The Birth of John the Baptist

Off in a hurry. Mary went “with haste” to the hill country of Judah (1:39). The angel had told her about Elizabeth (1:36), and Mary went to see God's work for herself. The Spirit speaks. “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (1:41). The words she spoke next came from God. My Lord. Elizabeth asked, “Why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (1:43). Jesus had not been born yet, but Elizabeth called Him Lord. Jesus did not become Lord later. He was the Lord all along. A leap of joy. “The babe leaped in my womb for joy” (1:44). John's whole life would point people to Jesus, and he started before he was born! A real person. “You covered me in my mother's womb” (Psalm 139:13). God sees an unborn baby as a real person whom He knows and loves. Blessed because she believed. “Blessed is she who believed” (1:45). Zacharias had doubted the angel's message, but Mary trusted it. What we learn. Jesus is Lord, and being near Him brings joy. God blesses people who believe what He says.

Into the hill country (1:39-40). Mary traveled from Nazareth in Galilee to a town in the hills of Judah, a journey of several days. She went “with haste.” Gabriel had given her a sign: her old relative Elizabeth was expecting a son (1:36-37). Leaped (1:41, 44). The Greek word is eskirtesen (say: es-KEER-teh-sen), meaning leaped or jumped for joy. Gabriel had said John would be filled with the Holy Spirit “even from his mother's womb” (1:15). Here we see it happen. Spirit-filled words (1:41-42). Elizabeth “spoke out with a loud voice.” Her blessing on Mary was more than a kind greeting. It was a message from the Holy Spirit. “My Lord” (1:43). The Greek word for Lord is kyrios (say: KOO-ree-os). It is the same word used for God in 1:45 and 1:46, and the Greek Old Testament used it for God's own name. The Spirit led Elizabeth to call Mary's unborn Son by the name of God. Life in the womb. John responds to Jesus while both are unborn. Scripture treats life before birth as human life that God knows and forms: “You covered me in my mother's womb” (Psalm 139:13). Two responses (1:18, 45). Zacharias asked, “How shall I know this?” and was made silent. Mary believed and was called blessed. Both loved God; the difference was trust in God's word. Response. Before Jesus was born, the Spirit led one woman to worship Him and one baby to rejoice over Him. Worship and joy are still the right response to Jesus.

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit helped her know something wonderful. Mary's baby was not just any baby. Elizabeth called Him “my Lord.” Jesus was the Lord even before He was born! Baby John jumped for joy inside Elizabeth. John was already happy about Jesus. God sees unborn babies as real people. He knows them and loves them. Elizabeth also said Mary was blessed. Mary believed what God told her. Zacharias had doubted the angel, but Mary trusted God. We can trust God's words too. Believing God always brings real joy. Being close to Jesus makes our hearts glad.

The Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth. She knew Mary's baby was the Lord. Baby John jumped for joy. Jesus brings us great joy!

Magnify. “My soul magnifies the Lord” (1:46). To magnify means to make something look bigger. Mary could not make God bigger, but she could show others how great He really is. God my Savior. “And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (1:47). Mary knew she needed saving too. Only people with sin need a Savior. Lowly. “For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant” (1:48). Regarded means looked on with kindness. A maidservant is a girl who serves. Mary was a young woman from a small town, and God chose her anyway. Called blessed. All generations would call Mary blessed (1:48) because of what God did for her, not because she earned it. Mighty and holy. Our memory verse, 1:49, says God is mighty and His name is holy. Holy means set apart and perfect. Mercy for every generation. “His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation” (1:50). To fear God means to honor Him and take Him seriously. Promise kept. God remembered His mercy “To Abraham and to his seed forever” (1:55). What we learn. Real praise is about God, not about us. God's mercy is for anyone who humbly trusts Him.

Magnifies (1:46). To magnify means to make great. Mary cannot add to God's greatness, but she can declare it so that others see it. My Savior (1:47). A Savior is a rescuer. Mary rejoiced in God as her own Savior. She was a humble believer who needed God's grace, as every person does: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Lowly state (1:48). The word means low position or humble condition. A poor young woman from Nazareth had no standing in her world, yet God “regarded” her. He looked on her with favor. The Mighty One (1:49). Gabriel had told her, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (1:37). Now Mary calls God the One “who is mighty.” She had trusted the promise, and now she praises the God who keeps it. His arm (1:51). “He has shown strength with His arm” echoes the psalms that praise God's saving power: “His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory” (Psalm 98:1). Mercy and covenant (1:50, 54-55). God helped Israel “In remembrance of His mercy.” His promise to Abraham was that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Mary saw that promise arriving in her own Son. Response. Worship that pleases God starts with seeing ourselves rightly, as people who need mercy, and seeing God rightly, as mighty, holy and faithful.

Mary's song is all about God. She did not sing about how special she was. She sang about how great God is. Mary called God “my Savior.” A Savior is someone who rescues people from sin. Mary needed God to save her, just like we do. Mary said God is mighty. Mighty means very, very strong. She said His name is holy. Holy means God is perfect and pure. God also shows mercy. Mercy is kindness we do not deserve. We can praise God the way Mary did.

Mary sang to praise God. She called God her Savior. God is holy and strong. God is kind to us.

Great mercy. The neighbors heard “how the Lord had shown great mercy to her” (1:58). Elizabeth's baby was a gift of God's mercy, not a reward she earned. The eighth day. Baby boys were circumcised when they were eight days old. It was the sign God gave Abraham's family (Genesis 17). That was also the day the baby was named. A name from God. The relatives expected the name Zacharias. But the angel had said, “you shall call his name John” (1:13). John means the Lord is gracious. Zacharias obeys. He wrote, “His name is John” (1:63). He did not ask what anyone else wanted. God had named the boy, and Zacharias agreed. A loosed tongue. “Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God” (1:64). His first words after months of silence were praise. Fear and wonder. People asked, “What kind of child will this be?” (1:66). Fear here means a deep sense that God was at work. God's hand. “And the hand of the Lord was with him” (1:66). God was already guiding John's life. What we learn. God keeps His word down to the smallest detail, even a baby's name. When we obey Him, our mouths fill with praise.

Mercy made great (1:58). The neighbors heard that the Lord “had shown great mercy to her.” The Greek says the Lord had magnified His mercy, the same verb Mary used in 1:46. Mary magnified the Lord; the Lord magnified His mercy. Mercy. Mercy is God's faithful kindness to people who do not deserve it. The word appears in Mary's song (1:50, 54), here (1:58) and twice in Zacharias's song (1:72, 78). The eighth day (1:59). God commanded circumcision on the eighth day as the sign of His promise to Abraham (Genesis 17:12). John was born into that promise as a son of Israel. Yochanan (say: yoh-khah-NAHN). John's Hebrew name means the Lord is gracious. Naming him after his father was the custom. Naming him John told everyone that this child was God's gift and part of God's plan. Signs (1:62). The relatives “made signs to his father.” It seems Zacharias could not hear either. The word used for his silence in 1:22 can mean deaf as well as unable to speak. From doubt to obedience (1:20, 63-64). Gabriel said Zacharias would be silent “because you did not believe my words.” Writing “His name is John” was an act of faith. God's discipline had done its good work, and his first words were blessing. Talk of the hill country (1:65-66). Fear spread through Judea. People kept these things in their hearts, “And the hand of the Lord was with him.” Years later many would go out to hear John preach (Luke 3:2-3).

Elizabeth had waited many years for a baby. Now God gave her a son! Her neighbors saw God's great kindness to her. They were happy with her. The family wanted to call the baby Zacharias. But God had already picked the name John. The name John means the Lord is gracious. Gracious means kind and giving. Zacharias had not talked for many months. He had not believed the angel at first. Now he wrote the name God gave. Right away he could talk again! The first thing he did was praise God. Obeying God filled his mouth with praise.

God gave Elizabeth a baby boy. His name was John. Zacharias obeyed God. Then he could talk again!

Filled to speak. “Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied” (1:67). Months of silence ended in a song from God. God visited. “For He has visited and redeemed His people” (1:68). Redeemed means bought back and set free. Zacharias spoke as if it were already done, because Jesus was already on the way. A horn of salvation. God “has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David” (1:69). A horn was a picture of strength, like the horn of a strong ox. Jesus is the strong Savior from David's family. An old promise. God remembered “The oath which He swore to our father Abraham” (1:73). People God saves get to “serve Him without fear” (1:74). John's job. “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest” (1:76). John would go first to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus. Forgiveness. John would teach “salvation to His people By the remission of their sins” (1:77). Remission means sins are forgiven and taken away. The Dayspring. Dayspring means sunrise. Jesus came “To give light to those who sit in darkness” (1:79). What we learn. Jesus is the light God promised, and He guides us “into the way of peace” (1:79).

A prophecy (1:67). Zacharias “prophesied.” He spoke God's message by the Holy Spirit. The priest who doubted now speaks as a prophet. Visited (1:68, 78). The song begins and ends with God visiting His people. In the Old Testament, God's visit meant He had come to act for them. For Zacharias, God's visit was a Person: the Messiah. Horn of salvation (1:69). David sang, “The Lord is my rock… the horn of my salvation” (Psalm 18:2). A horn stood for power. The Savior comes from David's house, as God promised in 2 Samuel 7:12-13. Covenant and oath (1:72-73). God's promise to Abraham was sealed with an oath. Many Christians see God's kindness in the parents' names: Zacharias means the Lord remembers, and Elizabeth means my God is an oath. Their son's birth showed God remembering His oath. Freed to serve (1:74-75). Salvation is rescue for a purpose: to serve God “without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” The prophet of the Highest (1:76). Malachi promised, “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me” (Malachi 3:1). John is that messenger. Anatole (say: ah-nah-toh-LAY) (1:78). Anatole is the Greek word for the Dayspring, the rising of the sun. Isaiah wrote, “The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). Jesus is that light. The desert years (1:80). John grew strong in spirit and lived in the deserts until God sent him to preach (Luke 3:2-3).

The Holy Spirit filled Zacharias too. He sang about God's big rescue plan. God had promised a Savior from King David's family. Now that Savior was coming! The Savior is Jesus. Then Zacharias looked at baby John. John would be a prophet who goes first. He would get people ready for the Lord. He would tell them how sins are forgiven. Zacharias said a new day was coming from heaven. People living in the dark would see a great light. Jesus brings us out of sin's darkness. He leads us into peace with God.

Zacharias sang about Jesus. Jesus is the Savior God promised. John would get people ready. Jesus is our bright light!