By Phoebe Farag Mikhail

I had an epiphany recently at a mom’s fellowship meeting at my church. We were reading Luke 1 together, a joyful chapter in a joyful Gospel, exciting reading for someone who has just written a book about the topic of joy. In the Coptic Orthodox Church this chapter is read over the four Sundays of the Kiahk, or Advent, season. And while its promise of the birth of Jesus Christ is the obvious reason for its joy, the first time we see this word in the chapter is not on the annunciation of Christ, but the annunciation of his forerunner – John the Baptist.

John the Baptist never struck me as a joyful character in the Gospels. We know that he is beloved of Christ, and that Jesus mourned him when he died. The Gospels depict him a lone voice, crying out in the wilderness, dressed ascetically and living even more so, on locusts and wild honey. He preaches repentance, and admonishes the people harshly, calling them a “brood of vipers.”

Yet here in Luke 1, an angel announces to Zachariah that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a son, his name would be John, “And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth” (1:14, NKJV). At first glance, the birth of a child to an elderly, barren couple in an age when infertility was unfortunately seen as shameful is cause enough for joy. This, however, can’t be the only reason the angel says this.

The last time an elderly, barren couple learned they would have a child in their old age, it came with the promise that he would be the father of many nations, whose descendants would outnumber the stars in the heavens. We don’t get this promise with John – as far as we know, he never even got married. The promise of his birth was different – it was a promise of joy and gladness, not only for Zachariah and Elizabeth. “Many will rejoice at his birth.” Many.

The next mention of “joy” in this chapter again connects with John. When Mary visits Elizabeth to serve her during her unusual pregnancy, she cries, “as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1:44). John jumps for joy at the presence of Christ in utero, giving his mother words of prophecy. It seems to me that John had been wired from conception for joy, recognizing the presence of God before he could even see.

When John becomes an adult, when he does see, all he sees are people in need of repentance, people who need to turn to God, people who need to experience joy. Zachariah prophecies this on the day John is born: “you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways” (1:76). His message of repentance is a message of getting ready for the coming of Christ – as one might get ready for a wedding, cleaning out the wedding hall, setting it in order, and adorning it with flowers, in joyous expectation of the bride and groom.

“They’re coming!” the wedding guests exclaim in eager expectation, clapping (or ululating, in the Middle East) for joy at the entrance of the newly married couple. In John’s case, his call to repentance is this same call to ready our hearts – cleaning them out, setting them in order, adorning them with beauty in eager expectation for the coming of the Bridegroom. What more joyous cry can there be than “Christ is coming”?

We know that John had followers – after his death, they followed Christ. For all his camel’s hair clothing, wild living and stern admonitions, he was an attractive force, drawing others to him. His message of repentance did not repel people – it attracted people. Meditating on this has changed my image of John as the stern, desert prophet. It has given way to a different image – a man still urgent about his message, still insistent on our attention – but urgently and exuberantly announcing a joyous coming, unable to keep it a secret.

When Christ comes to John to be baptized, a day we celebrate on the Feast of the Epiphany (for some, this feast as just past; in my church, we celebrate next week), John tries to prevent Him. “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” (Matthew 3:14). This is the same John who recognizes Christ’s presence in the womb. I can only imagine the pregnant pause, the awe in his eyes, the joy in his breath, when he saw his own Savior approaching to be baptized, the same man of whom he said, “He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry” (3:11). Still, he obeys, baptizing Him and witnessing, firsthand, the manifestation of the Lord.

From John we learn that God’s presence is joy, that repentance is joy, that obedience is joy. Many rejoiced at his birth; because of his birth still many more would find joy in Christ Himself.

It’s no surprise, then, that the Epiphany is an absolutely joyous feast in the Church, one that in Egypt, many centuries ago, gathered entire communities, both Christian and Muslim, in a procession of light all the way to the Nile waters to bless them. Children carried cored oranges with candles inside, lighting the way; paving the way as John did, in joyous anticipation of the Savior of the world.

“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17).

May we see Him as John saw Him this blessed Epiphany.

Subscribe to my email newsletter! Email subscribers get access to my free resources – the most popular are a children’s Valentine’s Day craft I created with a blog reader, Caroline Gurigis, and the Annual Reflection and Planning Printable, a tool I put together to help reflect on last year and look forward to the new year. Subscribers will also be the first to hear about the pre-order bonuses that will be available to all those who have pre-ordered my forthcoming book, Putting Joy into Practice: Seven Ways to Lift Your Spirit from the Early Church, releasing in April from Paraclete Press.

Some of the links above are affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase via those links, I will receive a small commission for referring you at no extra cost to you. You are under no obligation to purchase the items through my links, but if you do, you will be helping support the cost of running this blog and providing you with the writing and reviews you enjoy. Your support is much appreciated!