St John’s Festival 24 June 2012

As we contemplate John the Baptist’s birthday on June 24 it is helpful to read what is recorded in the Bible about him.

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” Mt 3:1-6

The first question to ask is why Judea? We find the answer in the meaning of the name Judea. Judea means ‘praise Jehovah’ and Jehovah is the god who held our I Am for us until we were able to receive it into our selves. Many things become clear if we think about this while reading about Jehovah in the Old Testament. One of the first things that we realise is that by praising Jehovah we praise the human being. In fact we praise ourselves for what we will become when we take our I Am into ourselves and use it as God intended.

How are we to come to a point of valuing ourselves rightly in a world that warns us about overestimating our self-importance? As children we are taught that the other person is more important and that we should not be selfish. In fact any child who thinks that they are important is often bullied. So then we under-value ourselves which plays right into the hands of the anti-forces. To rightly value ourselves is to be in Judea. We praise Jehovah because we praise our own I Am which we will gradually integrate into ourselves and become gods. Furthermore we will hold in highest esteem each and every human being because they too are becoming gods. Without the work of John the Baptist this would not be possible.