Wyatt North - The Life and Prayers of Saint John the Baptist

The new Quick Facts section in The Life and Prayers collection provides the reader with a collection of facts about each saint!

Born:

5 BC, Jerusalem

Died:

28 AD, Machaerus

Feast :

June 24 (Nativity),

August 29 (Beheading),

January 7 ( Synaxis ,

Eastern Orthodox),

Thout 2 (Coptic Orthodox Church)

Attributes:

Camel-skin robe, cross, lamb

A men, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; (Matthew 11:11)

St John the Baptist has beguiled and inspired Christians through the ages. An enigmatic figure, he is perhaps most familiar to Christians and non-Christians alike as a hermit wandering through the desert, clad in a camel hair tunic and a leather belt, surviving only on wild honey and locusts. To many he is also renowned as the proclaimer and baptizer of Jesus Christ.

Whatever he represents, one thing is certain; the unshakeable faith of John the Baptist continues to inspire Christians today. Beneath the surface of this iconic figure, lies the story of a selfless man; a man of unprecedented humility who unquestioningly surrendered his life to Gods will; a man filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born.

History has presented John the Baptist in several lights. Some scholars see him purely as a son of Second Temple Judaism, born of a Levite priest, yet his presence in a temple or in Jerusalem itself was never recorded. Others link him with the ancient nomadic Essene tribe, but during his time in the desert John the Baptist adopted the life of an ascetic hermit, seeking only intimacy with God in his solitude.

His contemporaries were both fascinated by him and wary of him, sometimes in equal amounts. With his passionate unyielding approach to preaching, some at first mistook him for their longed for Messiah. During his ministry he didnt perform a single miracle yet was referred to as Elijah in spirit by Jesus Christ himself .

While we may find contradicting portrayals and opinions of John the Baptist amongst Christian scholars, for many he was without question the first saint and Christian martyr before the Christian faith had been established.

The evidence for the life of this revered saint is found within the Gospels, the Book of Acts and in Jewish historian Flavius Josephus Antiquities of the Jews , which is believed to have been written around AD 93. Moreover, John the Baptist is unique because he is featured in all four gospels, where he is presented as prophet, preacher, forerunner, witness to and disciple of Jesus Christ.

The ministry of this fiery preacher may have only lasted two years but, with the exception of Lord Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, his is the only feast day, which is celebrated on the date of his birth, and he is the only man believed to have been born without original sin.

John the Baptist was born for a purpose; that purpose was to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies, to prepare for the arrival of the long awaited Messiah; to minister in the spirit and power of the revered prophet Elijah and to return Gods people back to him. Throughout his life he fulfilled that purpose, offering utter and unquestioning obedience to Gods will.

As the words of Jesus Christ himself at the opening of this chapter show us, there has been no man born greater than St John the Baptist, a greatness which began before he was born.

T he ministry of John the Baptist was prophesied over four centuries before his birth and reference to him can be found in the Old Testament books of Isaiah and Malachi.

Perhaps the most well know prophecy is that of Isaiah :-

A voice proclaims: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a pathway for our God! (Isaiah 40:3)

His words are reiterated by Malachi who refers to a messenger who will pave the way before me ( Malachi 3:1 ). Malachi also speaks of the return of the prophet Elijah. To put the prophecies into context, at the time of the birth of John the Baptist in approximately 4 AD, four and a half centuries had elapsed since the time of Malachi, the last prophet of Israel. God had kept the Israeli people waiting for a considerable time but their patience was soon to be rewarded.

John the Baptist was born Yochanan Ben Zechariah to his mother Elizabeth, a reputed cousin of Mary, and father Zechariah, an Aaronic priest in the order of Abijah , established by King David. Both parents were devout and God fearing people who had longed for a child of their own.

In the opening of Lukes gospel, the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah to foretell of the birth of his son:-

But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of [the] Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the H oly Spirit even from his mothers womb and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God . He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers towards children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord (Luke 1:13-17.