"Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel."
Today's lesson tells us of the birth of John the Baptist as was prophesied in the Old Testament.
After Zacharias named the baby John, as Gabriel had told him, Zacharias regained his speech and instead of cursing about the loss as many of us would do today, he praised God.
In the latter portion of the quote, Zacharias identified John as the forerunner to Christ, "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways"
There are those today who wrongly believe that the water baptism, administered by John, was the origin of Christian baptism and is a sacrament that is to still be practiced today. That, however is simply not true.
Before you begin throwing things and calling me nuts, let me explain.
We should first note that John the Baptist, just as his father said, was a Jewish "prophet of the highest", not a Christian preacher. John could not have been a Christian, in the sense that Christianity is taught today, because Jesus had not yet undergone the sin remitting sacrifice and had not yet established "Christianity", John only knew, and taught, that Jesus, The Messiah, was soon to come.
We should first note that John the Baptist, just as his father said, was a Jewish "prophet of the highest", not a Christian preacher. John could not have been a Christian, in the sense that Christianity is taught today, because Jesus had not yet undergone the sin remitting sacrifice and had not yet established "Christianity", John only knew, and taught, that Jesus, The Messiah, was soon to come.
Just as the quote says, John was told, "for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God".
John the Baptist was to "prepare the way of the Lord" in accordance with the Law of Moses, he was not charged to administer "Christian baptisms", he was to "prapare the way" for Christianity. The law of Moses remained in full affect until Jesus had completed His sacrificial ordeal and had ascended back to the right hand of God.
The "remission of sins" Zacharias mentioned herein, was the means by which remission was granted under the law and could only be accomplished through the Jewish ritual of first, water baptism (or washing), offering of the appropriate sacrifice, then praying to God, requesting forgiveness.
The Jews of that day remained under the Mosiac law, and would have only been considered "prapared" for the coming of the Lord, after going through the ritual process John the Baptist administered.~
There will be further discussion of this as these lesson progress.
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