Augustine, Sermo 288 (Classis III, de Sanctis)

SERMON CCLXXXVIII. On the Birthday of John the Baptist, II. On the voice and the word.

1. The celebration of the nativity of St John. The festival of this present day, by its yearly return, renews the memory that the Lord's forerunner, before the Wonderful One, was wonderfully born; and it is most fitting for us today to consider and praise his nativity. For to this end also the anniversary day has been dedicated to this miracle, that forgetfulness may not wipe from our hearts the benefits of God and the great works of the Most High. John, then, was the herald of the Lord, sent before Him, but made through Him. For all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made. A man sent before the Man who is God, recognizing his Lord, announcing his Creator; discerning Him in mind as already present on earth, pointing Him out with his finger. For these are the words of one pointing out the Lord and bearing witness: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:3, 29). Rightly, then, a barren woman gave birth to the herald, a virgin to the Judge. In the mother of John barrenness received fruitfulness; in the mother of Christ fruitfulness did not corrupt integrity. If your patience, and quiet zeal, and attentive silence afford me the opportunity, with the Lord's help, to say what He grants me to say, there will without doubt be fruit of your attention and a reward for our zeal, in that I may convey to your ears and hearts something that pertains to a great mystery.

2. John, more than a prophet, commends Christ by casting himself down. There were Prophets before John, and

many, and great, and holy, worthy of God, full of God, forerunners announcing the Saviour; witnesses to the truth. Yet of none of them could it be said, as was said of John: Among those born of women none has arisen greater than John the Baptist (Matt. 11:11). What, then, is the meaning of this greatness sent before the Great One? It serves as a witness to great humility. For he was so great that he could have been thought to be the Christ. John could have taken advantage of men's error, and need not have laboured to persuade them that he was the Christ, since those who heard and saw him had already thought so without his saying it. He had no need to sow the error, only to confirm it. But that humble friend of the Bridegroom, zealous for the Bridegroom, not putting himself forward as an adulterer in place of the Bridegroom, bears witness to his friend, and commends to the bride Him who was truly the Bridegroom: so that He may be loved, he hates to be loved in His stead. He who has the bride, he says, is the bridegroom. And as if you were to say, What about you? But the friend of the bridegroom, he says, stands and hears him, and rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom's voice (John 3:29). He stands and hears: the disciple hears the master; because he hears, he stands; for if he does not hear, he falls. Hence the greatness of John is commended above all; because, when he could have been thought the Christ, he chose to bear witness to Christ, to commend Him; to humble himself, rather than be taken for Him and be deceived by himself. Rightly was he called more than a prophet. For of the Prophets who were before the Lord's coming the Lord Himself speaks thus: Many Prophets and righteous men wished to see what you see, and did not see it (Matt. 13:17). For those who were filled with the Spirit of God in order to announce the Christ who was to come longed, if it could be, to see Him present on earth. Hence that Simeon was kept from departing this world until he should see, born, Him through whom the world was made (Luke 2:25, 26). And he indeed saw the Word of God as an infant in the flesh: but He was not yet teaching, He had not yet taken up the part of a master, He who with the Father was already the Master of the Angels. Simeon, then, saw Him, but as an infant: John, however, saw Him already preaching, already choosing disciples. Where? At the river Jordan. For from there Christ's teaching began. There the Baptism of Christ that was to come was commended: for a baptism was received that went before, preparing the way and saying, Prepare the way for the Lord, make His paths straight (Matt. 3:3). For the Lord willed to be baptized by a servant, so that they might see what those receive who are baptized by the Lord. He began, then, from the place where prophecy had fittingly gone before: He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the circle of the earth (Ps. 71:8). At that very river, from which Christ began to have dominion, John saw Christ, recognized Him, bore witness. He humbled himself before the Great One, that the humble man might be exalted by the Great One. And he called himself the friend of the Bridegroom: and what kind of friend? an equal, perhaps? Far from it: far below. How far? I am not worthy, he says, to loose the strap of His sandal (Mark 1:7). This prophet, nay more than a prophet, was found worthy to be foretold by a prophet. For of him Isaiah said, as has been read to us today, « The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and