Holy Youth: Saint John the Baptist

St. John the Baptist is a great example for us youth on how to lead our lives in virtue. Jesus bears witness of John saying, “For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Luke 7:28).

John the Baptist is the Forerunner of Jesus Christ as it says in the Book of Malachi the Prophet, “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me” (Malachi 3:1). His birth happened by a miracle, like that of Samuel the Prophet. It was announced to his father Zacharias by Gabriel the Archangel while he was in the Temple serving at the altar of incense. Gabriel told Zacharias about John saying, “He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:15-17). And afterward in the same chapter we see how he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb when he leaped in her womb for joy. And his mother was filled with the Holy Spirit afterwards.

From here we begin to see where his virtue lies, and that is in bearing witness to Christ. This great Saint’s focus is solely upon the Savior Himself. From the beginning, even while the two were in the womb, John the Baptist bore witness of Christ. When this Saint began his public ministry, he was no older than 30 years old, maybe even younger than that, and he was able to attract thousands to repentance. By this he was doing what was prophesied in the Book of Malachi which says, “and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6) and through this, by causing the hearts of the people to be virtuous they could be prepared to meet the Lord as Gabriel also prophesied, “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).

The next thing we see in John is that he recognized Christ when he saw Him. Jesus came to be baptized in the Jordan not because He needed repentance because He alone is without sin, but through His Baptism he set the way for our baptism by sanctifying the waters of Baptism and giving us the example for life. When He came to John, John immediately recognized Him and “tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him” (Matthew 3:14-15). Today it is so hard for us to hear the voice of God because of all the worries of the world and all the things we desire from it, but John who had spent all his life in the deserts until he was manifested to Israel, recognized Christ because he had spent a life of prayer in the deserts. Let us pray for this virtue of recognizing the Lord when He comes to us.

Out of this passage we also see that St. John the Baptist had the virtues of obedience and humility. Because he recognized Jesus when He came to Him, and knew that He was sinless and didn’t need baptism, He tried to prevent Him knowing that he should be baptized by Jesus, not knowing exactly what it was that Jesus was trying to fulfill, but knowing that this One who was standing in front of him was the Son of God and Lord of all, he baptized Him himself. And because of this virtue, it was granted to Him to witness the Theophany (Epiphany); when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove and remained upon Him, and God the Father spoke saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). If this one act of obedience alone granted John the Baptist to see this wonderful event, what else will we see and experience if we obey our Fathers of Confession when they advise about something in the faith?

After he fulfilled this first part of his ministry which he knew and applied to himself, citing the prophecy of Isaiah, “He said: ‘I am “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the LORD”’” (John 1:23), he began to lead people to Christ Himself, beginning with his two disciples, Andrew and John. After they heard John say “‘Behold the Lamb of God!’… they followed Jesus” (John 1:36-37). We could learn a lot from his virtue of evangelism. How many times are we afraid to share our faith with the people around us because we don’t know what they will do to us or how their reactions will be? But this wasn’t the end of his evangelism, there was more, and we see his humility come out even further afterward. John’s disciples came to him after a dispute began to arise, and they were worried that Jesus was baptizing and bringing all people to Himself. John answered them saying, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:27-30).

He also taught us repentance without which we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. He taught those who were just hearers to become doers of the word. This even got to Herod as it is written, “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly” (Mark 6:20). But hearing gladly is not enough as Jesus says, “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble” (Mark 4:16-17). And that is exactly what happened to Herod, he was afraid of his brother’s wife, whom he had taken unlawfully, she was like the thorns that the third group of seeds sown fell into, and he had put himself into the trouble by promising her daughter anything she wanted up to half the kingdom, and because of this fear of not keeping his word, he killed John the Baptist.

This brings us to the last of his virtues, the great love of God that he had. He became a martyr because he spoke the truth and those who heard it, namely Herod’s wife, whom he had taken unlawfully, didn’t like that he rebuked her for the unlawful marriage and taught repentance, so she had him imprisoned, then eventually killed through Herod. Martyrdom is the greatest expression of love for God, as Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). And Jesus who is God calls us friends (John 15:14-15).

Let us learn from the example of this great Saint, of whom Jesus bears witness and says, “He was the burning and shining lamp” (John 5:35). Let us emulate his focus on Jesus Christ. May his prayers be with us all and glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.