Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Forerunner St. John the Baptist

“And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1: 41)

Blessed Virgin Mary carries the hidden Christ to St. John the Baptist
John the Baptist, while yet an infant hidden in St. Elizabeth’s womb, was the first to experience the sweet mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mother’s Heart. It was the God-bearing Virgin’s Heart, full of solicitude for her cousin Elizabeth, that moved her to “arise and go with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah” (Lk 1:39). There the Mother of God bearing her Son beneath her Heart, “entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth” (Lk 1:40). The Child jumped for joy – the first miracle of Jesus.

This was, in a sense, the first mission of Mary: to carry the hidden Christ to the “little child” (Lk 1: 76). John the Baptist was sanctified, washed clean of original sin, and quickened by the Holy Spirit. The birth of John the Baptist was an occasion of jubilation. Having already been touched by the Heart of Mary, the Cause of our Joy, the Baptist comes into the world as the Herald of Joy.

By his birth, St.John the Baptist teaches us that the first of these spiritual joys is a living, personal contact with the Heart of Mary. At every moment, the Mother of God is ready to grace us with her presence. She comes always to reveal the Face of her Son, hidden now in the Eucharist as He was hidden in the tabernacle of her womb when she visited Elizabeth. The fruit of that mysterious encounter between the Infant Christ and the Infant Forerunner had the unmistakable taste of divine joy, the joy that Blessed “the infallible sign of the presence of God.”

Jesus Christ and John, the Baptist were relatives (Luke 1: 36).
John and Jesus were cousins. They were “look-alikes” in many respects.
They were interconnected in prophecy, ministry, and mission, but the significance of their relationship was far beyond the family tree.
St. John was prophesied as a voice in the wilderness preparing the way, while Jesus was foretold as the suffering servant and savior. The name John ‘God is gracious‘ was prophetic, symbolizing the coming Grace through Jesus.

Both were conceived after an angelic annunciation, had a marvelous birth, were greeted by hymns predicting their infancy, blessings and destiny. 
Both were at home in the wilderness, venue of extraordinary temptation, trial and testing, and a venue of extraordinary intimacy with the Father.
After a period of desert solitude, John the Baptist emerged as a prophet, as the forerunner of the Lord, Jesus Christ, Who Himself after a period of fasting and praying in solitude, started His Ministry.
Both were born through an uncommon act of God.
Both were given the name provided by the angel. John was not named after his father Zechariah, Jesus was not named after his father Joseph.
They both had Holy mothers – Elizabeth was righteous and filled with the Holy Spirit; Mary wasfull of grace and overshadowed by the Holy Spirit.
Both of their births were miraculous: Elizabeth old, barren, beyond her childbearing years; Mary young, a virgin, and before her childbearing years. Elizabeth’s conception was the Lord’s doing; Mary’s conception was by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Both escaped the massacre of the Holy Innocents. John was hidden in the Rock of Concealment; Jesus and his parents fled to Egypt.
Both had a circle of disciples. The disciples of the forerunner, later followed His Master.
John the Baptist, gave the baptism of repentance. Jesus instituted the Baptism with water and spirit. Jesus was among the recipients of his rite of baptism.
Both of them were hidden before their public ministry. Both preached out of doors when they began their public ministry.
Both gave their disciples a characteristic prayer. That outwardly identified them as his disciples and inwardly welded them to each other. The disciples of Jesus asked him for the same kind of characteristic prayer,  – “Lord’s Prayer.
Both John and Jesus lashed hearers whenever they spoke of God’s severity and the inescapability of God’s judgement. Both summoned people to repent.

Both discounted the popular notion that God favoured Israel with political or national pre-eminence.
And both suffered and died, through provoking uncommon rage among people.
Regardless of the family resemblance between John, they’re not identical.
John came to bear witness to the light. Jesus was (and is) that Light.
John started saying “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ……. Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
John said, “He who is coming after me is mightier than I” and Jesus said, “among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”

John pointed to Jesus as the coming one. Jesus pointed to Himself as the Incarnate One.
Baptism of Jesus was the baptism with the Holy Spirit; John baptized for the remission of sins.
John reminded the people of God’s centuries-old promises. Jesus was, and is, the fulfillment of all God’s promises.
John administered a baptism of water as an outward sign of repentance; Jesus administers the baptism of fire, in which the Holy Spirit purifies and transforms from within.
His baptism was not about receiving forgiveness from sins or as a sign of repentance. Instead, Jesus willingly submitted to the baptism of John the Baptism because it was the Father’s will for Him to do so.

John & Jesus were bold preachers whose tongues were as sharp as a two-edged sword. John proclaimed a baptism of repentance; Jesus told the people to repent, turn away from sin.
John chastised King Herod Antipas and Herodias for their adulterous relationship; Jesus chastised the scribes and Pharisees for being hypocrites. The king & queen were furious with John; the religious leaders were furious with Jesus.

John was arrested, imprisoned; Jesus was apprehended at Gethsemane, held overnight. John, innocent though he was, was beheaded with a sword; Jesus, innocent though he was, was crucified and his side pierced by a sword.
John died a young man at the age of 31 or 32; Jesus died a young man at the age of 33. John died a prophet’s or martyr’s death; Jesus died a savior’s / redeemer’s death.
John’s disciples took his body and laid it in a tomb; Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took Jesus’ body and laid it in a tomb.
John was given a place in heaven with the angels and saints; Jesus ascended to heaven where he is surrounded by the angels and saints.
The similarities between John and Jesus are remarkable, and if John could live a life that was similar to Jesus in many ways, we are called to pattern our lives on Jesus

Mother Mary, let Me Give Thy Son a Kiss – BVM’s Heart will not refuse you this.

A marvelous painting by Botticelli depicting the Mother of God, the Child Jesus and His little cousin, John the Baptist. The Virgin is holding her Child. She bows low to allow the little Baptist to give her Jesus a hug and a kiss. The small boys appear to be about two years old. The Baptist has to stretch to reach the Face of Jesus; he is already dressed in his desert garb and carrying his little wooden staff. The top of the staff has the form of the Cross; the Cross thus appears directly over the head of the Infant Christ, a portent of His sacrifice. The Mother of God wears a blood red gown; suggests an outpouring of blood, an effusion of the heart and that the Divine Word wrapped Himself in Flesh from the Most Holy Virgin Mary.

Blessed Mary is to introduce all of us, as she did the little Baptist, into a reverent and tender intimacy with her Son. The Mother of God bends over each of us. Where the Mother of God is present, there love is poured out and there spiritual joys abound.
Put yourself today in the position of the child John the Baptist. Ask Blessed Virgin to let you embrace her Son and offer Him a kiss. Her Heart will not refuse you this.

~ Virgin Mary, Jesus and John the Baptist – Painting by Botticelli