Two commemorations of the Forerunner of the Lord, St John the Baptist, frame the summer season in the Church’s calendar. We celebrate his birth on June 24th and honor his beheading on August 2fth. In between we commemorate the holy prophet Elijah (Elias), on July 20th. However, there is more of a connection between these important figures of the two Testaments than just the coincidence of their summer feasts.
The Archangel Gabriel couples these two figures with the words which title this essay. As he greets Zachariah the priest, the Baptist’s father, announcing the Forerunner’s birth, he foretells the role which the child will play in mankind’s redemption: “He will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared” (Luke l:16-17). In identifying the herald of our Lord’s incarnation with Elijah, the angel echoes the words of another Old Testament prophet, “Behold, will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6).
St Elijah (Elias is the Greek form of his name) lived in Israel, the northern Kingdom of the Hebrews, in the fifth century B.C. His story is told in the I Kings 17 – II Kings 2. His time was one of religious chaos. Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, was a Phoenician and a worshiper of pagan gods. She had lured the king into following her religion and persecuting those who remained faithful to the one true God. St Elijah led the opposition to their efforts and was chief spokesman for those who kept Israel’s revealed faith.
St John was truly a worthy successor to the earlier prophet. Both were desert dwellers for much of their careers, St John by choice and St Elijah by necessity, while fleeing persecution. Both pursued a life of strict asceticism, prayer filled their days and fasting humbled them in body and spirit. On a higher level both were true servants of the Spirit, particularly in tune with His presence. Themselves thoroughly filled with divine grace, they unerringly discerned how others might depart from the true path and courageously admonished those who had gone astray. Both were unyielding advocates of God’s commandments, and both found themselves in opposition to the mighty of the land because of their adherence to divine law. These two prophets were alike in their commitment to God’s truth even in the face of persecution, and steadfast in turning their people back to that truth.
The two were also alike in the triumph of their mission. The angel Gabriel outlines for us what both John and Elijah accomplished. They were a source of joy and encouragement to their contemporaries, despite the sternness of their preaching. St Elijah helped others remain faithful in the face of persecution. St John filled hearts with the joy that comes from repentance and forgiveness, and he inspired hope with his message that the Savior was at hand. Truly both of them turned the hearts of many in Israel to God. They lead multitudes to a right attitude, from disobedience to righteousness both in deed and in heart. Though themselves representative of the legalism of the Old Testament covenant, they prepared their people to receive Christ’s gospel of love and the grace and soul transforming power of the Spirit. Their message marks the transition from the Old Testament to the New.
St John and St Elijah continue to inspire us as they did the people of their own times. They have much to teach us. Their lives and careers remind us that asceticism and discipline are still necessary if we are to advance in the spiritual life, even under the covenant of grace. Their role as prophets and forerunners of Christ are symbolic. Following their ascetic message and example prepares us for the Spirit’s infusion into our souls. Just as their message of discipline and dedication prepared mankind for the Lord’s appearance, so also our own commitment to the disciplines of the spiritual life — to a rule of prayer, to fasting to almsgiving, to the study of holy books – makes us receptive to His grace as it begins to work in our hearts.
St Isaac of Ninevah, speaking about fasting, notes, “For the more the body toils and endures hardship when the phalanx of demons encompasses a man, the more his heart is given succour by confidence. He who has armed himself with the weapon of fasting is afire with zeal at all times. Elias the zealot also pursued the work of fasting when he was zealous for God’s law. Furthermore, fasting reminds the faster of the commandments of the Spirit and it is the intermediary between the old Law and the grace given us by Christ” (St Isaac of Ninevah). St Isaac speaks particularly of fasting but his words apply to all the disciplines of the spiritual life.
Inner commitment and outward struggle, both with the natural inclinations of the flesh and with the seductions of the passions, are necessary before the grace, peace and love of Christ can blossom in our hearts. We must fast before we can truly appreciate the Bridegroom’s banquet of faith; we must endure spiritual struggle before we can enjoy peace. St Paul advises us, ” . . . we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” Romans 5: 3-5). The early stages of the spiritual life emphasize obedience in outward actions. This involves both physical and spiritual struggle, and even suffering. Yet, if we persevere, we begin to discern and deal with the bad habits and passions which seduce us into sin. We learn to subject our desires, natural or unnatural, to our reason and our conscience. We open ourselves up to the Redeemer’s grace which forgives, cleanses, heals, and matures us. In the end, when our spirit has grown wise, we no longer rely on commandments and on discipline to do what is right. We no longer must compel ourselves do God’s will. Instead, God’s love so pervades our hearts and minds that our lives themselves are transformed into righteousness, continually bathed in the Savior’s grace. Then constraint is transfigured by holy joy and discipline gives way to communion and struggle yields to peace.
St Elijah and St John symbolize the beginning stages of our spiritual life. They anticipate the coming of Christ, although their stern message is hard compared to His assurance of peace. They form the transition from the early stages of the spiritual life, with its emphasis on right behavior, learning good spiritual habits and breaking the chains of the passions. They are intermediaries, reminding us that the spiritual life requires commitment and effort on our part but also recalling to us the Lord’s promise that we do not rely on our own strength but have always with us His guidance and strength, and that ultimately victory is ours because we are one with Him. Sts John and Elijah remind us that the spirit and power at work in them also moves in us, to bless us with forgiveness and to carry us to glory in Christ.
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