I sort of skipped right over John the Baptist in my earlier posts. He was a very significant person in Jesus' life.
His birth was also a miracle. His parents were very old, and, unlike Mary, when his father, Zechariah was told that his wife, Elizabeth, who was barren, would bear a son in her old age he doubted the angel. For that slip, he was made mute until John was born.
Luke 1:13-19 tells us:
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
Zechariah was told, as is recorded in that chapter that he would turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord. We know he was the forerunner! The Isaiah 40:3 Old Testament passage is directly related to his ministry of preparing the way for the Messiah to be revealed to the people.
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
John was a remarkable man. He was called to be the one who would announce the Messiah - but he quickly deferred to Jesus once Jesus was announced. And- talking about John's ministry is getting way ahead of the story. We will pop back in for more of his story another day, but for today I wanted to share the prophecy related to him.
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