The Church Celebrates the Nativity of John the Baptist
Orthodox Christians commemorate the birth of the Forerunner of the Lord, calling believers to repentance and preparation for Christ.
On July 7/June 24, Orthodox Christians celebrate one of the great feasts of the Church—the Nativity of the Prophet John the Baptist.
The story of the birth of John the Baptist is described in detail in the Gospel of Luke. His father, Zechariah, was a priest serving in the Temple in Jerusalem, and his mother, Elizabeth, was a righteous woman from the lineage of Aaron. The couple remained childless for many years, and both were advanced in age when a miraculous event occurred.
During a temple service, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and announced that he would have a son who should be named John. The angel prophesied that the child would be great before the Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and that he would turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. Because Zechariah did not believe the angel’s words, he was rendered speechless until the birth of his son.
When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, the Virgin Mary, who was carrying Jesus Christ in her womb, visited her. When the two expectant mothers met, the unborn John leapt in Elizabeth’s womb, as if to greet his Lord. This moment is described in the Gospel as the first act of worship of Christ, even before His birth.
At John’s birth, Zechariah miraculously regained his speech and sang a prophetic hymn in which he praised God and foretold his son’s destiny as the Forerunner of the Messiah. John grew up in the wilderness, preparing for his great mission—to make ready the way of the Lord through his preaching of repentance and his baptizing in the Jordan River.
The Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist reminds the faithful of the importance of repentance and spiritual preparation for the encounter with God.
