Today is the Feast of the
Nativity of St. John the Baptist. St.
John the Baptist, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, was born into a priestly
family. His birth was miraculously
announced to his father by an angel of the Lord (Luke 1:5-23), and on the
occasion of his birth, his aged father proclaimed a hymn of praise (Luke
1:67-79). This hymn is entitled the
Benedictus and serves as a Gospel Canticle in the service of Matins. Events of
John’s life and his teachings are known from accounts in all four of the
Gospels. In the wilderness of Judea,
near the Jordan River, John began to preach a call to repentance and a baptismal washing, and he told the
crowds, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has arrived” (Matthew 3:2). John denounced the immoral life of King Herod
Antipas, with the result that Antipas had him imprisoned in the fortress of
Machaerus near the Dead Sea. There he
had John beheaded (Mark 6:17-29). John
is remembered and honored as the one who with his preaching prepared the way
for Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:3) and pointed to “the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Scripture reading:
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give
birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord
had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day
they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah
after his father, but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” And
they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” And they
made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he
asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all
wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he
spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things
were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them
laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the
hand of the Lord was with him.
And
his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
“Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel,
for
he has visited and redeemed his people
and
has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in
the house of his servant David,
as
he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that
we should be saved from our enemies
and
from the hand of all who hate us;
to
show the mercy promised to our fathers
and
to remember his holy covenant,
the
oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that
we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might
serve him without fear,
in
holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And
you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for
you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to
give knowledge of salvation to his people
in
the forgiveness of their sins,
because
of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby
the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to
give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to
guide our feet into the way of peace.”
And
the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until
the day of his public appearance to Israel. (Luke 1:57-80 ESV)
Collect of the Day:
Almighty
God, through John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, You once proclaimed
salvation. Now grant that we may know this salvation and serve You in holiness
and righteousness all the days of our life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your
Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever.
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