The angel Gabriel told Zechariah what a unique child God was sending him and his wife. “‘He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord...He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.’” Luke 1:14 & part of 15
God not only gave special credentials to Jesus so we could recognize Him, but He also gave some special credentials to Jesus’ forerunner, John the Baptist. There was an older couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth who had no children. They were a devout couple who loved God and kept His commandments.
Zechariah was a priest. There were many priests available to serve at the temple, so they served on a rotation basis. They drew lots for their particular service. At the time of our story, Zechariah had drawn the lot that gave him the privilege of burning incense at the altar of incense before the holy of holies. A priest was allowed this privilege only once, and many never drew the lot at all, so this was an extremely important day for Zechariah.
When Zechariah went in to burn the incense, the group of worshipers were praying outside. The people were waiting for Zechariah to come out and wondered why he was staying in the temple so long.
The angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah. Gabriel told Zechariah that he and Elizabeth would have a son who was to be named John. He added, “He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Zechariah asked the angel how he could be sure this would happen since he and Elizabeth were old. Gabriel told Zechariah that, because he did not believe him, Zechariah would not be able to speak a word until the baby came. God rebuked Zechariah’s unbelief by this sign.
When Zechariah came out of the temple, he could only gesture, but the people realized something supernatural had happened to him. Shortly afterward, Elizabeth became pregnant. When the baby was born, Zechariah and Elizabeth’s friends and relatives wanted them to name the baby Zechariah after his father, but Elizabeth said, “No! He is to be called John.” (Luke 1:60) They said you don’t have any relatives named John. Then they asked Zechariah what he wanted to name the baby, and Zechariah wrote, “His name is John.” At that, Zechariah was able to speak again.
John fulfilled a prophecy in the Old Testament, Malachi 4:5-6a that says, “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents…” Jesus Himself said that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of that prophecy in Malachi. In Matthew 11:14, we read Jesus’ words about John, “And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.” John prepared the Israelites spiritually for the coming Messiah by calling on people to repent of their sins and change their lives.
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