Greater than those born of women
I would like to speak to you today about a man of whom the Lord testified, saying: “What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.”
Greater than those born of women… 1
What, then, are the elements of greatness in this man?
The first reason for the greatness of John the Baptist is that he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. He was consecrated to the Lord before he was born.
God called him while he was still in his mother’s womb. God, who knows the future, searches hearts, and perceives what is hidden, knew what this John would become… Therefore, the Lord chose him for Himself. As the Scripture says:
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined” (Romans 8:29).
And as God said to the prophet Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you” (Jeremiah 1:5).
And in the story of Jacob and Esau, it was said to their mother before they were born: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23).
There are people whom the Lord has chosen before they were born to fulfill a specific mission. Heaven awaits their birth with longing…
With the birth of one of these, a new era begins—an illuminated page in human history. His mother, before giving birth, is surrounded by angels, blessed by heaven, and the Holy Spirit works in this person even while he is an infant.
There are people who dedicate themselves to the Lord, others whom their parents dedicate, and a third kind whom the Lord Himself consecrates. Of this last kind, the Lord says before they are born: “This one will be Mine, will serve Me, and will spread My Kingdom on earth.” John was of this last kind…
John was great, though he was born in a dark age…
An age when there were no prophets, nor visions. A time when some heretics arose—like Theudas, and Judas of Galilee who “drew away many people after him” (Acts 5:37), and like the scribes and Pharisees who nullified the commandment of God because of their traditions: “Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition!” (Matthew 15:6).
Darkness covered the earth… yet God comforted the people that the Light was coming into the world… Then John was born—not as the Light, but as the one who prepares the way for the Light.
John was filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother’s womb, and he leaped with joy, greeting the Lord while still an unborn child. He believed in Him even as a fetus.
If one of you were to write the history of his relationship with the Lord, he might say, “Since my youth” or “since my childhood.” But John knew the Lord as a fetus—an extraordinary and early relationship…
From John the Baptist’s greatness, the Lord called him an angel…
He said: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You” (Mark 1:2). For this reason, some Byzantine icons depict John with wings like the angels…
The pastors of the seven churches in Asia were called angels (Revelation 2). And it was said of monks that they are earthly angels or heavenly humans, and the Lord said of the saints after their departure that they “are like the angels of God in heaven.”
John the Baptist lived on earth like an angel. He lived a life of prayer, worship, and contemplation, spending decades alone in the wilderness like the holy hermits, in deep communion with the Lord.
And when he came out of the wilderness—with all its asceticism, simplicity, and detachment—he came out full of courage and strength, fearing no man… He emerged pure, calling people to purity and holiness.
John, the son of the wilderness, far from entertainment and vanity, bore the strength, sternness, and seriousness of the desert in his life with God…
He came forth into the world like a flame of fire, and when they asked him who he was, he said: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand… And now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
That voice crying out continued to cry even after his death… it did not fall silent.
Through all generations, it still cries in every human heart: “Prepare the way of the Lord. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
He was a man of firmness, endurance, and strength—like a rock struck by storms yet standing steadfast, unshaken.
How did John live in the wilderness from his childhood—without companion, without comforter, without friend, without anyone to talk to or help him?
How did he live like this? I do not know. All I know is that he lived thus… His story is told by tradition, but it does not relate the details of the thirty years he lived before beginning his mission to lead his generation to repentance… How many mysteries the Spirit seals in the lives of saints!
He lived under God’s care and providence. God raised him in the mountains…
He lived as an ascetic, wearing camel’s hair and eating wild honey… and God kept planting His Word in his heart until the time of harvest came, when God gathered the abundant fruit of thirty years of labor… Then the Lord sent him to ministry…
From John the Baptist’s greatness is that he experienced both lives: the life of solitude, silence, and contemplation, and the life of ministry, preaching, and teaching…
He knew the life of seclusion—hidden from everyone—and also the life of service—interacting with everyone. He lived both lives, and succeeded completely in each.
His life gave us an example of those who live in solitude not because they cannot mingle with society, but out of love for God. And when the time came for them to engage with the world, they did so powerfully, revealing all their hidden strength…
This earthly angel came out to walk among people’s problems. He knew his path well and had but one purpose—to prepare the way for Christ.
He was a prophet of the Lord. His father Zechariah said of him: “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest.” And Christ said of him that he is “more than a prophet.” And John himself prophesied of Christ’s coming: “He who comes after me is preferred before me…”
The most beautiful part of John’s greatness is that the Lord Himself testified of him.
There may be someone great in his own eyes, or great in the eyes of people by their standards. But John was “great before the Lord.” “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord” (Luke 1:15). Believe me, when I first read the phrase “great before the Lord,” I was deeply moved… Who can be great before the Lord? For before the Lord—however great we may be—we are nothing but dust and ashes…!
Who are we, the despised and insignificant, that one of us should be called great before the Lord?!
Before the Lord, before whom the heavens are not pure, and to His angels He attributes folly, before the perfect, infinite God—for whom the greatest of the great are but worms—He said, “They have all gone aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, not one” (Psalm 14:3).
What shall I say? Perhaps out of His abundant humility, God bestowed greatness upon His servants! Or because John humbled himself before the Lord, the Lord exalted him before Himself!
John disappeared so that Christ might appear, and therefore Christ revealed him to all. John was the voice of God crying out in people’s ears.
He bore witness to the commandments of God, regardless of the consequences…
He was a sword of fire, an axe laid to the roots of many trees. He knew neither flattery nor hypocrisy. He spoke the word of truth to all—even to King Herod—and did not care about the results. He did not care whether he would be imprisoned or killed.
John was a man who believed in the truth in his depths and revealed it to others. He was not afraid to bear witness to the truth at a time when many were afraid…
He did not fear Herod the king; rather, Herod feared him. John’s courage made him claim God’s right from all. And he did this because he feared nothing—not even death. He said to the king, “It is not lawful for you,” and the king killed him. But the words “It is not lawful for you” kept ringing in Herod’s ears, for John’s word did not die and will never die—it was the Word of God spoken through his mouth, powerful and alive.
Despite John’s sternness in bearing witness to the truth, he was exceedingly gentle. How beautiful were his words about the Lord Jesus:
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John did not seek glory for himself; his goal was the glory of the Lord. He did not come to call people to himself but to the One who was to come after him. He said to the people: “I baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” My baptism is nothing compared to His.
And when Christ began His ministry and the people gathered around Him, they asked John, and he said: “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 who comes from above is above all; I am of the earth, made of dust.”
John labored to prepare the bride and then handed her over to the Bridegroom. Thus his joy was complete. And his heart seemed to say: “Now, Lord, You may let Your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen Your salvation.”
His mission was complete. He was ready to depart after finishing his course. And indeed, not long afterward, he was martyred by Herod. The Lord did not withhold the sword from His beloved and angel, but granted him the crown of martyrdom, as He had already granted him the crown of virginity.
It is amazing that John the Baptist completed all this profound mission in only six months!
Only six months in which he prepared the straight way for the Lord… Many have served for long years, yet not with the power of those six months John served… Who among us is like the Baptist?!
Perhaps some wish to imitate the Baptist in bearing witness to the truth. Good, blessed one, bear witness to the truth—but my advice to you is this:
Take God’s right from yourself before you take it from others…
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Sixth Year (Issue No. 25) – June 20, 1975.
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