The Birth Of John The Baptist
THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
LUKE 1:57-80
Do our prayers and worship sometimes seem to be only concerned with ourselves and not really to be turned toward God?
John means “God’s gift” or “God is gracious,” and marks the humble thanks of a devoted couple for the privilege of bringing life into the world. A simple faith deepens joy and makes all living significant. Man loses the finer facets of his mind when he thinks of his life as aimless, as meaningless beyond his narrow span of years, and his actions as without responsibility to God.
After the Virgin’s hymn comes that of the priest, rich in his pondering over the great prophecies of his race, and solemn with the cadences and poetry of the Old Testament. Take a reference Bible, and follow word by word back into the Hebrew Scriptures the thoughts and phraseology of Zechariah’s song of worship and of praise. Rich dependence on Scripture is the mark of a good hymn, and the analysis of this priestly poem might conclude with some consideration of what hymns in our own collections best conform to the lofty standards set in the chapter.
Zechariah had high ambitions for his son, but they were interwoven with his zeal for God. With the old oracle of Malachi 4:5 in view, the good priest understood that his son was the forerunner of the Messiah. He probably understood as little as his son did after him the true nature of the Messiah’s ministry. Consider soberly this thought. A full, clear understanding of what God is doing or outworking in life and duty is not necessary for the faithful prosecution of the task laid upon his servants. He always does “exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think”; his ways (“plans,” Moffatt translates it) are always infinitely above ours (Isaiah 55:9). How inevitable it is that finite and time-bound humans should be baffled by the thoughts and purposes of infinite wisdom, and how necessary that humility, which follows step by step, and does immediately what lies ready to do, should be the quality most needed.
John, the chapter concludes, was “in the deserts” until his tremendous ministry began. The Qumran community by the Dead Sea was one only of many such groups which were at home in the wilderness (eg Isaiah 40:3; Hebrews 11:9), and John undoubtedly owed much to the “Protestants of the Wilderness.” Whether he knew Qumran, and drew his knowledge of Isaiah from the actual scroll which reposes in the Hebrew Shrine of the Scrolls, and has been seen in a number of centers in the West, is an interesting speculation.