The Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, June 24, 2025

Luke 1, 57–66; 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

St. Luke tells us how St. John the Baptist was conceived and how he was named.  All four Gospels describe his manner of life in the wilderness as well as some of his preaching.  Three of the Gospels give us detailed reports of the circumstances of his death. For all this, John the Baptist remains an enigmatic figure.  We know that he attracted crowds, but how influential was he really?  He preached and prophesied to the people for at least a year and people came to him, but what attracted them to him?  The Lord Jesus rhetorically asked this question of those who followed him: “What went ye out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what went you out to see?” (Luke 7, 24-25).  And what did Jesus mean when he said that John was Elijah, who was prophesied to return (cf. Malachi 4, 5-6)?  The Fathers of the Church help clarify the mystery, but we are still left to ponder and to wonder.

“When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son.”  Her husband Zechariah had said to the Angel Gabriel, at the time he foretold the pregnancy, “My wife is advanced in years” (Luke 1, 18).  But now the words of the Angel are fulfilled in the birth of a son.  This alone constitutes a great sign of God’s presence among his people.  Her neighbors and relatives saw this as an act of God’s “great mercy” towards her, not realizing how this was an act of great mercy towards them, for the child who was born would prepare them for the coming of the Son of God.  “No. He will be called John.”  These neighbors and relatives oddly wanted to name the child after the father, which would have gone against the custom of the time.  It is possible that they regarded Zechariah as though he were dead because of his inability to hear and to speak, which disqualified him from exercising his priesthood, and saw this child as raised up by God to take his place.  But Elizabeth insists that the child would be named John.  The people are astounded when Zechariah writes out for them that he was to be named John.  The fact that they did not attempt to make signs to the father what name his son should have indicates that either they had ignored or had not noticed him — confirming that they were acting as though he was dead.  His writing out that the child was to be named John astounded them, both because the dead man had come back to life and because he could not have understood what the debate was about.  And while today we might assume that he could have communicated his desire for this to his wife through writing, it is very unlikely that Elizabeth could read.  

“Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.”  His lack of faith cost him his voice; his act of faith restored it.  This illustrates how we cannot speak sensibly without faith for only through faith can we understand the world.  But once we have faith and begin to exercise it we can speak rightly.

“Then fear came upon all their neighbors.”  The Greek word could be translated as either “fear”, as in “terror”, or as “reverence”.  Perhaps in this case Luke meant both, for the sudden realization that God is present overwhelms the guilty with fear and causes the faithful to fall upon their knees in awe.  “The hand of the Lord was with him.”  The idiom “the hand of the Lord” appears many times in the Scriptures.  It signifies divine protection, power, and justice: “What you give to them they shall gather up: when you open your hand, they shall all be filled with good” (Psalm 104, 28).  “If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, you will quicken me: and you have stretched forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies: and your right hand has saved me” (Psalm 138, 7).  In the context of this verse, God filled John with grace so that he could accomplish the purpose for which God had created him.

The world strives to stamp us with its name, with what it values, but abiding in God’s grace we resist and keep the name of Christian which God has given us.