"Don't be afraid Zechariah. Your prayers have been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to your son and you must name him John." - Luke
How appropriate that the Journey to Jesus' birth, arguably the greatest miracle EVER, begins with -- yes, you guessed it -- a miracle. Elizabeth and Zechariah were up in years and unable to get pregnant, and God blesses them with the gift of a child after years and years of agonizing over barrenness. This is a miracle to them, like every long-awaited child is a miracle to all parents. But it is more than that too. It's a physical miracle too.
My, my, God is a great author. In literary terms we call this foreshadowing, "advance sign of warning of what is to come in the future." (Thank you, Vocabulary.com) And great things are going to come. John is a little miracle, a little miracle who has come before to set the stage for a bigger miracle, the biggest miracle, Jesus. His birth and life are signs about how the plot will evolve.
God didn't send just any baby to Zechariah and Elizabeth. God's got a bigger plot in mind for these characters. No, this baby will be special. This baby will be great in God's eyes. He will have the power of Elijah, the power to change peoples' hearts and minds, to prepare them for a coming messiah. His life foreshadows greater things to come in Jesus, but he's also like one big walking, talking foreshadower (we call these people prophets).
And what a big job that would be. Lots of power definitely necessary. If the people were expecting a military hero clad in armour atop his white steed (this is a political savior, not prince Charming), John was going to have to do some major work. It would not be easy. It would take a miracle. But, that's not so much of a stretch of the imagination if you can accept a child being born to a post-menopausal woman and an old geezer. Miracles are in John's DNA' his very being is made of such stuff. Maybe the people would even think this powerful guy who has God's favor and changes peoples' hearts is the messiah. Alas, the people would have to wait just a bit longer. John was only to make the people ready for an even greater miracle in Jesus.
Now the stage is set.
And this is just the beginning.
My, my, God is a great author. In literary terms we call this foreshadowing, "advance sign of warning of what is to come in the future." (Thank you, Vocabulary.com) And great things are going to come. John is a little miracle, a little miracle who has come before to set the stage for a bigger miracle, the biggest miracle, Jesus. His birth and life are signs about how the plot will evolve.
God didn't send just any baby to Zechariah and Elizabeth. God's got a bigger plot in mind for these characters. No, this baby will be special. This baby will be great in God's eyes. He will have the power of Elijah, the power to change peoples' hearts and minds, to prepare them for a coming messiah. His life foreshadows greater things to come in Jesus, but he's also like one big walking, talking foreshadower (we call these people prophets).And what a big job that would be. Lots of power definitely necessary. If the people were expecting a military hero clad in armour atop his white steed (this is a political savior, not prince Charming), John was going to have to do some major work. It would not be easy. It would take a miracle. But, that's not so much of a stretch of the imagination if you can accept a child being born to a post-menopausal woman and an old geezer. Miracles are in John's DNA' his very being is made of such stuff. Maybe the people would even think this powerful guy who has God's favor and changes peoples' hearts is the messiah. Alas, the people would have to wait just a bit longer. John was only to make the people ready for an even greater miracle in Jesus.
Now the stage is set.
And this is just the beginning.
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