרִית מִילָה), the eighth day from the birth, the
neighbors attending this ceremony of circumcision and naming were going to call
him “Zechariah”, after his father, but Elizabeth insisted that his name was
John (Luke1:58-60). But they said to Elizabeth that there was no one in the
family of Elizabeth and Zechariah to have name, “John”(Luke 1:61). So they
asked Zechariah, what he wished his son to be called, and he wrote “John” on
the tablet, and they were amazed (Luke 1:62-63).
There is something special about the name John. In
Luke’s original Greek text, it is spelled, Ἰωάννης (Ioannes). In
Hebrew, it is יוחנן (yohhanan), and it means, “Yahweh (יְהוָֹה)”
is gracious, as יוחנן (yohhanan) is composed of יו (yo),
which is derived from יְהוָֹה (Yahweh), and the verb, חנן (hhanan),
which means “to be gracious” or “to provide”. In fact, John the Baptist was Yahweh’s
gracious gift not only to Elizabeth and Zechariah, not only to Israel, but to
entire world, for his service as the forerunner for Christ (Messiah).
Now, the name, “John” was clearly announced publicly. Then, Zechariah spoke blessing God for praising and thanksgiving, as his speech was restored (Luke 1:64), though he had been muted by God for not believing that Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John when it was announced to him (Luke 1:18-22).
Upon brit milah ceremony of John the Baptist, the
neighbors who witnessed how he was named as John and his father’s speech was
restored (Luke 1:58-64) were in awe, and it was discussed throughout the Judean
hill country (Luke 1:65). And as they came to know about the birth and brit
milah of the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah took this to their heart and
wondered what John would be as he grew up, recognizing that the Lord’s hand was
with him (Luke 1:66).
Yes, the hand of Yahweh (יְהוָֹה) had been with
John the Baptist ever since he was being formed in Elizabeth’s womb, as He
commissioned him to be His servant, to prepare the coming of His Son, the
Christ (i.e. Isaiah 49:5-6). But fear came upon those who were attending at his
brit milah on the eighth day from his birth and those who heard his birth
and brit milah, because they recognized the hand of the Lord, wondering
what this baby would do for Israel. So, Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit,
sung Benedictus to bless the Lord and prophesize how His salvific work
would be done through his son, John, and Christ, for whom he serve as his
precursor (Luke 1:68-79).
John the Baptist’s servantship as the precursor to
Christ is also addressed by Paul, as found in the Second Reading (Acts 13:22-26)
and prophesized by Malachi (Malachi 3:1-5, cf. 19-21, NABRE).
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