Life
Saint John the Baptist, the last of the prophets and the Forerunner of Christ, was born six months before the Lord Jesus Christ to the devout parents Zechariah and Elizabeth. Zechariah was a priest serving in the Jerusalem Temple; Elizabeth was a kinswoman of the Most Holy Theotokos. Both were advanced in years and childless until the Archangel Gabriel appeared to them and announced the joyful news that they would conceive a son who would be filled with the Holy Spirit.
While still in his mother’s womb, John leapt for joy when the Theotokos, bearing the newly-conceived Christ within her, drew near to visit Elizabeth. From his earliest childhood he lived with self-restraint and the fear of God. As a young man he withdrew into the Judean wilderness, where he spent his time in fasting, prayer, and repentance. He clothed himself in a garment of camel’s hair with a leather belt, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
When he was about thirty years old, John came forth to the Jordan River and began to preach to the people: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” He baptized people in the Jordan with a baptism of repentance, preparing them for the coming of the Messiah — and it is for this reason he bears the name “Forerunner,” the one who goes before the Lord and prepares the way.
John was called to the greatest act of his life when the Lord Jesus Christ Himself approached him and asked to be baptized. John objected, saying, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?” But Christ declared that all righteousness must be fulfilled, and John baptized Him. At that moment the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and the voice of God the Father spoke: “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”
John did not shrink even before the powerful of this earth. He rebuked King Herod Antipas for his unlawful marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife. For this fearless word he was arrested and thrown into prison. At the king’s banquet Herodias’s daughter Salome so delighted the guests with her dancing that Herod swore to grant her anything she asked. Urged on by her mother, she demanded the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Thus was this greatest of prophets beheaded as a martyr, around the year 32.
The Lord Jesus said of John: “Among those born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist.” John is the bridge between the Old and the New Testaments — the last prophet who pointed his finger at the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Church commemorates him on several feasts: the Assembly of John the Baptist (January 7, Old Calendar), his Nativity (June 24), his Beheading (August 29), and the two Findings of his head (February 24 and May 25, Old Calendar).
Tropar (Tone 2)
The memory of the righteous is celebrated with praises, but for thee, O Forerunner, the testimony of the Lord suffices. Thou wast truly proven more honorable than the prophets, for thou wast counted worthy to baptize in the streams the One Whom thou didst proclaim. Therefore, having contended for the truth with joy, thou didst proclaim even to those in Hades God Who appeared in the flesh, taking away the sin of the world and granting us great mercy.
About the Feast
Jovanjdan falls on January 20 by the New (Gregorian) calendar, corresponding to January 7 by the Julian calendar. This date comes immediately after Theophany (January 19 by the New Calendar) — the great feast of Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan. The Church has consecrated the day after Theophany to the celebration of him who baptized Christ, and the feast is therefore also called the “Assembly” (Sobor) of John the Baptist — a liturgical gathering in honor of the Forerunner.
Unlike Christmas Eve and Theophany, which are strict fast days, Jovanjdan is a feast day on which meat may be eaten. Families who celebrate this day prepare a generous slava meal with slava bread, koljivo, and all that the day permits. The priest comes to the home to bless the slava bread and offer incense.
In Serbian folk tradition Jovanjdan is considered one of the more joyful winter slava days. Being in mid-January, the feast table is warm and abundant — roast meats, lamb, stuffed cabbage, and hearty winter dishes. Guests arrive and linger, for the January days are short and it is pleasant to sit together by the fire. Many families, especially in Šumadija and central Serbia, take particular pride in this feast, for Saint John is the most venerated saint after the Theotokos and Christ Himself.