Posted on 09/23/2016 6:12:52 PM PDT by NRx
September 23 (NC) The Conception of the Venerable Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John: The holy Prophet Malachi prophesied that before the Messiah’s birth His Forerunner would appear, and would indicate His coming. The Jews therefore in awaiting the Messiah also awaited the appearance of His Forerunner.
In a city of the hills of Judea in the land of Palestine lived the righteous priest St Zachariah and his wife St Elizabeth, zealously observing the commandments of the Lord. The couple, however, had a misfortune: they remained childless in their old age, and they prayed unceasingly to God to grant them a child.
Once, when St Zachariah took his turn as priest at the Temple of Jerusalem, he went into the Sanctuary to offer incense. Going behind the veil of the Sanctuary, he beheld an angel of God standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
St Zachariah was astonished and halted in fear, but the angel said to him, “Fear not, Zachariah, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” But Zachariah did not believe the words of the heavenly messenger, and then the angel said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you the good news. Behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words....”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zachariah and they were astonished that he had not come out from the Sanctuary after so long a time. And when he did come out, he was supposed to pronounce a blessing upon the people, but could not do so because he had been struck speechless. When Zachariah explained by gestures that he was unable to speak, the people then understood that he had experienced a vision. The prophecy of the Archangel was fulfilled, and Righteous Elizabeth was delivered from her barrenness, and gave birth to John, the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord.
Honestly, this seems kind of prurient to me. All we know is that, “After these days, [Zechariah’s] wife Elizabeth conceived.” You could get the idea that she’s a high-bred Charolais cow or something, but she was a human woman who had been through a lot of abuse. Let her alone about the conception; it’s not like she had a choice.
Presumably she greatly wanted to conceive, and the conception was solely through divine grace, because either she or her husband were incapable of conception.
Those aren’t exactly prurient points, they indicate the holiness of John, who was the result of the grace, which was the answer to their prayers, which were presumably jointly made in sincerity.
From the beginning words, I thought I was on a muzzie thread.
No doubt she did, both out of personal desire for a child and "to take away my reproach among men."
"the conception was solely through divine grace
Unless I've totally misunderstood everything, the conception of John was through natural sex. The conception of Jesus by Mary was "solely through divine grace," no human father nor natural reproductive act involved.
LOL Sometimes we do go a bit overboard with titles and formality. It’s just in our ecclesiological DNA. If there is a shorter, more pithy way of saying or doing something, well... its just not Orthodox.
Righteous Elizabeth the mother of St John the Baptist...
The Righteous Elizabeth was the mother of the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John. She was descended from the lineage of Aaron, and St Elizabeth was the sister of St Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. The righteous spouses, “walking in all the commandments of the Lord (Luke 1:6), suffered barrenness, which in those times was considered a punishment from God.
When Elizabeth gave birth to a son, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit she announced that his name was John, although no one in their family had this name.
They asked Zachariah (who had been rendered mute) what the child’s name was, and he wrote the name John down on a tablet. Immediately the gift of speech returned to him, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, he began to prophesy about his son as the Forerunner of the Lord.
When King Herod heard from the Magi about the birth of the Messiah, he decided to kill all the infants up to two years old at Bethlehem and the surrounding area, hoping that the new-born Messiah would be among them.
Herod knew about John’s unusual birth and he wanted to kill him, fearing that he was the foretold King of the Jews. But Elizabeth hid herself and the infant in the hills. The murderers searched everywhere for John. Elizabeth, when she saw her pursuers, began to implore God for their safety, and immediately the hill opened up and concealed her and the infant from their pursuers.
In these tragic days St Zachariah was taking his turn at the services in the Temple. Soldiers sent by Herod tried in vain to learn from him the whereabouts of his son. Then, by command of Herod, they murdered this holy prophet, having stabbed him between the temple and the altar (MT 23: 35). Elizabeth died forty days after her husband, and St John, preserved by the Lord, dwelt in the wilderness until the day of his appearance to the nation of Israel.
On the Greek calendar, Sts Zachariah and Elizabeth are also commemorated on June 24, the Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist.
https://oca.org/saints/lives/2016/09/05/102503-righteous-elizabeth-the-mother-of-st-john-the-baptist
Natural sex wasn't working. That's why they needed divine intervention in their old age - implying years of trying to conceive. So the divine intervention was to allow the natural sex to work.
Until it did. TYG.
Relevance to my point?
“When Elizabeth gave birth to a son, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit...”
Are you saying that the Orthodox believe that John the Baptist was conceived by something other than natural human generation? If so, who was his father?
It's obvious that the naming of John was through the Holy Spirit, although the text says that Elizabeth said, "He shall be called John," while it was Zechariah who WROTE the words you quote, "His name is John."
I didn't like the urban dictionary definition of TYG, so maybe you can explain that.
As for the story, it didn't work until the grace came. That's why they were "old" - to point out that natural sex didn't work with them for a long time. SO: the ONLY addition to their efforts was the blessing. THEREFORE: the conception was through divine grace. Why is that hard to understand? What other possible meaning is there to the story of an angel showing up and giving a conception blessing, and then them conceiving?
:) My favorite mystery of the rosary is the Visitation.Mary pregnant,Elizabeth pregnant.If you read Anne Catherine Emmerich John was conceived at the temple.
Ugg. You are correct. I really do need new specs.
“There you go.”
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