Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2).
Рождество Иоанна Предтечи Beloved fathers, brothers, and sisters in the Lord,
Thus cried out to the people the holy Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John, whose memory the Holy Church celebrates today.
Several times in the Church’s liturgical year, the Holy Church commemorates this great servant of God. Every Tuesday is also dedicated to his honor.
Today we have gathered in this holy temple to glorify, together with the Church, the Nativity of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John. “She that was once barren today beareth the Forerunner of Christ, who is the fulfillment of every prophecy: for the prophets proclaimed beforehand that He should come, and He appeared as the herald and Forerunner, laying his hand upon Him in the waters of Jordan” (Kontakion of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist).
The appearance of a righteous man in the world is always a great mercy of God toward mankind, for the righteous are the foundation and support of the world. And the holy Baptist of the Lord, John, is one of the greatest of the righteous—greater than whom, as testified by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, There hath not risen a greater among them that are born of women (Matthew 11:11).
And so, today, on the feast of the holy Forerunner of the Lord, let us reflect more deeply on the life of this great servant of God and recognize the truly immense mercy God grants to people through His righteous ones.
From the Holy Gospel we learn that even the very birth of the Forerunner of the Lord was extraordinary and accompanied by miracles. The holy Prophet was born in accordance with the prophecy of the Archangel Gabriel to aged parents, Zacharias and Elisabeth. At the birth of the Forerunner, the priest Zacharias was freed from the muteness with which he had been punished for his disbelief. At the birth of the Forerunner, Elisabeth rejoiced, and the reproach of barrenness was lifted from her.
But the holy infant John was not long comforted by the tenderness of his aged parents. His father, the righteous Zacharias, was killed in the temple, and his mother, the righteous Elisabeth, fled into the hills to save the child from Herod’s murderers—and soon passed away. How the childhood years of St. John the Baptist unfolded is unknown to us, for Holy Scripture gives us no details. “Do not ask me,” says Saint John Chrysostom, “how John lived in the desert during the winter and in the scorching heat of summer, especially at such a tender age.” And he answers: John dwelled in the wilderness as though in heaven.
Strengthened by divine help, the child grew and was strengthened in spirit, preparing for his greatest ministry—to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
For thirty years he lived in the desert, clothed in camel’s hair and feeding only on locusts and wild honey. But the time came, and St. John left the desert and appeared on the banks of the Jordan.
“Repent ye,” cried the preacher of fasting and repentance, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” With this call to repentance and baptism in the Jordan, St. John the Baptist prepared the children of Israel to receive the Savior of the world.
Standing at the boundary of the two Covenants, he seemed to see nothing else except two realities: the sins of mankind, in which the world was drowning, and the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, he cried to the people.
And this authoritative call to repentance was not in vain. From all parts of Judea, people began to flock to him, thirsting for cleansing from their sins and baptism in the Jordan.
Beloved fathers, brothers, and sisters in the Lord, the saving work of the preaching of repentance remains valid even after the coming of Christ the Savior into the world. For the Lord Himself began His saving ministry with the same words: Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Repentance and faith in Christ the Savior are the two essential conditions for attaining the Kingdom of Heaven. Tears of repentance are like a grace-filled rain that washes away every spiritual impurity and renders the soul capable of receiving Divine grace.
Therefore, the Forerunner’s call to repentance, to amendment of life and cleansing from sin, remains powerful for us today.
St. John the Forerunner continues even now to cry out to us, just as he once cried out to the people of Israel: Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance (Matt. 3:8).
Let us then, beloved fathers, brothers, and sisters in the Lord, more often carry our thoughts into the wilderness of John. Let us strive always to bear in our hearts the ascetic struggles and the radiant image of the holy Forerunner of the Lord. Let us entreat him, that he may prepare the way of the Savior within us, just as he once did among the people of Israel.
Let us cleanse our souls from sin, for such is the good pleasure of God. May the Lord grant us this, through the prayers of our Most Pure Lady Theotokos, of the holy Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, and of all the saints who stand before the Throne of God and unceasingly pray for our souls.
Amen.
