The Greatness of John the Baptist

He manifested glory, he revealed the glory of the only-begotten.

Let John be hymned, the flute-player of whose song all run.

For who hearing does not repent?

Who does not hasten to wash?

Who does not desire to be cleansed?

Who does not bring a vessel to the spring to draw, to drink, and to cool the burner, wishing?

Who, having learned that the kingdom of heaven has drawn near, does not desire to reach his brother first, and does not hasten to take the neighbor before?

Let John be hymned, whose first wonders and last are great and exceedingly radiant.

The first wonders: Gabriel announced to him his birth, an angel interpreted the conception to Zachariah.

From heaven the gift stood between the temple and the altar, the priest received it, and the cowardly sons of the Jews obtained so much.

For there the priest of God received the announcement, there they sharpen the sword and arm the hands and practice murder and work the drama.

What then did Gabriel say to Zachariah?

'Do not fear, Zachariah, because your supplication has been heard, and behold, your wife Elizabeth will bear a son to you, and you shall call his name John.'

And there will be for you joy and exultation, and many will rejoice at his birth.

For he will be great before the Lord, and he will not drink wine or strong drink at all, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, and he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.

He will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers back to their children and leading the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord. You should consider the great honor bestowed on John the Baptist even before his birth, for he becomes a source of blessing before his very conception.

Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for the Redeemer is coming and the people will cease from sin. Your prayer has been heard. Now is the time when heaven and earth must bow to receive their Creator. And behold, your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.

rience. For the announcement is something new, and the mystery to be fulfilled through him is also new. And you will have joy and gladness: joy because you bear this one of whom it is said that among those born of women none is greater, and gladness because the end of the law and the prophets will come through him, the one born of you. And many will rejoice at his birth, those who accept his message of repentance and are cleansed in the bath of baptism. But the scribes do not rejoice, and the Pharisees mourn with them. To these he declares the winnowing fan and the axe, threatening and proclaiming the cutting down, for which reasons the forest has existed to them as thorny, wood-mad, beast-like, and inhumane. What then is the other by which Gabriel dignifies the Baptist, having announced?

He will be great in the sight of the Lord, for he points out the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the whole world; yet his greatness is defined not by heavenly stature as humans measure it, but by his divine orientation. Indeed, while Jews may find laughter in the mysteries of Christ, they mock the heralds of truth, treating the very proclaimers of grace as enemies and comic figures.

He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, lest the spirit destined to dwell in him be constricted; for he is to be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb—not merely receiving the gift in advance or anticipating the graces, but so that he may proclaim the light before addressing it, announce the Maker before beholding His own elements, denounce the sun before witnessing its daily course, and having watched the night’s extremities.

And many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God, for he was the great teacher of Andrew, and this one had served as instructor to John the theologian before they brought themselves to the net. From him the apostles learned: 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,' and 'Rabbi, where do you dwell?' as they followed him, eager to enter the tent of the Uncontainable.

He will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, not in soul and body. Away, away from absurdity. Yet the sons of Greeks idle talk and mythologize, claiming souls pre-exist and pass from body to body, just as the mentally disturbed utter their words against them.