The birth of John the Baptizer (Luke 1:57-66, 80) is significant enough that the Church celebrates it as a solemnity, and for a moment we step out of the liturgical Ordinary Time, as we meditate on this child’s role in the mystery of the incarnation.
John is his name
Naming a child is giving that child its identity. Among the Israelites, the naming of a male child and its circumcision on the eighth day after birth formed the boy’s initiation into the community. And the community was here involved; the neighbors and relatives were interested in the name the child would be given. The parents were not the only ones who had a stake in the newly born. Many thought naming the boy after his father Zechariah would link him properly with the identity and destiny of his family and kin. But the boy has a far greater significance.
Both Elizabeth and Zechariah insisted that the boy be called John, the name that means “God is gracious.” God’s goodness is what is celebrated in the child’s birth: the neighbors and relatives rejoiced with the family precisely because they have witnessed the great mercy the Lord has shown to the couple advanced in years. But the child’s name was actually given by the angel (Luke 1:13), a name coming from heaven, therefore with a heavenly destiny still to unfold and with the promise of future blessings. “What will this child be?” was really the question in the heart of everyone in the hill country of Judea who heard of the amazing story surrounding the child.
God’s hand is with him
God’s entrance into the ordinary human time, not only of Zechariah and Elizabeth but also of their neighbors and of many others, is what the birth of John manifested. And the initial reaction of fear in the presence of the divine in connection with the child’s birth came upon them (Luke 1:12, 65); clearly “the hand of the Lord was with him.” He was a chosen child, particularly cherished by his parents both righteous in the sight of God. Zechariah especially, when his tongue was freed, blessed God for the marvels done. And in the context of what the angel told him earlier (Luke 1:14-17), he was now convinced that God has great designs for this child.
At this child’s birth, many indeed would rejoice. Set apart for the service of the Lord and great in His sight and filled with the Holy Spirit, “he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God…to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” John was the precursor of the Messiah, the herald of the time of salvation, the voice in the wilderness, crying “Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23), the trumpet at the entrance to the new eschatological age of fulfillment. It was his prophetic destiny to be the sharp-edged sword and the polished arrow (Isaiah 49:2), the servant who would reveal the glory of the Lord.
Alálaong bagá, John, in his divinely determined destiny, was the last prophetic voice challenging the people to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ. Bringing the people to the threshold of the new age, he then stepped aside, not keeping the attention to himself but pointing to the Lamb who would take away the sins of the world; he was just the best man to the bridegroom (John 3:29). The meaning of the birth of John hinges on the meaning of Jesus’ birth. The nativity of Jesus was placed in the calendar, according to the Fathers of the Church, when the days in the Northern Hemisphere begin to lengthen, and the birth of John when the days get shorter. This illustrates the declaration of John regarding his mission and his significance: he must increase and I must decrease (John 3:30).
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