Christmas and John the Baptist

By Michael Griego on December 6, 2024 • ( 0 )

The Bible tells of another miraculous birth that happened at Christmastime. This one doesn’t get as much attention, but also was profoundly predicted centuries earlier. Read all about it in Luke 1. ◊

It’s interesting that we don’t really celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, but his birth is recorded in the Gospel of Luke as closely connected the birth of Jesus. Many are aware that they were cousins, born only 6 months apart and raised about 100 miles from each other.

The prophet John was the first prophet of Israel in 400 years since Malachi last spoke out in the early 5th century BC. And John, the “voice in the wilderness” mentioned by Matthew in Matthew 3:3, was the one referred to by Isaiah in the 7th century BC:

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-6)

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
John’s birth also was miraculous and was foretold in the Gospel of Luke. In Chapter 1, Luke writes a fascinating account of an incident occurring within the Temple in Jerusalem involving Zechariah, a righteous priest, advanced in years.

And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. (Luke 1:11).

Zechariah has an encounter with the angel Gabriel delivering news that he and his wife Elizabeth (also advanced in age, well past child-bearing years) will have a child they are to name John.

Though startled, Zechariah is told very specific information about this child:

When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.

He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 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.” (Luke 1:12-27)

Interesting to note that John is referred to as a person even before he was born.

Zechariah’s Mistake
Unfortunately, Zechariah expresses doubt in his reaction to the angel Gabriel.

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” (Luke 1:18)

Zechariah essentially asks for a proof point or a sign. For this lack of belief, Zechariah is immediately stricken mute, but only temporarily until the child is born 9 months later.

Six months into her pregnancy, Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth is visited by her kinswoman or cousin, young Mary, who has just had her own angelic encounter with Gabriel and told that:

“The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:15)

By the way, there is a distinction between Zechariah’s response to the news brought by the angel Gabriel and Mary’s response which comes only a few verses later.

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34)

Mary responds with a question yet still with faith, as opposed to requesting a sign or proof of prophetic legitimacy, as did Zechariah. He was like an old church elder who still doubted God in his heart of hearts. It was Mary who believed God with simple and humble honesty.

Would that we all approach God with simple and humble honesty.

God’s Will Gets Done Regardless
In spite of man’s positive or negative reactions to the manifestation and revelation of God, He still accomplishes what He wants to accomplish. In this case, Mary acquiesces obediently and retreats to the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth in the countryside of Judah for 3 months where Zechariah is living and still cannot speak. It is there that the two women have a Holy Spirit moment together with Elizabeth exclaiming:

“But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Luke 1:43-45)

Again, life is ever-present in the woman’s womb. Yes, birthing babies is serious business in God’s eyes.

The baby John is then born. After a debate about the child’s naming, Zechariah’s speech is restored when he emphatically declared on a written tablet that “His name is John.” (Luke 1:63)

Zechariah is then filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied boldly of God’s coming redemption and his child as the prophet of the Most High. (Luke 1:67-79).

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel. (Luke 1:65-80)

The Larger Christmas Story
Christmas really only makes sense when one understands the broader, larger story of Christmas. Yes, John is a contemporary of Jesus, a cousin even, born just months ahead of Him.

But beyond the tangible, what we see here in these opening chapters of Luke is God’s intervention at several levels in the affairs of man to bring about man’s restorative redemption. All component parts of the Christmas story are great and wonderful, particularly when seen and appreciated as part of the larger great and wonderful Christmas story.

Do you understand the larger Christmas story?
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And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel. – Luke 1:80