On Saturday of this week, we read MATTHEW 3:1-6 

 

“At that time, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ Now John wore a garment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” 

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The Apolytikion of St. John the Forerunner begins: “The memory of the righteous is celebrated with songs of praise, but the Lord’s testimony is sufficient for thee, O Forerunner.” In Matthew 11:11 Christ says: “Truly I tell you, among those born of woman there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” John the Baptist has a unique place in the history of salvation. He is the last of the Old Testament prophets, preaching the imminent coming of the Messiah. He baptizes Christ in the Jordan. He becomes an example for the martyrs and ascetics. 

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St. John the Forerunner preaches repentance to the people of Israel, he baptizes them for the remission of their sins, and speaks to them of the imminent coming of the Kingdom. By calling people to repentance, he prepares their hearts for the coming of the Messiah. In fact, many of his own disciples end up becoming disciples of Christ. His role in preparing the people for the arrival of the Messiah, as the “voice” who goes before Christ and preaches of Him is why he is often depicted in Iconography with angel’s wings. Like the angels, St. John the Forerunner does not promote his own glory or agenda, but preaches the message of the coming of Christ. Death itself could not stop him from preaching Christ. After his execution, he continued preaching to the souls in Hades of the coming freedom from slavery to death. 

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St. John the Forerunner received an honor that none of the other Old Testament prophets, who also preached the coming of the Kingdom, had. He baptizes Christ Himself in the Jordan. Christ, who is sinless, not because Christ needs baptism for the forgiveness of sins, but to perfect and complete baptism. Rather than being a ritual of purification, baptism becomes a restoration of fallen nature, a complete washing away of sins, and the beginning of theosis.  

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Like the prophet Elias, St. John runs afoul of a powerful queen, the wife of king Herod. He criticized their marriage, as she was the wife of Herod’s brother (also named Herod). Herod had St. John cast into prison, and then later executed at the urging of Herodias. St. John was also the “voice crying in the wilderness” and lived in extreme asceticism in the desert, eating honey and locust and wearing camel hair. In the Apolytikiion of St. Anthony the Great, the father of monasticism, his emulation of both the prophet Elias and St. John the Baptist are central to his own ascetical practice. 

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St. John the Forerunner, the cousin of Christ, is an example to us of how we too should live. Not that we must all go to the desert and eat nothing but locust and honey, but that all we do should be focused on Christ, on preaching the Gospel to the world, even if it is hostile to it.