By DEB PIROCH
“What went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold they that are in costly apparel and live delicately, are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say to you: Amongst those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Luke 7:24-28).
St. John the Baptist is a special prophet, in a way the last of the Old Testament yet first of the New; for he was born not to foretell the birth of Christ but to be the “voice crying in the wilderness,” and reveal Christ the Redeemer in the midst of those around Him.
His devout parents were Zachary and Elizabeth, a cousin of Mary. Zachary was a priest of the Jewish law. One day in performing his offices he — like Mary — received a vision from the Angel Gabriel. Mary had been told to expect a son and name Him Jesus; Zachary was told to expect a son and name him John. The angel affirmed that although Elizabeth was past childbearing years, all things were possible with God. Somewhat astounded, perhaps not thinking clearly, Zachary asked for a sign . . . as if pregnancy would not be enough. Gabriel struck him dumb, partly in reproof for his doubt, a condition that would last until the birth of his son.
As we know from the Gospels, Mary would visit her cousin Elizabeth to help her with the pregnancy and when they met, St. John leapt in his mother’s womb for joy, recognizing the Redeemer in Mary’s womb. Christ’s presence sanctified him, so John entered sinless into this world.
Mary then broke forth in one of the great canticles, the beautiful words of the Magnificat, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” In a similar vein, when St. John was born, Zachary regained his speech when writing down, “His name is John.” He proceeded to sing what has become another great canticle, the Benedictus. In the Gospel of St. Luke (starting 1:68) it begins in thanksgiving to God and ends by focusing on his son:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. . . . And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways: To give knowledge of salvation to His people, unto the remission of their sins: Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which [the Messiah] from on high hath visited us: To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew, and was strengthened in spirit; and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel.”
The Benedictus still begins the Divine Office with Lauds each day — a practice probably instituted by St. Benedict — and, at least formerly, sung at burials, as coffins were lowered into the earth.
The little we know of St. John the Baptist is detailed in the Gospels. He lived in the desert and subsisted on a minimum — locusts and honey — and wore leather and camel’s hair — sort of an equivalent of a hair shirt, later in the Middle Ages. All of this would have been part of a life of ascetism and mortification. Even in his time, he was known as “John the Baptizer,” for he was widely known to baptize and preach repentance. Luke 3:15-20 reads:
“And as the people were of opinion, and all were thinking in their hearts of John, that perhaps he might be the Christ; John answered, saying unto all: I indeed baptize you with water; but there shall come one mightier that I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to loose: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. . . . And many other things exhorting, did he preach to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, when he was reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done; he added this also above all, and shut up John in prison.”
St. John immersing visitors in water was no guarantor of salvation; he demanded repentance and conversion. The Herod mentioned above was the son of Herod the Great, who ordered the slaughter of the Holy Innocents after the birth of Christ. Son Herod Antipas imprisoned St. John. Tyrant Herod the Great also executed a wife, mother-in-law, and three of his sons. The Emperor Augustus reportedly stated it was safer to be Herod’s pig than his son.
Herod Antipas, though, is chiefly known for two events. The first involves St. John the Baptist, the second Christ. Let us begin with Christ. When Pontius Pilate had Christ arrested, he sent Him to Herod Antipas, more as a courtesy than anything else. Herod had hoped for miracles but was disappointed and returned him. But from that day forth, it is said, he and Pilate were friends. Both were guilty of washing their hands of an innocent man. The other incident involves John.
Herod, ironically, liked St. John. But when St. John told him his marriage was unlawful, his wife Herodias reacted venomously, calling for his death. Only Herod Antipas also feared the prophet, “knowing him to be a just and holy man.” And St. John was correct in that their marriage was invalid — Herod and Herodias had first divorced their respective spouses to marry and second, their marriage was incestuous since they were actually uncle and niece. So, to achieve her aims, the Bible tells us that Herodias had her daughter, Salome, dance for her husband.
He was so pleased he asked her to name anything hers for the taking. At her mother’s prompting, Salome asked for the head of St. John the Baptist on a platter. Ashamed less of executing a prophet than of going back on a promise, Herod Antipas sent the saint to his martyrdom.
Three centuries after Christ, St. Augustine pointed out that Christ was born of a virgin, and St. John of an old woman, both impossible in the eyes of the world. In the Church calendar, a saint’s death date is often his or her feast, but only St. John and the Blessed Virgin are commemorated on the date of their births. Both were born sinless, through the intervention of God. (St. John’s feast day is June 24.)
Let us, then, attempt to re-embrace our Baptism. For on that day the doors of Heaven were opened, original sin and actual sin removed, and the sacrament imprinted on our soul by the Holy Ghost. Through our godparents, we rejected Satan and embraced Christ and His Church. We gained sanctifying grace and were infused with supernatural virtues of faith, hope, and charity, of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. While imperfect in nature, let us put on that stainless white garment of our Baptism, and commit to die to sin, until we are called home to God again.
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