Since my motherโs womb, you have been my strength. (Ps. 71:6)
Today, the Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist, one of just three liturgical birthday celebrations, along with that of Jesus and Mary. According to pious Christian speculation, John was born (though not conceived) without original sin by the action of the Holy Spirit at the moment in which Elizabeth heard Maryโs greeting.
Of course, Johnโs prenatal โleapโ is not the only evidence that tradition has relied on to come to this incredible conclusion; it is simply a โsign.โ Far more foundational is the prophetic message that the Angel Gabriel imparted upon Johnโs father, Zechariah:
He will be FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT even from his motherโs WOMB. (Lk. 1:15)
And if the angelโs word isnโt enough for us (as it unfortunately wasnโt for Zechariahโat least not at first), then surely the words of Jesus Christ Himself should be convincing:
Amen, I say to you, among those BORN of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist. (Mt. 11:11)
Still, ancient tradition is not the same as official dogma, so we are free to reserve judgment on the matter. Suffice it to say, the Church deems John the Baptist worthy of an honor that is otherwise reserved for Jesus and Mary alone, so regardless of the nature of his soul at birth, letโs try to understand why Jesus has such high praise for his kinsman John, right from the time of his birth. To do that, letโs begin by looking at the Lordโs praise for his disciple, Peter.
Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. (Mt. 16:17-18)
Peter is a man clearly moved by the Holy Spirit (just as was John the Baptist) to speak words that have come from deep within himself, almost as if they are not his own. And indeed, they are a gift from the Father, poured out through Peterโs heart, and shared with humanity. And Jesus calls him โblessedโ for this. So blessed is Peter, in fact, that Jesus decides he will be the one upon whom the Lord will build His Church! That is one impressive blessing.
And yet, Jesus doesnโt call Peter the โgreatestโ man that ever was; that honor goes to John the Baptist, a man who did not even live to see the Churchโs birth at Pentecost. John was the โforerunner,โ the one who came before the inception of the Church, the one who came to announce its coming, by way of prophecy.
So what could possibly have made him any โgreaterโ than Peter? Of course, we know the faults and failings of our dear first vicar; but on the other hand, Peter was not born without original sin. Doing the right thing wouldn’t have come naturally to Peter in the way it would have to John. How is it fair to laud Johnโs โgreatnessโ when it was a greatness that he didnโt exactly have to work for, but rather, was freely given him?
When Jesus calls His cousin โgreat,โ in one sense, He is not referring to His cousin at all. The greatness that Jesus glorifies is the greatness of God in which John lives and moves and has his being (Acts 17:28). It is the same reason that Jesus pronounces blessing upon Peter at the words of his own incredible revelation. But in another sense, Jesus indeed is praising John for his personal greatness, even measuring it above that of Peterโor anyone else for that matter.
Why? Certainly, John gave of himself sacrificially, even to the point of martyrdomโbut did not the Apostles do so as well, at least after Pentecost, as well as so many others who came after them? What made Johnโs act any โgreaterโ than anyone elseโs?
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the heartsโฆto prepare a people fit for the Lord. (Lk. 1:17)
The thing about John the Baptist is that in terms of his role as โprophet,โ his mission was a little unorthodox. After all, the prophets who came before him spoke of a messiah who would come hundreds of years later. After a while, the ancients must have wondered whether the words they read in the Torah were more mythological in nature rather than based on any real prediction. But when it came to John the Baptist, his โpredictionโ was taking place right then and there. He pointed to his cousin, just three months younger than he, and said, โHeโs the One.โ
Other than the dove incident at Jesusโ baptism, there would not have been a lot of mystical fanfare surrounding these two men. Jesus didnโt glow in the dark (at least not until later), and John the Baptist didnโt levitate or turn his locusts into tasty olives. It would have taken a lot for the people to get on board with whatever this tattered-looking man who lived in the desert was preaching.
And that is the whole point.
John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea [and] saying, โRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!โโฆJerusalem, ALL Judea, and the WHOLE REGION around the Jordanโฆwere being baptized by himโฆas they acknowledged their sins. (Mt. 3:1-6)
John the Baptist managed to single-handedly convince โallโ of Judea and the entire โregion around the Jordanโ to repent. He persuaded them to turn their hearts back to God and to prepare themselves for the arrival of His kingdom. It was nothing short of a miracle.
Camel hair and locusts should have been enough to turn the people โoff;โ instead, they could not get enough of Johnโs mysterious message. They hungered for it. They thirsted for it. They recognized it as truth in the silence of their hearts. Johnโs unappealing appearance and lifestyle only lent proof to the fact that it was the action of the Holy Spirit working seamlessly and continuously in and through him.
Without Johnโs great ministry, it is possible that not a single soul would have recognized the Messiah who stood before them. These souls were not filled with the Holy Spirit as was John, and they most certainly were born with the stain of original sin.
Letโs understand: โallโ the people who came from Judea and the โwhole regionโ around the Jordan to become Johnโs disciples included ones such as Andrewโthe one responsible for bringing Peter to Jesus. John the Baptist was not just the โforerunnerโ of Christ; he was the forerunner of our Church, the same Church of which we ourselves are members to this very day!
So while itโs true that John did not help found the Church from its inception at Pentecost, without him, there may have been no one around to build that foundation. Itโs not that God could not have found another way to accomplish this task; itโs just that โanother wayโ was not the Fatherโs gracious will.
Authorโs Note: This article was adapted from a chapter in 26 Steps with the Characters of the Bible, coming summer 2026.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
