The vitality of wilderness.

January 07^th-Feast of Glorification of St John the Baptist.

Despite the centripetal pull of darkness there exists a longing, might be even a timid glint, in the inner depths of man to dwell in the light by aligning with truth. A rendezvous with truth and holiness can be a terrifying experience for the sons of this world. That is why a tetrarch with a huge army at his disposal feared a prophet from the wilderness clothed in camel’s hair. “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man” (St. Mark 6:20). Herod feared the Baptist so much that he imprisoned him, as Flavius Josephus in ‘Antiquities of Jews’ mentions, in a high security fortress called Macherus. 

A flicker of conscience urged Herod to hear the admonitions and teachings of St. John the Baptist.  The Scripture says Herod Antipas after listening to the Baptist, ‘did many things and heard him gladly’ (St. Mark 6:20). What many things could have Herod done following the teachings? Probably the same as what the Baptist told to his hearers- to give a tunic and food to one who has none, to collect taxes that are just, not to intimidate and accuse anyone falsely and to be content with the wages/wealth (St. Luke 3:10-14) We can only assume that Herod Antipas would have taken morally good actions for a brief period. Soon his growing conscientious inner voice was quenched by the chains of intoxication, lust, and gluttony. 

One name that stands out in the list of prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch is that of Manaen (Acts 13:1). The Scripture identifies him as a childhood friend of Herod the tetrarch, one who was the ruler's childhood friend. Very likely that the seeds of repentance were sown in Manaen when he heard the preaching of St. John the Baptist in Herod's court. St. John the Baptist was the 'burning and shining lamp' (St. John 5:35) in the dark world of Judean royalty politics which would have helped Manaen follow the True Light.  Manaen and the tetrach's reception of the teachings shows how the gospel is received in a heart that is stony and thorny  versus a heart that is a good soil. When it seems that the entire kingdom stands against us for our beliefs, may we remember to persevere in faith for the sake of Manaen's of the world for them to embrace Christ.

It then went downward for Herod Antipas following the execution of St. John the Baptist. The more one tries to silence the voice of conscience the more trouble one fosters. Herod was scared when he heard about Jesus because he thought it was the Baptist who had risen from the dead. (St. Matthew 14:1-2). The Pharisees warn Jesus to leave the territory as Herod wants to kill Him (St. Luke 13:31)- probably, Herod wanted to manically eliminate that would remotely remind him of the Baptist. Our Lord perfectly describes Herod as the fox (St. Luke 13:32) – timid before the strong and brutal with those who are vulnerable, the one who alternate easily between God and the devil depending on the situation. If we were to look at ourselves these very qualities of Herod reflect our reality.

The man who once did “many things” after hearing the Baptist later treated the Son of God with contempt and mocked Him (St. Luke 23:11). How apt in the teaching of our Lord - if for a brief period we are able to do good after overcoming the evil spirits, we ought not to lower our spiritual guard for these will attack again with even worse spirits and eventually foster our spiritual decline. “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. (St. Matthew 12:43-45). St. Paul warns that we struggle against the rulers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12) so we should not forget that the journey to the kingdom of God is a constant violent struggle (St. Matthew 11:12). 

St. John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and people went out to him to be baptized in Jordan (St. Matthew 3:1-6). Life can only be found in the desert clustered around water sources. The Forerunner calls us away from a lifestyle focused on deceptive impressions-where power, position, status, glitter masquerades as ‘the’ life. St. Gregory of Nyssa laments this ‘worldly focused bodily motion’- “Like the animals who labor and sweat in a mill with their eyes blindfolded, we go about the mill of life always going through the same motions and always coming back to the same place again. I mean that round of hunger, satiety, going to bed, getting up, emptying ourselves and filling ourselves, one thing constantly follows the other, and we never stop going round in circles until we get out of the mill.” The Baptist calls us to the water in the desert to ultimately point to Christ who years to give us the water that will become in us a “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (St. John 4:14)

The Baptist is a man of the wilderness. The evangelist states that it was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar that the word of God came to St. John the Baptist in the wilderness (St. Luke 3:1). Tiberius Caesar ruled the Roman empire from AD 14- 37. So, it would have been in around AD 29 that the Baptist got the mission to preach repentance to the people thereby preparing the way of the Lord.

“So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.” (St. Luke 1:80). Though uncertain about the exact age at which did St. John the Baptist head to the desert but if we rely on oral tradition that point to infancy then the Forerunner of our Lord spent more than two decades waiting and praying in the desert.

The peculiarity of the desert lies in the fact that there is no place to hide. Thus, the desert beckons us on a journey to confront our true self by shunning all forms of precincts that society binds us with.  Our lives offer opportunities whereby we are called to journey in the deserts patiently awaiting closures and answers to our prayers. 

Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis writes- “Everyone does go through the desert, in one shape or another. It may be in the form of some suffering, or emptiness, or breakdown, or breakup, or divorce, or any kind of trauma that occurs in our life. Dressing this desert up through our addictions or attachments-to material goods, or money, or food, or drink, or success, or obsessions, or anything else will delay the utter loneliness and the inner fearfulness of the desert experience. If we go through this experience involuntarily, then it can be both overwhelming and crushing. If, however, we accept to undergo this experience voluntarily, then it can prove both constructive and liberating.” [In the Heart of the Desert-The spirituality of the desert fathers and mothers]

When the wait seems long and directionless, may the prayers of the Forerunner of our Lord help us to ‘endure that our souls may gain’ (St. Luke 21:19).

In Christ,

Rincy