Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST
(Vigil Mass)
Readings:
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4A, 5-6AB, 15AB, 17
1 Peter 1:8-12
Luke 1:5-17
Abbreviations: NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, and that is the reason we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: Called to Serve
The feast days of most saints remember that saint upon
his or her entrance into Heaven. However, there are three feasts in the Church
that celebrate births: the nativities of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and
St. John the Baptist. They are the holy ones God filled with His Holy Spirit
in their mothers' wombs before their births.
In the First Reading, like St. John the Baptist, God chose the 8th century BC prophet Jeremiah for his prophetic mission from the moment of his conception. God's plan for Jeremiah's life began in the womb of his mother when He consecrated Jeremiah and set him apart for his holy calling as a "prophet to the nations," foretelling the coming of the Davidic Messiah and the gift of a new and eternal covenant.
Our Responsorial Psalm would have been an appropriate prayer for St. John the Baptist as he awaited his execution in the dungeon of Herod Antipas' palace (Mt 14:3-4, 10). When the Virgin Mary visited her kinswoman Elizabeth, God revealed His plan of salvation to baby John in his mother's womb. He gave the yet-to-be-born John the knowledge that he was in the presence of God the Son, cradled within the body of the Virgin Mary (Lk 1:44). St. John was the prophetic voice in the wilderness prophesied by the 8th century BC prophet Isaiah (Is 40:3) who came to prepare the covenant people for the coming of the promised Redeemer-Messiah by offering a baptism of repentance and spiritual purification (Mt 3:1-12; Mk 1:2-8; Lk 3:1-20).
In the Second Reading, St. Peter reminds us that God sent His holy prophets to testify to the coming of the Davidic Messiah who would fulfill God's eternal covenant with His servant, David. Filled with the Spirit of Christ, the prophets foretold both the sufferings and the glorious victory of the Christ (Messiah) and His gift of salvation for souls. It was God's last Old Testament prophet, St. John the Baptist, inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit, who announced the fulfillment of God's promise of salvation in Jesus of Nazareth, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Jn 1:29). Our salvation in Jesus Christ is both a present and future reality. It is something we have already through our profession of faith and the Sacrament of Baptism (Mk 16:16), but we will take possession of our gift of eternal salvation when we see Christ face to face, in the company of saints like John the Baptist, in His heavenly Kingdom (CCC 163).
In the Gospel Reading, while presenting the sacred incense in the Holy Place of the Jerusalem Temple, the aged priest, Zechariah, received a divine message. God sent the angel Gabriel to announce that Zechariah's elderly and barren wife would give birth to a son. The angel revealed that the child, blessed from the womb of his mother with the power and spirit of the 8th century BC prophet Elijah, will turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord. The angel told Zechariah to name the child John and foretold that it was his destiny, as the last of the Old Testament prophets, to herald the coming of the promised Davidic Messiah and His Kingdom.
The First Reading Jeremiah 1:4-10 ~ Called from the Womb
4 The word of the
LORD came to me thus: 5 Before I
formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a
prophet to the nations I appointed you. 6 "Ah, Lord GOD!" I said, "I know not how to
speak; I am too young." 7 But
the LORD answered me, "Say not, 'I am too young.'" To whomever I send you, you
shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Have no fear before them, because I am with
you to deliver you says the LORD. 9 Then
the LORD extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying, "See I place my words
in your mouth! 10 This day I set
you over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to tear down, to destroy
and to demolish, to build and to plant."
Before God formed Jeremiah in the womb of his mother, God had a plan for him. The use of the Hebrew verb "to know" in verse 5 means "to choose and predestine" (see Amos 3:2). That plan began to take shape when God consecrated Jeremiah and set him apart for his holy mission in the womb of his mother and made him a "prophet to the nations." Don't miss the significance of Jeremiah's mission. His divinely appointed message isn't just to the covenant people of Judah; the scope of his mission is much broader. God will send him to the surviving children of Israel in the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the nine Gentile nations of Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Syria, the Arab tribes, Elam, and Babylon. Similar collections of oracles to foreign peoples are in the books of the prophets Amos (1:2-2:30), Isaiah (Chapters 13-13), Zephaniah (Chapter 2), and Ezekiel (Chapters 25-32).
Compare Jeremiah's calling to other prophets in the Old Testament:
Prophetic callings in the New Testament:
The description of Jeremiah's selection is more like Jesus Christ who, according to St. Peter, "was known before the foundation of the world" (1 Pt 1:20). God determined Jeremiah's mission before his conception, perhaps as early as the Fall of Adam, when the divine plan needed divinely ordained prophets to serve God in shaping human history.
There are similarities and differences between Moses' family status, divine calling, and his response compared to Jeremiah's family status, his call, and response (Ex 2:1-10; 4:10; 6:16-20; 28:1; Jer 1:1 and 5-6):
5 Before I formed
you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to
the nations I appointed you.
God's prophets understood that they were fulfilling a
prophecy God made through Moses to the covenant people that He would send other
men to succeed Moses to carry His words to His people (see Dt 18:17-22). Unlike
Moses, who God sent only to the Israelites, Jeremiah's prophetic word was to
have a universal impact as a "prophet to the nations." This verse reminds that
life is a gift of God that begins at conception, but our destinies may be
divinely ordered even before conception.
6 "Ah, Lord GOD!" I
said, "I know not how to speak; I am too young."
GOD, in all capital letters, replaces the divine name,
Yahweh. Jeremiah protests that he is only a child without the eloquent speech
of an educated adult. Scripture doesn't tell us how old he was when God called
him to his prophetic ministry. Most scholars, ancient and modern, suggest Jeremiah
was 13 years old, about the same age as Samuel and David when God called them to
divine service. It was traditionally the age when an Israelite boy began to
take on his adult role in the covenant. It would also place the date of his
birth during the reign of good King Josiah who called his people to repentance,
conversion and the renewal of their covenant union with Yahweh. Josiah was the
last righteous Davidic king of Israel/Judah who ruled from c. 640-609 BC.
Jeremiah's objection is more understandable than Moses' because Jeremiah was only a child who had not even begun his priestly training. Moses was eighty years old when he received his divine call to service. However, God did not accept Jeremiah's hesitation in taking up his divinely appointed mission (verses 7-8), just as God did not permit Moses' attempt to decline his divine call.
There is a lesson for us in the shared experience of Moses and Jeremiah in attempting to refuse God's call to service and God's reply to their hesitation. When God calls us, He always gives us what we need to succeed. In verse 8, God assured Jeremiah that he was not to be afraid because God would protect and rescue him, which suggests the divine preservative of his life despite his struggles.
9 Then the LORD extended
his hand and touched my mouth, saying, "See I place my words in your mouth!
An angel purified Isaiah's sins by touching his mouth with a
burning coal from the heavenly altar to prepare him for his prophetic ministry
(Is 6:6-7). To equip Jeremiah for his divinely ordained mission, God reached out
His divine hand and touched Jeremiah's lips as a sign that from that time forward,
His words were in His prophet's mouth.
10 This day I set
you over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to tear down, to destroy
and to demolish, to build and to plant."
God defines the authority of Jeremiah's mission over nations
and kingdoms in three ways:
During his ministry, Jeremiah would announce the destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple by the Babylonians. However, he would also "build up hope" by foretelling the coming of the Davidic Messiah as a king to reign and govern wisely the spiritually restored people (Jer 23:5-6; 33:14-15) and establish a new and eternal covenant between God and His covenant people (Jer 31:31-33; 32:40; 50:5).
Responsorial Psalm 71:1-2, 3-4A, 5-6AB, 15AB, 17 ~ God is
my Strength
The response is: "Since my mother's womb, you have
been my strength."
1 In you, O LORD, I
take refuge; let me never be put to shame. 2
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me; incline your ear to me, and
save me.
Response:
3 Be my rock of
refuge, a stronghold to give me safety, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4A O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
Response:
5 For you are my
hope, O Lord; my trust, O God, from my youth. 6 On you I depend from birth; from my mother's womb, you are my
strength.
Response:
15AB My mouth shall
declare your justice, day by day your salvation. 17 O God, you have taught me from my youth, and
till the present, I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
Response:
This psalm is a plea for help from someone who has put his trust in God his entire life. After making the point that God has been his protector since his childhood, the psalmist pleads with the Lord not to abandon him in his distress to leave him at the mercy of the wicked who want to harm him. He places his hope and trust in God, who is his strength and his salvation.
This psalm would have been appropriate for St. John the Baptist to pray while waiting for his execution in the dungeon of Herod Antipas' palace (Mt 14:3-4, 10). When the Virgin Mary visited her kinswoman Elizabeth, God revealed His plan of salvation to His future prophet. While John was still in his mother's womb, God gave him the knowledge that he was in the presence of God the Son growing within the body of the Virgin Mary (Lk 1:44).
St. John was the prophetic voice in the wilderness prophesied by the 8th century BC prophet Isaiah (Is 40:3) whose mission was to prepare the covenant people for the coming of the Messiah with a baptism of repentance (Mt 3:1-12; Mk 1:2-8; Lk 3:1-20). Filled with God's spirit, John gave Jesus a baptism of anointing by the Holy Spirit in preparation for His mission (Mt 3:13-17; Mk 1:9-11; Lk 3:21-22). Then, a few days later, St. John identified Jesus to a crowd of Jews as the promised Messiah and "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn 1:29). For John and us, this psalm finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, whose Hebrew name means, "Yahweh saves."
The Second Reading 1 Peter 1:8-12 ~ God's Mercy and
Salvation
8 Although you have
not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in
him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 as
you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, prophets who prophesied
about the grace that was to be yours searched and investigated it, 11 investigating the time and circumstances that
the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the
sufferings destined for Christ and the glories to follow them. 12 It was revealed to them that they were
serving not themselves but you with regard to the things that have now been
announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy
Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels longed to look.
Peter's statement in verse 8 recalls the exchange between Jesus and the Apostle Thomas after Jesus' Resurrection appearance in John 20:29. After Thomas placed his finger into Jesus' wounds at His invitation, Thomas declared: "My Lord and my God!" Jesus responded: "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." Peter appears to be recalling this event and applying Jesus' blessing to the receivers of his letter.
St. Peter reminds the Christians of the universal Church who have received his letter that God sent His holy prophets, filled with the Spirit of Christ, to testify in advance to both the sufferings and the glorious victory of the Christ and His gift of salvation. Peter uses the word "salvation" in verse 10 as the general term for the sum of all that we receive in Christ. It refers to our present state as new creatures in Christ, reborn through faith and the Sacrament of Christian Baptism. But it also points to the future destiny that is ours when Christ returns. Peter's point is that our salvation is both a present and future reality. It is something we have already through faith and Baptism (Mk 16:16), but we will complete our salvation when we see Christ face to face in His heavenly Kingdom in the company of saints like John the Baptist (CCC 163).
What Peter writes in verses 10-12 is an acknowledgment of the unity and continuity of the Old and New Testaments. The Holy Spirit's role in salvation was active in the Old Testament through the prophets of God like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah who announced the future suffering of God's Servant and His resurrection in glory that would result in the promise of eternal salvation. In the New Covenant, God fulfills all that He promised through the Old Testament prophets. It was God's last Old Testament prophet, St. John the Baptist, and the preachers of Jesus' New Covenant Gospel who, inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit, announced God's promise of eternal salvation fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
The Gospel Reading Luke 1:5-17 ~ The Birth of John the
Baptist Foretold
5 In the days of
Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the priestly
division of Abijah; his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was
Elizabeth. 6 Both were righteous
in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord
blamelessly. 7 But they had no child
because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. 8 Once when he was serving as priest in his
division's turn before God, 9 according to the practice of the priestly
service, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn
incense. 10 Then, when the whole
assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering,
11 the angel of the Lord appeared
to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and
fear came upon him. 13 But the
angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been
heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many
will rejoice at his birth, 15 for
he will be great in the sight of [the] Lord. He will drink neither wine nor
strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's
womb, 16 and he will turn many of
the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to
turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the
understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord."
In his Gospel and the Book of Acts, St. Luke mentions events and people to establish the historical timeframe of the story. He opens his Gospel account by setting the time during the reign of King Herod the Great (Lk 1:5) and later includes the information that John the Baptist began his ministry in the fifteenth year of the Roman Emperor Tiberius (Lk 3:1). At the time the events of Jesus life took place, Judea was no longer an independent state but was under the control of the Roman Empire that extended from England to Egypt and from Portugal to the border of Persia. Herod, the son of Antipater, was an Idumaean (a descendant of Esau son of Issac) selected to rule the Roman vassal province of Judea by the Roman Senate in 40 BC. However, Herod had to subdue Jewish resistance to his rule since he was not a Jew and, therefore, he didn't become the "king of the Jews" until 37 BC. St. Matthew also dates the events of Jesus' birth within the reign of Herod the Great and includes the information that Jesus was born shortly before his death (Mt 2:1, 15, 19-22).
The priest Zechariah had traveled with his brother priests of the clan of Abijah to Yahweh's holy Temple in the city of Jerusalem. During his reign, King David divided the chief priestly families into 24 courses or family clans (1 Chr 24:3-4, 10, 19) and also the lesser ministers of the Levites (23:1-32; 24:20-25:31). It was the duty of the clans of the ministerial priesthood and the lesser ministers to serve twice a year, for a week at a time, in the Temple's daily liturgical worship services. However, the requirement was for all the clans to serve during the three annual pilgrim feast days when every man of the covenant was to present himself before God's holy altar of sacrifice (Ex 23:14-17; 34:23; 2 Chron 8:13; Dt 16:16). According to tradition, Zechariah lived in the village of Ein Kerem, and he traveled the four miles from his village to the holy city of Jerusalem to fulfill the week-long obligation. As a chief priest, he served God in the Temple's liturgical worship services of the communal offering of the Tamid lambs in the twice-daily worship services together with the other necessary sacrifices at the holy Jerusalem Temple.
Zechariah's name in Hebrew (Zekaryah) is a theophoric name (a name containing the name of the deity) and means "Yahweh remembers." Zechariah's wife's name in Hebrew (Elisheba) means "God's oath" or "God is my oath." St. Luke includes an important detail concerning the ancestry of Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth. They are both descendants of Israel's first high priest, Aaron. Only Aaron's descendants could serve as chief priests. Elizabeth has the same name as Aaron's wife (Ex 6:23).
The Temple on Mt. Moriah in the city of Jerusalem was the only place on earth where the covenant people could offer worship and sacrifice to Yahweh, the One True God (Dt 12:8-12; 2 Sam 24:18-25; 1 Chr 21:18-22:1; 2 Chr 3:1). The last time this elderly descendant of Aaron served in the Temple was probably during the most recent pilgrim feast when all the priestly clans were required to present themselves for service to Yahweh. Zechariah had reached a venerable old age, and he knew his years of serving God in His holy Temple were coming to an end.
Zechariah understood that his most sacred Temple duty was service in the daily worship which surrounded the sacrifice of the unblemished, male Tamid lambs. The Hebrew word tamid means "standing" as in continual or perpetual. It was the first communal sacrifice God established at Mt. Sinai before the sin of the Golden Calf (Ex 29:39-42). The Tamid was a God-ordained perpetual sacrifice for the communal atonement and sanctification of the covenant people. This holy sacrifice, which took precedence over all others, required a liturgical service in concert with the daily offering of two unblemished male lambs. There was the offering of one lamb in the morning and the second lamb in the afternoon. This perpetual sacrifice was to continually burn on the altar fire day and night so long as the Sinai Covenant endured. See the e-book, "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice"
Understanding the significance of when the angel appeared to Zechariah requires a knowledge of the rituals of the daily worship services of the Tamid. The blood of the Tamid lamb atoned for the communal sins of the covenant people, sanctified them, and re-established fellowship with God. No other sacrifice took precedence over the daily sacrifice of the Tamid lambs that was entirely consumed in the altar fire and offered with unleavened flour mixed with oil, with a priestly offering of an unleavened wafer-like griddle cake, and a red wine libation (Ex 29:38-43; Lev 6:13-16/20-23; Mishnah: Tamid). The Tamid was offered daily without exception; the offering of all other sacrifices was in addition to the Tamid, even the sacrifices of the annual feasts like the Passover (repeated 15 times in Num 28:4-29:39).
The offering of the sacred incense on the holy Golden Altar of Incense in the Sanctuary's Holy Place accompanied the burning of the morning and afternoon Tamid lambs on the Altar of Sacrifice in the courtyard. Either the reigning High Priest or his designated representative who was selected by lot burned the incense in the Sanctuary. The selection of the High Priest's representative by lot was considered a decision by Divine decree (see Lev 16:9-10; Num 26:55-56; Acts 1:26). The High Priest or his representative offered the incense in the morning service before placing the first Tamid lamb on the altar fire, but in the afternoon service, the offering happened after consigning the Tamid lamb to the altar fire. Therefore, the incense offering embraced the Tamid lambs as a single sacrifice, as described in Exodus 29:38.
When Zechariah and his kinsmen arrived at the Temple on the Sabbath to begin their week of service, there was a division of the clan into seven groups of priests, each group assigned to one day of service. For Zechariah and the other priests assigned to that particular day's Tamid worship service, the preparation began before dawn with a ritual bath followed by dressing in their liturgical garments. Except for the High Priest, the assigning of all the ministerial duties of the priests for the twice-daily service was by the drawing of lots (Mishnah: Tamid 1:2; 3:1 and 5:2). The lot drawing for the privilege of acting as the High Priest's representative in burning the incense occurred in the third round of drawing lots.
The drawing of lots for burning the incense was the only lot drawing repeated in the afternoon service. It was a once-in-a-lifetime event for a priest, and only those who had never had the privilege could participate in the drawing (Mishnah: Tamid, 5:2A). In this most sacred ritual, the burning of the incense took place on the golden Incense Altar that stood at the curtained entrance to the Holy of Holies where the presence of God dwelled among His people (Ex 25:8; 30:1-10). It was also a dangerous service. In the past, men, including two sons of Aaron, the first high priest, had died for impiously offering the sacred incense (see Lev 10:1-2).
When Zechariah drew the lot to burn the incense, the shock must have almost overwhelmed him. For many years, he must have participated in the drawing of this lot without being chosen. The covenant people believed that an angel carried the prayers of the people, enveloped in the smoke of the holy incense, into the heavenly Sanctuary, laying the people's petitions before the throne of Yahweh. Except for the High Priest, no other priest would come so close to the presence of God as the priest who offered the prayers of the people in the burning of the sacred incense at the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the morning and afternoon Tamid sacrifice (Lev 16:2-14).
Some commentators have suggested that Zechariah was the reigning high priest, but this theory is without merit. His name is not in Jewish historian Flavius Josephus' list of high priests (see the chart on the Rulers of Judea in the first century AD). And, if he were the anointed high priest, it would not be necessary for him to draw a lot. Others suggest that Zechariah offered the incense during the Feast of Atonement. It is not possible that this event took place on the Feast of Atonement since only the anointed High Priest could offer the incense during that feast (Lev 16:1-2, 12-13).
In the order of the service when the sacrifice of the Tamid lamb took place, a priest collected its blood in a chalice and then first sprinkled and then poured out the blood against the altar. Priests divided the body of the lamb and salted it before placing it on the sacrificial altar as the High Priest held up an unleavened wheat wafer, broke it and set it on the altar fire. Then, if it was the afternoon worship service, came the offering of the incense followed by the pouring out of the red wine libation against the sacrificial altar. In this way, the offering of the prayers of the covenant people in the holy incense embraced the sacrificial offering of the Tamid. In the morning service, the priest offered the incense before placing the victim on the altar fire, and in the afternoon, he offered the incense after placing the victim on the altar, signifying that the two lambs were one sacrifice (Ex 29:38 "sacrifice" singular; Mishnah: Tamid, 5:2-6:3; M. Yoma 3:5; Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice).
On a day that would alter the course of the old priest's life forever, Zechariah and his assisting priests entered the Sanctuary and walked the length of the Holy Place to the golden Altar of Incense. The Incense Altar stood at the west end of the room in front of the great curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The priest carrying the live coals from the sacrificial altar carefully placed the burning coals on the Altar of Incense, a square, gold covered column as the second priest handed the censer and its golden spoon to Zechariah. The altar was twice as tall as it was wide and stood chest high. Its recessed gold top had four horn-like protrusions, one at each corner, and the top was trimmed with a golden fence to contain the coals and the incense (Ex 30:1-8). The priest who positioned the burning embers prostrated himself before the incense altar and the Holy of Holies and then rising stepped back for Zechariah to approach the Incense Altar. The officiating priest standing at the doorway of the Sanctuary and watching the Altar of Sacrifice in the courtyard then gave the command that the time of the incensing had come. As Zechariah moved forward, his brother priests bowed low and withdrew, leaving Zechariah utterly alone in the Holy Place (Mishnah: Tamid, 6:3; Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice).
The old priest solemnly approached the Altar of Incense that stood in front of the curtain that shielded the Holy of Holies and spooned the incense on to the burning embers. If this was the afternoon service, in the outer court, the congregation was facing the Altar of Burnt Offerings, watching as God accepted their sacrifice as the sign of the cloud of white smoke, called in Hebrew the Olah, rose high into the sky. The rising column of smoke from the altar reminded the people of the pillar of cloud that signified the presence of God in the Exodus experience. It also assured the people that God had graciously accepted the covenant community's offering of the Tamid lamb in atonement for their sins, their sanctification as a holy people, and the restoration of God's fellowship with His people. But now the congregation turned away from the sacrificial altar and toward the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies. The people fell to their knees. Then, holding up their hands, humbly prostrated themselves in prayer and submission to Yahweh as their prayers rose in the smoke of the incense that poured out of the open doors of the Sanctuary. At this time, a profound silence enveloped the entire Temple complex (Rev 8:1; Mishnah Tamid, 3:6, 9; 5:5-6; 6:1-3; Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice).
10 Then, when the whole
assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering,
11 the angel of the Lord appeared
to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zechariah
was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid,
Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear
you a son, and you shall name him John.
Just as Zechariah placed the incense on the golden Altar of
Incense that stood in front of the curtain shielding the Presence of God in the
Holy of Holies, the angel Gabriel stepped from behind the curtain of the Holy
of Holies (the dwelling place of God among His people). The angel stood to the
right side of the Altar of Incense where the Archangels stand before the Altar
of Incense in the heavenly Sanctuary: Another angel came and stood at the
altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to
offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was
before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy
ones went up before God from the hand of the angel (Rev 8:3-5).
The appearance of the angelic visitor at the burning of the incense tells us that Zechariah's selection was not by chance but by God's divine decree, just as Matthias will be chosen to by lot to succeed Judas as one of Christ's Apostles (Acts 1:26).
Without revealing his name, the angel encouraged Zechariah, telling him not to be afraid. Then the angel announced that God had heard his prayers. He and his elderly wife would have a son who they were to name "John." It is obvious that God's providence had been at work in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Elizabeth's barren condition recalls other previously childless women whose sons were part of God's Divine Plan in salvation history: Sarah the mother of Isaac, Rebecca the mother of Jacob, Rachel the mother of Joseph, Hannah the mother of Samuel, and Manoah's wife, the mother of Samson.
The translation of John's Hebrew name, Yohanan (Yehohanan), is "Yahweh is mercy," or "Yahweh is merciful." Fr. McKenzie (Dictionary of the Bible, page 442) translated the name as "Yahweh is gracious" while Fr. Fitzmyer, (Gospel of According to Luke, page 325) translated it as "Yahweh has shown favor." Hen is the Hebrew word for "grace" while hanum means favored, and hanan means "to stoop or bend in kindness to an inferior; to show mercy" (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Lexicon). Zechariah's son will not only become a chief priest as a descendant of Aaron, but he is also destined to become God's merciful prophet upon whom God's grace rests.
14 And you
will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of [the]
Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the
Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, 16
and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will go before him in the spirit and power
of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to
the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord."
The angel told Zechariah that God would consecrate the
promised child from his mother's womb, and he was never to drink wine or any
fermented liquor. Other men were similarity consecrated by God from the womb
to include the priest Jeremiah and the Nazirites Samson and Samuel (see Jer 1:4-5; Judges 13:3-7; 1 Sam 1:11 and Num 6:1-21 concerning Nazirite service).
Some scholars suggest that John the Baptist was a Nazirite because of the prohibition concerning drinking wine like a Nazarite (Num 6:3). However, priests were forbidden to consume fermented drink while in service to God in the Sanctuary (Lev 10:8-9). That John was to abstain from fermented beverages may signify that his entire service to God wasn't limited to designated times in the Temple. His service to God the Son was to continue wherever he was for so long as he was in the world. There is no other mention of the other requirements that identified a Nazirite as there was in the case of Samson and Samuel like the prohibition against the cutting of the hair of his head (see Num 6:4-8).
Gabriel compared the promised child to the 9th century BC prophet Elijah. St. John will be explicitly linked to the prophet Elijah as one endowed with his spirit just as God empowered the prophet Elisha with Elijah's spirit (see 2 Kng 2:9-16). Scripture tells us when John became an adult that he resembled the prophet Elijah in his dress and his mission. Both John and Elijah wore a camel hair cloak and a leather loincloth, and both men were sent by God to call the covenant people to repentance (see 2 Kng 1:7-8, Mt 3:4-6, and Mk 1:4).
In Luke 1:16-17, the angel quotes from the Old Testament Scriptures to Zechariah about the Prophet Elijah. Compare Luke 1:16-17 with Malachi 3:1-3, 23-24, and Sirach 48:1,10. Malachi 3:23-24/4:5 reads: Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the day of the LORD comes, the great and terrible day, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with doom (underlining added for emphasis). The prophecy Gabriel quoted concerned the sign of the coming of Elijah before the Advent of the Messiah, promised by the 6th century BC prophet Malachi in 3:1-3. Zechariah and Elizabeth's son, John the Baptist, is the God-ordained prophet whose mission is to herald the coming of the Davidic king and Redeemer-Messiah promised by the prophets, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the unblemished Lamb of God, prefiguring in His humanity and divinity the two Tamid lambs who died in the Temple service at the same time Jesus went to the Cross at 9 AM when He gave up His life at 3 PM (the third and ninth hours; see Mk 15:25, 34). Christ is the perpetual (tamid) sacrifice who offers Himself for the atonement and sanctification of all who accept His sacrifice on the altar of the Cross and in the Eucharistic (thanksgiving) offering of the bread and wine that become His Body and Blood. For more information on the connection between Jesus and the Tamid lambs, see the e-book, "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice," and read an excerpt at http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/Books/index.htm.
Catechism References (* indicated Scripture is quoted
or paraphrased in the citation):
Jeremiah 1:5 (CCC 2270);
1:6 (CCC 2584*)
Luke 1:15-17 (CCC 724); 1:15 (CCC 717); 1:17 (CCC 523, 696, 716*, 718, 2684*)
Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2016; 2019