Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today is the ‘Eve of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist’.

This means that today we read the bit from Luke 1:5-23, in which the birth of John is foretold to Zachariah, his father.

A perusal of this passage reminds us that Elizabeth, John’s mother, was barren, and that they were both ‘advanced in years’. This story immediately reminds me of Sarai, who laughed at the angel's pronouncement that she would bear a child. But there are other women in this long story who find themselves in an unlikely position of bearing bearing children after a period of barrenness: Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and according to tradition, Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary. Clearly, God delights in bringing about his long purpose in spite of human frailty! In this final case, God’s purpose involves the imminent appearance of the final Redemption, to which the child would serve as a harbinger.

It is instructive that in the Eastern liturgical calendar, no fewer than six feasts survive that pertain to John, and we share this celebration of the Nativity of John the Baptist across the church on June 24 — six months before the birth of Christ! Thus, this saint traditionally receives a level of commemoration reserved for the most influential figures in the calendar.

What’s so important about John the Baptist? Why is his name attached to so many churches around the world? Why is his icon seen on every iconostasis, by design? Well, I suppose John’s importance stems from his identity as ‘Forerunner’ or ‘Evangelist’ — as well as from the rare privilege of serving as 'baptizer' of Jesus. The Angel Gabriel who appeared to Zachariah spoke the first word of the ‘Good News’ that began to flood the world after a long, often silent period of anticipation. In fact, this ‘Good News’ was John’s whole identity, and ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’, he lived and preached this euangelion, calling Jesus the ‘Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world’.

I suppose you could say that tomorrow will signal the the beginning of the entire liturgical cycle, for John’s nativity kicks off the whole sequence of events that surrounds the life of Christ — this sequence which we celebrate and commemorate every year.

Yours in Christ,
Justin