(1) _A prophecy._ Four hundred years before the Precursor's birth,
Malachias prophesied of him: "Behold I send My angel," that is My
_messenger_; and Our Lord tells us expressly (His words are noted by
three of the Evangelists, St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke) that this
messenger was John the Baptist, who was sent by God to prepare the ways
of the Messias.
(2) _His miraculous conception_--for his parents were both "well
advanced in years." Both his father and mother were "just before God
walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without
blame;" and they had their cross to bear--the "reproach" of having no
son and therefore no hope of the Messias being born to them; but this
did not prevent them from praying, as all fervent Israelites prayed, for
the coming of the Messias. The answer to their prayer was nearer than
they thought. One day as Zachary was performing the most solemn part of
his priestly office--offering incense on the golden altar that stood
"over against the veil" which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of
Holies--he saw an angel standing on the right side of the altar, who,
after he had calmed his fear, told him that his prayer was heard, that
the Messias was coming, and that his wife Elizabeth was to bear him a
son who was to be His Precursor, "he shall go before Him." The angel
then prophesied many things about this child, which all show how careful
was God's preparation of His Precursor:
"Thou shall call his name John" (the Grace of God). Only those who had
an important future before them were named by God Himself before their
birth.
"Many shall rejoice in his nativity." Many--both angels and men.
"He shall be great before the Lord." Great in sanctity and great in
office.
He "shall drink no wine nor strong drink." He shall be a Nazarite, one
separated and consecrated to God by a vow.
"He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's
womb"--that is, he shall be cleansed from the stain of original sin and
put into the state of grace before his birth as was Jeremias (Jer. I.
5).
"He shall convert many" by preaching penance and telling of Him who
takes away sin.
"He shall go before Him ... to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people."
Zachary listened but he could not believe that what he heard was true,
though Gabriel, who stands before God, had been sent expressly to him
with the message of good tidings. He asked for a sign and He received
one which not only proved to him that God can do what He wills as He
wills, but also that He expects His children to trust Him.
When at length Zachary appeared from behind the curtain to the waiting
and wondering people, instead of giving them the accustomed blessing
(Num. VI. 24, 26), he made signs to them and remained dumb and they
understood that he had seen a vision. God dealt severely with Zachary
because he was so closely bound up with the Advent of the Messias. He
had to be taught, and we through him, that the least venial sin may
hinder God's work and designs, and that if we would be His instruments
used by Him for the preparation of the Coming of His Son, we must be
absolutely faithful about little things, full of confidence in God,
setting no limit to His power and never doubting His dealings with us.
(3) _He was filled with the Holy Ghost._ Six months later, Elizabeth who
had been waiting in solitude and silence for God to fulfil His designs,
received a visit from the Mother of God, and the Precursor and the
Messias Who was to come were brought into close contact. We cannot doubt
that it was at that moment when, as Elizabeth said "the infant in my
womb leaped for joy," that John was "filled with the Holy Ghost." Thus
God cleansed His Precursor before his birth from the stain of original
sin, again showing us that those who are to prepare for the Coming of
His Son must be distinguished by their purity.
(4) _By the holiness of his mother and his home._ His mother taught by
the Holy Spirit was the first to recognize Our Lady as the Mother of
God; she was saluted by Our Lady and ministered to by her. She had the
unspeakable privilege of having Our Lady with the blessed Fruit of her
womb JESUS living under her roof for three months. A home where the
Mother of God was welcomed and honoured--such was the home God chose for
the Precursor of His Son.