The
Birth of Saint John the Baptist June 24 Holy Day
(from For All the Saints,
Anglican Church of Canada)
The
birth of Saint John the Baptist is told in the Gospel according to Luke, where
it serves as the bridge between the Old Testament and the time of Christ.
Just
as God intervened to make Abraham and Sarah have a child (OT) and become the
forebears of the chosen people, so an angel announced to righteous Zechariah
that he and his wife were to have a son who would be the forerunner of the Chosen
One, the Christ. So it came to pass that Elizabeth conceived and gave birth to
a son, whom she named John. Then his father, Zechariah prophesied, saying, ‘You
my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before
the Lord to prepare his way,
to
give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.’
Zechariah
also saw that his son’s mission would prepare the way for the fulfilment of
God’s oath, ‘the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, to set us free from
the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous
in his sight all the days of our life.’
Thus,
according to Luke, the birth of John the Baptist gathered up and embodied the
whole truth of the Old Testament and made it ready for its own perfection in
Christ Jesus, the One whose way John was born to prepare.
cf. Parish Bulletin June 23, 2013
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