...for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
He will drink neither wine nor strong drink.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb,
and he will turn many of the children of Israel
to the Lord their God.
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah
to turn the hearts of fathers toward children
and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous,
to prepare a people fit for the Lord."
Introducing Saint John the Baptist, Saint Luke describes the mission of a prophet: to prepare a people fit for the Lord. Jesus will undertake the same ministry, pushing it far beyond Saint John's limited work and finally completing it.
Saint John will be prepared by strict controls on his life from the day of his birth: "he will drink neither wine nor strong drink." Like the legendary Judge Samson, "...the boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb, until the day of his death.’”
Jesus will also be consecrated to God from the day of his conception, but he will enjoy the freedom of God's children. His hair will be cut; his food and clothing, standard fare.
Every anointed of God must be invested with the Holy Spirit, whether they are priest, prophet or king, and so Zechariah's son will "be be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb."
When Christians baptize their infants they invoke the same Holy Spirit, especially when the deacon or priest daubs Sacred Chrism on the crown of the baby's head.
Saint John, the Angel says, will go before God "in the spirit and power of Elijah."
What do we make of Elijah? It is hard to ignore his fearful aspect. I think of that series of incidents when the king sent a troop of fifty soldiers to arrest him. Elijah couldn't be bothered and called down fire from heaven to consume the whole unit. Neither they nor their king had showed deference to the Lord God of Hosts. A second group met the same fate. Finally, in fear and trembling, a third group begged him to come and he consented. Following a contest with five hundred pagan priests, he personally cut each man's throat!
If John the Baptist is invested "in the spirit and power of Elijah," he will be fierce, a prophet who cannot be ignored.
But his ministry will be far gentler; he will "turn the hearts of fathers toward children..." A society like ours, suffering a plague of absentee fathers, must appreciate John's ministry. He will restore the institution of family, hopefully with men and women and children assuming their respective places as husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins, grandparents, and so forth. In fact, he will die in defense of marriage. The responsibilities of family were never easy; they weren't supposed to be. They too must be "filled with the Holy Spirit."
John will turn "the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous...." The "Russian strategy" is to foment chaos, especially by persuading rival parties that no one speaks the Truth, and everyone has an agenda. "There is no such thing as Truth," Mr. Putin might say, "there is only power." The biblical Herods and Pontius Pilate understood that, as did the Caesars.
The prophets of the Old and New Testaments, however, relied on "righteousness," that is, "the Word of the Lord which abides forever."
When the child is born, we will hear Zechariah describe the particular kind of freedom we enjoy: "...he will give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins." They will enjoy a freedom which the "disobedient" can never understand.
Freedom is the ability to do what I don't want to do, generously and eagerly. It must include the willingness to recognize and acknowledge my sins, and receive forgiveness for them. We learn it from the Spirit of the Prophet John.
Power prepares people for servility; the Spirit prepares "a people fit for the Lord."
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.