Zechariah, Elizabeth, and John

“And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’… So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said.’” (John 1:19-20, 22-23)

John was a cousin of Jesus and although he is not in the genealogy of Christ directly, he most certainly was a piece of God’s plan to prepare the way for the Lord. God chose Elizabeth (Mary’s relative) and her husband Zechariah as the parents of John the Baptist. God told Zechariah ahead of time that he and his wife would have a son and that this son would “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared” (Luke 1:16-17).

At first, Zechariah doubted this, after all, both he and his wife were getting older, and Elizabeth was unable to have children. And yet, this was the way that God intended to provide for his people and John was the one who would prepare or “make straight the way of the Lord.” John made it very clear that he himself was not the Messiah but that the Messiah had come. Through John, many came to know and believe Jesus. God put in place all of the pieces for his Son to come and save us. Let us recognize the way he has provided and prepared the way for our salvation!