St. John the Baptist was the last and the greatest of the prophets. He was the one who baptized Jesus and was the son of Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin. He was beheaded and was a martyr. A large part of St. John’s life was his display in faith in trust. I would define faith in trust as the unwavering belief or confidence in the reliability, integrity, or abilities of someone or something, often without evidence. St. John the Baptist demonstrated faith as trust in God many times. One example is in Luke 1:39-45 where Mary, who is Elizabeth’s cousin, goes to the city of Judah to meet her. While St. John the Baptist was in Elizabeth’s womb, he realized that the savior Jesus Christ was in Mary’s womb. Since St. John was still in the womb and could not speak, St. John leaped and kicked in the womb in response to feeling the presence of Jesus. This is one way St. John demonstrated faith as trust. St. John knew and trusted that Jesus was going to save man and he leaped in joy because of this.

In John chapter 6, even though St. John knew it might kill him, he still told Herod to repent for his actions of adultery. Later in the chapter, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, Herod’s wife, did a seductive dance to get Herod to do something for her. Since Herod said in front of all of his guests that he would do anything Salome asked for, he could not say no when she asked for St. John’s head. Herod did not want to kill St. John because he might lose his wealth and power. That’s because the people believed in St. John and if Herod killed him, it would ruin his image. St. John the Baptist feared God and God alone. On the other hand, Herod feared losing his wealth and power. Since Herod said that he would give anything to Salome in front of all of his wealthy friends, he could not break his oath. This is a consequence of his pride. 

He had multiple chances to repent. That being, when Salome asked he could have said no, and when he sent the executioner to kill St. John, he could have said not to kill St. John the executioner. While St. John the Baptist seeks eternal joy and self-denial, Herod on the other hand seeks earthly pleasures. These pleasures are temporary. Instead of eternal joy, it is temporary joy. Just before Herod’s birthday, his brother Philip died. Even while his dead body was still warm, Herod married Herodias, Philip’s wife. Even though Herod knew that adultery was wrong, he thought that he was above everyone else and could do whatever he wanted to. This shows pride in Herod. He also built giant statues of himself, since he thought he was so mighty. While Herod is very prideful, St. John the Baptist is not. He never built statues of himself, and never thought of himself as any better than anyone else. St. John shows humility.

Another way St. John showed faith as trust was when he went into the desert for thirty years. He was preparing to preach and lead the path for Jesus Christ. This shows an immense amount of trust because if St. John did not trust Jesus, he would not have spent thirty years in the wilderness for Him. It also shows a lot of humility because no normal person would be willing to give up thirty years of their life. St. John the Baptist understood that giving up thirty years of his life to God was nothing because he could help Jesus. St. John spent those thirty years cleansing himself and becoming even more spiritually active.

In Matthew chapter 3, St. John met Jesus, who asked St. John to baptize Him. St. John the Baptist responded by saying that he was not worthy of baptizing Jesus and that it should be the other way around, Jesus baptizing him. Jesus responded by saying in order for him to fulfill all righteousness, He must be baptized. St. John did not argue and did what he was told. This shows humility.  

When St. John the Baptist left the wilderness and preached for six months, he gained a large following and had two disciples, Peter and John. In John 3:30, St. John the Baptist says, “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease.”  This shows a lot of humility because even though St. John put 30 years of his life in the wilderness and half a year preaching, he did this all for God. With this, he also told his massive number of followers and his disciples, Peter and John, to follow Jesus, the savior. 

St. John the Baptist inspires me in many ways. The main way he inspires me is to follow his steps and be like him. Even though I see Jesus as the biggest role model to me, being infinitely perfect like Him is impossible. St. John is mortal like me so I can strive to be like him. I think he is the manifestation of the virtue of humility. He shows humility throughout his life and we should all strive to be like him. 

Even though St. John the Baptist lived in a different era of the world that it is very different from today, we can still be like him. For example, instead of going into the desert for 30 years, we can do this today and on a smaller level. Since we can not abandon our family and go to the desert, we have to improvise. St. John inspires me to create a desert inside my heart, where I can be alone with God and flee from worldly pleasures and distractions.

In a simpler and more broad aspect, St. John gave us all a way to live. He indirectly teaches us to prepare for God’s judgment by doing actions that show us this. He shows us to repent for our sins, he taught us this when he told Herod to repent for committing adultery. He shows us to get baptized, he does this to many people to cleanse them, including Jesus. In conclusion, St. John the Baptist was a very humble man and we should all strive to be like him.