Archive for category: Fasts

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church celebrates the Entrance of Saint Mary into the Temple at Jerusalem on Tahisas 3 (December 12) as one of the thirty three feasts of St. Mary in the year. The Feast recognized in the Ethiopian Church as “Be’ata” in Ge’ez language to mean “her entry” to the Temple.

The entrance of our holy Lady the Virgin, Saint Mary into the Temple took place when she was three years old, for she was dedicated to God. Her mother, Hannah, was childless. The women who were in the Temple kept themselves away from her, and she was exceedingly sorry about this and Joachim her husband was an old man.   

 Hannah prayed to God fervently and with a repentant heart saying, "If You give me a fruit, I will devote the child to Your Holy Temple." God answered her prayers and she brought forth this pure saint and called her Mary. She reared her for three years, after which she took her in to the Temple and given to the chief priest of the time, Zacharias to live with the virgins in the Temple. 

At this time, the chief priest Zacharias received her and thought critically what to do in respect of her sustenance so that he gathered the priests to talk about her sustenance.   At a moment the archangel Phanuel appeared to them descending on the space holding of heavenly foods. Then, Zacharias and other priests being prepared one after another to partake the food from the angle supposed as it was to them but the angle ascended back and has not approached to one of them. Later on, when the Child had left alone, the angle descended and fed her covering of his wings.  

Then, she received her sustenance from the hands of the angels, until the time when our Lord Christ came into the world, and was incarnated through her, the elect of all women. Saint Mary dwelt in the sanctuary for 12 years learning the doctrines, commandments and sacred rites.When she had completed 12 years in the sanctuary, the priests took counsel together concerning her, because at this age, they believed that she reached puberty, so that she had to depart from the temple. So that they might entrust her to someone who would protect her, for she was consecrated to God and they were not allowed to keep her in the temple after this age.

Then, Zachariah prayed to God concerning Mary. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said, “Zachariah, go forth and gather together all the men and old men, and take their staffs, and write the name of each man upon his staff. Then gather together all the staffs into the Sanctuary, and pray to God; and after this go forth and give unto each man his staff. And the man on whose staff the Lord God shall make a sign to appear is he who is worthy that Mary shall be given unto him to protect.”

 

The Fast of the Prophets begins every year on Hidar 15 (November 25) and ends on Christmas Eve 29th of Tahsas (January 08) while in the evangelical year of John (it rotates in a four-year cycle) ends on Christmas Eve 28th of Tahisas (January 09).

It is one of the seven canonically acknowledged fasts of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church kept by the faithful. The Orthodox Church has observed the Feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ with 43 days fast in preparation for the feast.  The fast is known by different names but it has been recognized officially as the Fast of the Prophets because the prophecy about the coming of Christ was fulfilled.  Sometimes it is called Yelidet Tsome or Christmas Fast because Christ was born at the end of the fast.

The Church, recognized the necessity for her children to “chastise the body and bring it under subjection”, as St. Paul advises. The body is ever striving for mastery over the spirit; besides the external sources of temptation, “the world”, we have always another source with us which are a part of our nature. This is the reason for mortification. Self denial is in lawful things enables us to turn with great earnestness to spiritual things.

Fasting is not only prayer and abstinence from eating meat, fat, eggs and dairy products  neither are it only to abstain until Noon or 9:00 local time (3 PM). The practice of fasting is not regarded as an end in itself, as something having intrinsic value, but only as a means, as a necessary condition for the spiritual life. When we fast we should also refrain from all wrongdoings, and evil things such as vanity, violence, jealousy, hatred, and all works of Satan. 

Rather, it is a time of confession and it should be done with the object of seeking to know God in a deeper prayer, charity, alms given to the poor and the needy, and gifts brought to the church, without these charities fasting could not be complete.  

Adoration, thanksgiving, supplication, sorrow, joys and triumph are found in the zema (tone) of church music (Aymero W and Joachim M.(ed), 1970). The notable features of Ethiopian Orthodox church music which is used for day to day church services in different modes of tones include: Zema, Akuakuam, Ge’ez poems (Qine), zemmarie and Mewas’et.  

All these church services are coined and prepared by indigenous Ethiopian church scholars, who have investigated scriptural commentaries along with their mysteries accompanied with melodic chants. Among the few Ethiopian church scholars are: 

• St Yared – the 5th century composer of the hymn of the Ethiopian church; 
• Abba Giyorgis of Zegasicha – a distinguished 15th century scholar and composer of Se’atat (the Horologium) 
• Abba Tsigie Dingil who was an intimate friend and contemporary of Abba Giorgis of Zegasicha; he also authored and composed ‘Mahilete Tsigie’ which is purely incredible Ethiopic work as St Ephraim and St Hiriaqos wrote St Mary’s praise and liturgy respectively. 

  “Mahilete Tsigie”, literally meaning ‘the chant of the flower’, is a collection of compositions which primarily focuses on the flight of the Holy Family and their hardship in the wilderness of Egypt. The work is used for church services throughout the season starting from Meskerem 26 up to Hidar 5 E.C (October 6 – November 14 G.C), and particularly on Sundays within the period. During this season, the earth blooms flowers and the crops of the grain harvest becomes ripened. 

The work is about 150 poetic compositions consisting of numerous stanzas mostly with five and rarely six verses. These strophes of hymns are composed in memory of the hardship of the Holy Family, using fruit and flower as metaphorical symbols to describe Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Mother St Mary, respectively, just as Isaiah the Prophet did: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” (Isaiah 11:1).  Due to the above stated reasons, this liturgical work named as Mahilete Tsigie (the chant of the flower). 

Though “Mahilete Tsigie” is mostly used for prayers and teaching believers, as Deacon Yaregal Abegaz analyzed in an article (Hammer Magazine No.3 &4, 1993 E.C), it also consists of multiple historical, cultural and scriptural mysteries.

During Zemene Tsigie (the commemorative season of the flight of the Holy Family), some selected compositions from “Mahilete Tsigie” are sung in each overnight service in a seven year cycle. Of these compositions, two are sung every Sunday and monthly feasts throughout the circular system of services:

A. እንዘ ተሐቅፊዮ ለሕፃንኪ ጽጌ ፀዓዳ ወቀይሕ፣

አመ ቤተ መቅደስ ቦእኪ በዕለተ ተአምር ወንጽሕ፣

ንዒ ርግብየ ትናዝዝኒ እምላህ ፡፡

ወንዒ ሠናይትየ ምስለ ገብረኤል ፍሡሕ፣

ወሚካኤል ከማኪ ርኅሩኅ፡፡

The notion of the poem might be recapped as follows: 

Oh my dove (symbolic representation for St. Mary), 

Please come here to alleviate me from sadness embracing of your child, the lovely. 

And also you shall come with the blissful angle, Gebrial and the merciful angle, Michael.

B. ክበበ ጌራ ወርቅ ጽሩይ እምዕንቈ ባሕርይ ዘየሐቱ፣

ዘተጽሕፈ ብኪ ትእምርተ ስሙ ወተዝካረ ሞቱ፣

አክሊለ ጽጌ ማርያም ለጊዮርጊስ ቀጸላ መንግሥቱ ፣

አንቲ ኵሎ ታሰግዲ ሎቱ፣

ወለኪኒ ይሰግድ ውእቱ፡፡

The above composition describes the help of St Mary to St George, being the glory of his crown during his struggle with nonbeliever kings, which finally made him victorious over all saw his enemies kneel down to him through St Mary’s aid. The verse symbolizes St Mary with the spotless crown of remedy which is purer than the precious stone, and the crown of the flower.    

The other poetic composition which is used for this season next to “Mahilete Tsigie” is known as “Seqoqawe Dingil” which literally means the lamentation of the Virgin. It consists of about 55 poetic compositions with five and sometimes with six verses. Seqoqawe Dingil describes the sufferings, lamentation, sorrow and trouble of the Holy Family with greater depth and intensity.    

Source:

• Deacon Yaregal Abegaz, 1993 E.C. in (Hammer Magazine No.3 & 4), monthly Magazine published by Mahibere Kidusan.

• The book of “Mahilete Tsigie”.

• Aymero W and Joachim M. (edited), 1970.The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, published by the Ethiopian Orthodox mission, Addis Ababa. (http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/church/music.html)

In their daily prayer, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church believers recite, on the veneration of the holy cross, the following words: “እሰግድ ለመስቀለ እግዚእነ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ዘተቀደሰ በደሙ ክቡር። መስቀል ኃይልነ፣ መስቀል ጽንዕነ፣ መስቀል ቤዛነ፣ መስቀል መድኃኒተ ነፍስነ። አይሁድ ክሕዱ ንሕነሰ አመነ ወእለ አመነ በኃይለ መስቀሉ ድኅነ” …

I prostrate to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ which is sanctified by His Holy Blood. The cross is our power; the cross is our strength; the cross is our ransom, (and) the cross is the salvation for our soul. The Jews denied, but we (Christians) believe, and we who believe are saved by the power of the cross.” (ተስፋ ገብረ ሥላሴ 1992፡5) 

The word “cross”, in the Amharic version which includes the 27 books*, is repeated for more than 28 times; more than 12 of those are mentioned in the Pauline epistles. This gives us very crucial clue that the teaching of the cross got emphasis not only on the liturgical life of the church but also in the Holy Scripture. When we regard the Pauline understanding of the cross, it is clear that he was proud to mention the importance of the cross for the salvation of the world for on it was the death of humanity crucified with Christ (1Cor1:17f, Eph2:16, Col1:19f). This made him boastfully say, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal 6:14).

As mentioned earlier, the cross has a remarkable place in the lives of Ethiopian Christians. In addition to using the holy cross and its sign in every spiritual performance or service, all believers, from the patriarch to the laity, hallow themselves making the sign of the cross with their hands when they wake up and sleep, when they start and finish their daily personal and communal activities. They display a sign of a cross on their body parts, especially on the forehead, the neck and the hands. They also adorn their traditional clothes and other properties with signs of the cross. Most of them also have jewelries designed in a shape of a cross, or at least contain a cross- shaped part. What is the reason behind?

The reason for their cross-related life could not be other than their belief on the power of the cross revealed to us from the very beginning. According to the tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, after the ascension of Christ, the cross on which our Lord Jesus was crucified performed impressive miracles. Then, the Jews jealously buried it and declared an order to all Israelites to put their house garbage on the site. Over a period of nearly 300 years, the place was turned into a man-made mountain. But the story of the cross did not stop with its burial, and led to its miraculous discovery by Queen Helena, the mother of the great emperor Constantine. (አባ ጎርጎርዮስ 1986፡120) 

It is the power of the cross and its miraculous discovery that makes believers regard the cross as their Ransom and Savior and utter in their prayers “the cross is our power, the cross is our strength, the cross is our ransom, and the cross is the savior of our soul.”

The prominent 15th century Ethiopian church scholar Aba Giorgis of Gascha, in his well known book of periodic prayer and hymn (ሰዓታት se‟atat), showed the magnificence of the holy cross saying:
ጸልዩ ቅድመ መስቀል ኵልክሙ መሃይምናን እንዘ ትእህዝዎ በየማን ወትክህድዎ ለሰይጣን እስመ ተቀደሰ በደመ ክርስቶስ መድኅን ለክብረ ዝንቱ መስቀል ክርስቶሳውያን ንስግድ በፍርሃት ወበረዓድ፣ ኪያሁ ፈጣሪ ህላዌ ወልድ፣ እስመ ቀደሶ በደሙ ወአኮ  በደመ ባዕድ… በበትረ ዝንቱ መስቀል ሐዋርያቲሁ ለዘሞተ እንዘ ይገብሩ መንክራተ ሰደዱ አጋንንተ ወሰበሩ ጣዖታተ በእንተ ዝንቱ አዘዙ መምህራነ ቅዱስ  ወንጌል አምሳለ ፈጣሪ ልዐል  ንስግድ ለመስቀል  ወለማርያም ድንግል። ለማርያምሰ ዘንሰግድ ላቲ እስመ ነሥአ ሥጋ እምሥጋሃ እግዚአብሔር ፈጣሪሃ ወረከብነ ንሕነ መድኃኒተ እምኔሃ፣ ወለመስቀልሂ ከመ ተናገርነ ቅድመ በላዕሌሁ አንጠብጠበ ደመ ቃል ኢሐማሚ  በባሕርየ  ሥጋ ወሐመ፣ ለእሉ ክልኤቱ ፍጡራን ስብሐተ ፈጣሪ ይደልዎሙ እስመ ተዓረዩ በክብሮሙ::

Pray in front of the cross, you all the believers, holding it with your right hand and denying Satan, for it (the cross) was hallowed by the blood of Christ the savior.

To venerate this cross, we all Christians shall prostrate in fear and wobbly, for He the creator (and) the existent Son consecrated it of His blood not of a blood of an alien. … Through the rod of this cross, the apostles of the One died (on the cross), doing miracles, casted out demons, and destroyed idols. Thus, for this reason, the messengers of the holy gospel ordered resembling creator the almighty, to prostrate to the cross and Mary the virgin. The reason why we bow to Mary is that God her creator assumed the flesh from her flesh and we gained salvation from her; and to the cross, as we stated before, the blood of the Word, non suffering but suffered in flesh, dropped over it. These two creatures (the cross and Mary), for they resemble in glory, are worthy of glory (veneration). (ገብረ ሥላሴ ብርሃኑ 2000፡533-536)

In the above traditionally significant composition of the church, the place of the holy cross in the heart of the believers is very wide. It is never missed in the hands of the bishops and priests, hanged up over the neck of the servants and the majority of the laity in different sizes, kissed by all, or totally loved and venerated throughout the orthodox Christendom.

The concept of salvation through ransom-ship is theologically understood as a giving of one’s life for others and saving them. In this regard, the only ransom and savior of Adam and his descendants is the one who said in His own words, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep” (Jn10:13) and “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn15:12). The Caiaphas also witnessed as a prophecy that “one man should die for the people” (Jn18:14). This was considered by different fathers of the church as a prophecy of the anti- prophecy priest.

But in the mind of the Ethiopian church scholars, the labor of ransom-ship then salvation is also endowed to the holy cross. In addition to the eternal salvation, the miraculous healing of the flesh is also considered as salvation. This, however, is more scriptural. When Daniel the prophet says “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me” (Dan 6:22), he is not talking other than his flesh saved from the teeth of the hungry lions.

Ethiopian Orthodox Christians venerate the holy cross because it saves them in their every day temptations. When they show the sign of a cross, with their hands or with a wood-cross or metal- cross, they create demons-free environment and be saved of evil. Hence they call the cross ‘a ransom and a savior’.

The other reason, which has to get theological focus, is that the cross is seen as a symbol of Christ. When Christ died on the cross, He made a sign of a cross and hallowed the whole world, east to west and north to south with no discrimination, stretching His hands right to left and His whole body head to toe. Conceptually, thus, when we talk or write about the ransoming and the saving cross, we are talking or writing about the crucified Christ. That is why we mention the cross when we say ‘the crucified Jesus is our savior’. 
Among Ethiopian church fathers, St. Yared laid the theological foundation for the significance of the holy cross both as a savior and a symbol of a savior. This 6th century hymnologist and writer of the church gave a very great honor to the holy cross and venerated it. The church honors and venerates with him, being equipped with his hymn and sung on the third Sunday of the Ethiopian year, saying, “በመስቀሉ አርኃወ ገነተ በመስቀሉ ገብረ መድኃኒተ ሰደደ አጋንንተ እመስቀሉ ወሪዶ ቤዘወነ ወሠርዓ ሰንበተ ለዕረፍት” Through His cross, [He] opened the Paradise; through His cross, [He] made salvation [and  He]  chased  away  the  demons;  descended  from  His  Cross,  He  redeemed us,  and established the Sabbath  for  us to rest on it”  (Duggua  Ze-yohannes 1987),  መጽሐፈ ዚቅ ወመዝሙር —pp. 5)

He also made a very important connection between Christ and the cross in the following Sunday’s hymn of the cross bestowing the ransom-ship and saving work to the holy cross: “ንሕነ ነአምን ረድኤተ ወኃይለ ዝንቱ ውእቱ መስቀል ፅንዕነ ቤዛነ በማዕከለ ፀር ዝንቱ ውእቱ መስቀል ኃይልነ ወጸወንነ ወሞገስነ ዝንቱ ውእቱ መስቀል”  We believe the aid and power [to be made through the Cross]; this is the Cross, our strength in the midst of enemy; this is the Cross, our power and cage and our grace; this is the Cross” (Duggua Ze-yohans (1987)፣ መጽሐፈ  ዚቅ  ወመዝሙር፣ —pp. 4).
 
The renowned 5th century teacher, St. John Chrysostom, agrees with the Ethiopian singer in his words “the Cross is a great good, the armor of salvation, a shield which cannot be beaten down, a weapon to oppose the devil” (St. John Chrysostom (Schaff Philip (1819-1893) (Editor)), On the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Philippians (NPNF1-13) Homily XIII, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, pp381). Its goodness here is not of only the past, but of the future too; being a shield to defend and a weapon to attack the enemy of salvation, and made salvation true.

These all made the Ethiopian Orthodox church celebrate the feast of the finding of the true cross with great pride. She uses the cross to bless her children and the holy instruments, she applies the cross to defend her enemies, she equips her children with the holy cross, the sign of victory, that they defeat the earthly life and enjoy the heavenly one. As an armor  of  victory  and  saddle  of  the  eternal  kingdom,  the church needs to use the cross to triumph over death and evil as Christ her head used the ransoming and saving cross to nail and blot out the handwriting of ordinance against us (Col2:14). 

I hope we will conquer all our weaknesses and be strong that we inherit the heavenly kingdom with the help of the victorious cross. I glorify the three with the concluding manifestation of my fathers and I urge all to do the same: “ስብሐት ለእግዚአብሔር ኪያነ ዘፈጠረ ከመ ናምልኮ፣ ስብሐት ለማርያም እመ አምላክ እግዝእትነ ወመድኃኒትነ፣ ስብሐት ለመስቀለ ክርስቶስ እፀ መድኃኒት ኃይልነ ወጸወንነ።” Glory be to God, Who created us that we worship Him; glory be to Mary, the mother of God our Lady and our savior, glory be to the cross of [our Lord Jesus] Christ, the tree of life, our strength and embracement”; Amen.
Footnote 
* In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church tradition and canon, the New Testament comprises 35 books including 8 books of orders (Tensae Publishing House (1996), The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Faith, Order of Worship and Ecumenical Relations, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, p45-47. 

Sources:  

• Holy Bible, King James Version .
• St. John Chrysostom (Schaff Philip (1819-1893) (Editor)),  On  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  the  Apostle to  the Philippians (NPNF1-13) Homily XIII, Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal LibraryTensae Publishing House (1996).
• The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Faith, Order of Worship and Ecumenical Relations, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia www.facebook.com (for the images).
• መጽሐፍ ቅደስ፣ የብሉይና የአዱስ ኪዲን መጻሕፍት፣ 1962 ዓ/ም፡፡
• ተስፋ ገብረ ሥላሴ (1992)፣ ጸሎት ዘዘወትር፣ ውዲሴ ማርያም፣ አንቀጸ ብርሃን ምስለ ይዌድስዋ መላእክት፣ ተስፋ ማተሚያ ቤት አባ ጎርጎርዮስ (1986)፣ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተክርስቲያን ታሪክ ሁለተኛ እትም፣ አዱስ አበባ፡፡
• ገብረ ሥላሴ ብርሃኑ (2000)፣ መጽሐፈ ሰዓታት ከነምልክቱ ምስለ ኵሉ ጸዋትዊሁ ወባሕረ ሐሳብ፣ አዱስ አበባ፣ ኢትዮጵያ ትንሣኤ አሣታሚ ድርጅት(1987)፣ መጽሐፈ ዚቅ ወመዝሙር፣ አዱስ አበባ፡፡

Nobody may have any question on who St. John the Baptist is and what he did, and by what and how he is remembered, but, the contributor of this article enlighten on the significance of John-newness symbolism. Wishing all the readers of this article a HAPPY NEW ETHIOPIAN YEAR, let him take you to his contemplation on the era of St. John the Baptist, the “Divinity baptizer”, as an era and a day of newness; new era, new life, new happening, or totally an era of newness!

Newness as a nature of Incomprehensibility

In the mankind’s chronic time, man may know much more new events but almost all of them, except one to the writer’s mind, get old. You readers, don’t you believe that the Old Testament was NEW at the time of Moses? But the writer believes it should though for us, the people of the New Era, now is no more new for we now possess the ever New Testament that never ages! When it was created, the land was, with no doubt, very new, but now it is aged and needs newness; plants were created new though they, even the ever green, always need and wait a time of newness. 

Animals, with no exception to humanity, similarly get old through time miraculously. The moon and the stars too very dramatically change through time between new age and old age. What about the sun, the source of all powers? Let the writer leave a room here for the newness of the sun. Newness, according to his understanding, is her nature. This can be reasoned out that it is not as such comprehensible. Please, let and allow him again say that newness is the expression or the nature of incomprehensibility.

This understanding of the writer is shared with the lamenting Jeremiah, for he addressed in his lamentations that God is always new. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lam3:22-23). This is to make clear the relation between newness and incomprehensibility, the contributor of this article brings to you merging both the account of the eschatological life in the tradition of our church and the teaching of St. Paul the Apostle. 

The life in the eschatone is a new life that never ages and is very incomprehensible, i.e. an incomprehensible and an ever new life (1Cor2:9). The righteous people who are going to inherit the new life, according to Paul, will also comprehend others through the spirit but are incomprehensible to others (1Cor2:15). God, please grant us such a life to Your poor servants, that we will comprehend what is newness in our experience like the righteous, not only in our words as this writer is trying today.
St. John the baptizer: a sign of Newness

Oh John! The writer prays unto the Divinity you were invited to baptize and urge your help to share your experience of your era with him, and let him experience in mind what you have experienced not only with mind, like this poor writer, but in presence too.

What a blessed era was and is the era of the new John!? A new era and an era of newness! An era in which the One Who makes all, through the creation to the eschatone, new and the One never ages entered into the aged man’s history and established a history, which is ever new and a sign of newness. (ውዳሴ ማርያም  ቅዱስ ኤፍሬም የደረሰውን ባቡና ትርጓሜው፣ 1915፣ ገ ጽ 89)

The new John, saw and experience new events, so that we can see him as a sign of newness. He is the man who worshipped God and venerated the ever Virgin while he was in his mother’s womb, the primary home of mankind except to the first two, Adam and Eve. This is still felt new by all the believers of the content and expression of the Holy Scripture. No one can comprehend the event and its performance but anybody feels it through the Lucian record.

In his era God became man. The most new event in the history of humanity, a new event and an expression of newness, is the incarnation. Anybody can admire but cannot comprehend incarnation. He is also the ever man who baptized His creator and ever named “Divinity Baptizer”. The writer is in a position now to go through some important points to clarify how John the Baptist can be seen as a sign of newness?

a) The prophets foretold about his being of a sign of newness
Prophet Isaiah is among the prominent prophets who clearly put the new era in which the virgin gives birth to Immanuel (Isa7:14), and her child is The mighty God and The everlasting father (Isa9:6). Concerning the way preparer too, Luke the evangelist conveyed to us the following account words of Isaiah:

And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. (Luk3:3-6)

Isaiah the prophet, as for the gospel narrator, seem not said the above words, but put them to be proclaimed by another man, and he is John the way preparer. In the narration, the filling of the valley, the lowering of mountains and hills, the straightening of the crooked, and the smoothening of the rough are purposefully for “all the flesh to see the salvation of God”. No very other new can any man find other than the salvation of “all flesh”. The one who proclaims this salvation being a way preparer for the Savior is John and it is true if the writer named him “a sign of newness”.

b) The angle Gabriel put John as a sign of newness
St. Gabriel, when he was sent to the holy Virgin Mary for a very new tiding, told her about the conception of the little John in a womb of unexpected old woman, Elizabeth. The intention of the angel was to convince Mary to give a room for the mightiness of God and to accept his tidings.

Nevertheless, he used the conception of Elizabeth to John as divine benchmark that God can be conceived of a virgin. How essential was in the mind of the angle to use the six month fetus, the womb dweller John, as a sign of newness, ever new event, to be effected in the womb of the ever virgin Mary! If the angel used John as a symbol of newness, the writer is so confident to see the baptizer today a sign of newness.

c) His father, Zacharias saw him as a sign of newness
His old and priest father prophesized about him, on his circumcision day and just after his mouth opened and his tongue loosed, that he is the “way preparer” for the expected messiah: “and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God” (Luk1:76). 

The miraculous episode, the opening of the mouth of Zacharias that was closed for about ten months, convinced not only the writer of this article but also the multitude who were gathered for the ceremony of John’s circumcision to see St. John as a sign of newness and say with in their hearts “What manner of child shall this be” (Luk1:66). The multitude could never comprehend him but amazed of him, and thus he symbolizes newness.

d) His life is a sign of newness
He was conceived by the tidings of an angel six months before the incarnation, the assumption God the Word the flesh of Mary. And the same angel, when he visited the virgin, made a call of John’s conception to exemplify the Mightiness of God to be conceived in the womb of the virgin. “And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luk1:36f). To be a symbol for God’s incarnation is not less that to be a sign for newness!

He grew up in the wilderness as a new man being a sign of newness. This life of purity and godliness made him visit the nearby places about the river Jordan, where new life of baptism started, proclaiming a new life; life of purity and fruitfulness through penitence that the people of Israel gathered to be baptized for the remission of their sins.

The most fundamental sign of the new era in relation the life of John is his accepting his Lord as baptizing. As the gospel account assures, Jesus came into John to be baptized. “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him” (Matt3:13-15). But in the tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the account adds the following Conversation between Christ and John:

[ዮሐንስ] ስመ አብ ብከ ወስመ ወልድ ለሊከ ወስመ መንፈስ ቅደስ ህልው ውስቴትከ ባዕደ አጠምቅ በስምከ ወበስመ
መኑ አጠምቅ ኪያከ አለው፣ [ክርስቶስም መልሶ] ወልዱ ለቡሩክ ከሣቴ ብርሃን ተሣሃለነ:: አንተ ካህኑ ለዓለም በከመ
ሢመቱ ለመልከ ጼዳቅ:: ብለህ አጥምቀኝ” አለው፤ ከዚህ በኋላ ተያይዘው ወደ ባሕር ወርደዋል።

[John said] You possess the name of the Father, and the name of the Son is Yours, and the name of the Holy Spirit exists in You; I baptize a stranger in Your name; but, in whose name shall I baptize You? [And Christ replied] You baptize me saying, Thou the son of the Blessed, the One Who reveals the light, have mercy upon us; Thou are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. (ወንጌል ቅደስ ዘእግዚእነ ወመዴኃኒነ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ንባቡና ትርጓሜው፣ 1997፣ ገጽ 70)

This new phenomenon of baptism of the incarnated Divine Word is enough to see John as a sign of newness, for he baptized the Divine incarnated Word and became the witness of the eternal but very newly revealed truth of the Trinity; the Son in the river receiving baptism, the Father in the clouds witnessing about His eternal and beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit over the head of the Son like a white dove.

To be continue… part – 2

Source:
• Holy Bible, King James Version
• መጽሐፍ ቅደስ፣ የብሉይና የአዱስ ኪዲን መጻሕፍት፣ 1962 ዓ/ም
• ወንጌል ቅደስ ዘእግዚእነ ወመዴኃኒነ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ንባቡና ትርጓሜው፣ 1997፣ ትንሣኤ ዘጉባኤ ማተሚያ ቤት፣ አዱስ
አበባ
• ውዳሴ ማርያም ቅዱስ ኤፍሬምየ ደረሰውን ባቡና ትርጓሜው፣ 1915፣ በኢትዮጵያ መንግሥት አልጋ ወራሽ ራስ ተፈሪ ማተሚያ፣ አዲስ
አበባ