The second day of the feast of the Epiphany is called the Synaxis of Saint John, the prophet, forerunner and Baptist of the Lord. It is a day of liturgical celebration in honor of the one who prepared the way for the Messiah and baptized Him in the Jordan river. According to Jesus himself, there is no one greater than John the Baptist.
“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Jesus is the divine bridegroom. The Church is his bride. And John the Baptist is the best man at the marriage, the friend who rejoices in the bridegroom’s joy. His whole life and service was for the sake of Christ, whose way he prepared. He was faithful to Him unto his death, though even then he did not receive the answer which would have robbed him of the glory of his free and voluntary witness to the Truth for which he was born and for which he died.
It is not clear what Jesus meant when He said that “the least in the kingdom of heaven” is greater than John. Perhaps he spoke about Himself. Or perhaps he spoke about the Virgin Mary, and those Christians with her who by the grace of God lived to see the resurrection of Christ and to enter already baptized into His kingdom-unlike John who was beheaded before the Lord was crucified so that, as the Church teaches, he might be the Savior’s forerunner even into death. But whatever it means, one thing remains clear. The Lord said that “among those born of women there has risen none greater than John the Baptist.” And in Saint Luke’s gospel, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.” (Lk 7:28)
John the Baptist is the greatest. The reason is his violent dedication to Jesus which was the expression of his violent dedication to God’s truth and justice. John’s sheer, uncompromising righteousness is the cause of his greatness. There is nothing else. He was not one of the apostles. He did not witness the resurrection. He did not work miracles while he was alive. He did not write a book. He was not what one would call a mystic. But he was an ascetic and a prophet. He lived for God alone. And he bore witness to the Lord’s commandments to his very last breath. The Church praises him for this, and especially glorifies him not only in his conception, nativity and beheading, but also on the festival held in his honor on the day after his baptism of the Lord.
The memory of the righteous is with praise,
And the witness to the Lord was sufficient for you, O Forerunner.
You were indeed revealed as the most honorable of the prophets,
For in the waters you baptized the One whom you preached.
And after suffering with joy for the sake of the Truth,
You announced the glad tidings to those who were dead,
Of the God who appeared in the flesh,
Who takes away the sins of the world
And grants us great mercy. l
The Master proclaimed you to be a prophet,
Higher than all the prophets
And greater than any born of woman.
For the One whom all the prophets and the Law foretold,
You have beheld in the flesh.
Thus is truly the Christ.
And being more honored than all,
You have baptized Him.2
You came forth, O Baptist,
As a messenger from a barren womb.
And from your swaddling clothes you went to dwell in the wilderness.
You were the seal of all the prophets.
For you were made worthy to baptize in the Jordan
The One whom they had foretold in dark sayings and forms.
You heard the Father’s voice from heaven testifying to His Son,
And you saw the Spirit in the form of a dove
Descending with the Father’s words on the baptized One.
O Higher than all the prophets,
Do not cease to intercede for us
Who celebrate your memorial in faith! 3
~Adapted from Thomas Hopko, The Winter Pascha: Readings for the Christmas-Epiphany Season
1 Troparion of the feast of the Synaxis of John the Baptist.
2 Hymn of Light of the feast of the Synaxis of John the Baptist.
3 Matinal Hymn of the feast of the Synaxis of John the Baptist.
