"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."
I always thought that the words in this passage were the first things that Zacharias said after he wrote the words, “His Name is John.” But that's not true. The Scriptures say that Zacharias praised God and gave Him the Glory, and then, afterwards, he made this prophecy concerning his son John. By the time John was born, Zacharias must have fully realized what the cost would be, and the immense responsibility he would have in raising his own “miracle baby”. (Remember, Elizabeth, Zacharias' wife, was old and unable to have children prior to this.) His baby, John, was to be the forerunner to Jesus, the one crying in the desert, “Make straight the paths for the Lord.” So Zacharias knew that Christ was to be born at this time also.
God promised, from the very beginning, that if we will follow Him and serve Him, then He will deliver us from our enemies and all who hate us. But the Bible says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.”—so if we are sinners, then we cannot serve God because He is without sin, and sin can have nothing to do with Him. Even in Zacharias' day, the people had to sacrifice a lamb in order to atone for sin, however, Zacharias realized that God had promised something more. Jesus had been sent to die for our sins, and then rise to new life, thus triumphing over the power of sin—something the Old Testament animal sacrifices could never do. Zacharias did not live long enough to physically see this day. However, once Jesus died, and was then risen from the dead, He took away the guilt of sin, so that all who believe on Him (including us) and repent of their sins, will be born again, and will have victory over sin. We can now definitely serve Him without fear!
Thus, John was sent by God to be the precursor to Jesus. He was to go before Jesus, and proclaim Jesus as the Christ. John exhorted the people to repent and be baptized, for the day of the Lord is at hand. Jesus proclaimed that whoever would believe that He is the Christ, and would repent, would be free from sin. So, if we will believe in Jesus, and repent of our sins, He will take our old sin nature, and give us a new nature—one that is free from sin and completely devoted to Him. Now the Scriptures are fulfilled, we can follow and serve Him, and He will deliver us from our enemies!
~ Jason A. Frantz
