7a Nativity of St. John the Baptist
7a Nativity of St. John the Baptist THE NATIVITY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
(Luke 1: 57-80) When it was time for Elizabeth to give birth to a son, her neighbors and relatives rejoiced in her joy and on the eighth day gathered to her to perform the circumcision rite established in the time of Abraham (Gen. 17:11-14) and required by the law of Moses (Lev. 12:3). Through circumcision, the newborn entered the society of the chosen people of God, and therefore the day of circumcision was considered a joyful family holiday. During circumcision, the newborn was given a name, usually in honor of one of the older relatives. Therefore, the mother's desire to call him John could not but cause general bewilderment. The evangelist emphasizes this circumstance because Elizabeth's desire to name the baby John was from the Holy Spirit. They turned to their father for a solution. He asked for a writing table, and wrote on it with a stick used for this purpose: "John will be his name," and everyone was surprised at the coincidence of the desire of the mother and the deaf-mute father to call the son by a name that was not in their kinship. And immediately, according to the Angel's prediction, Zechariah's mouth was opened, and in prophetic inspiration, as if already foreseeing the coming of the kingdom of the Messiah, he began to glorify God, who visited His people and created deliverance for them, Who "raised up the horn of salvation in the house of David." Just as criminals, persecuted by avengers, fled to the altar of burnt offering in the Old Testament and, grasping its horn, were considered inviolable (3 Samuel 2:28), so the entire human race, oppressed by sins and persecuted for this by Divine justice, finds salvation in Christ Jesus. This salvation is not only the deliverance of Israel from its political enemies, as most Jews thought at that time, especially the scribes and Pharisees, but the fulfillment of the covenant of God given to the Old Testament forefathers, which will enable all faithful Israelites to serve God "reverently and truthfully." By "truth" is meant here justification by divine means, through the imputation of the redeeming merits of Christ to man; by "reverence" is meant the inner correction of man, achieved with the assistance of grace by the effort of man himself. Further, Zachariah predicts the future predicted by the Angel to his son, saying that he will be called a prophet of the Most High and will be the Forerunner of the Divine Messiah. He indicates that the purpose of the Forerunner's ministry is to prepare people for His coming, to make it clear to the people of Israel that their salvation consists in nothing other than the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, Israel should not seek worldly greatness, as its spiritual leaders of that time dreamed of, but righteousness and the forgiveness of sins.
According to legend, the rumor about the birth of John the Baptist reached the suspicious king Herod, and when the magi came to Jerusalem with the question of where the born King of the Jews was, Herod remembered the son of Zachariah and, having issued an order to beat the babies, sent murderers to Jutta as well. Zachariah was at that time performing a service in the temple, and Elizabeth disappeared with her son in the desert. Angered by the absence of the infant John, Herod sent guards to Zachariah to the temple to ask where he had hidden his son. Zachariah replied that he was now serving the Lord God of Israel and did not know where his son was. After threats to take his life, he repeated that he did not know where his son was, and fell under the swords of murderers between the temple and the altar, as the Lord recalls in His diatribe to the Pharisees (Matthew 23:35).