“Through the bowels of the mercy of our God: in which the Orient from on high hath visited us,
“To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death; to direct our feet into the way of peace.”
And the child grew and was strengthened in spirit [1]; and was in the desert[2] until the day of his manifestation to Israel.
COMMENTARY.
The Faithfulness of God. His promise to Zachary: “Thy wife shall bear thee a son”, was faithfully kept. The punishment of dumbness pronounced on Zachary, because of his doubt, was accompanied by the promise that his dumbness should cease on the day when all that the angel had foretold came to pass. This promise also was exactly fulfilled, for the moment Zachary asserted that the child’s name was John, his tongue was loosed, and he was able once more to speak. The instant that he obediently executed the angel’s command: “Thou shalt call his name John”, speech was restored to him.
The Divinity of Jesus Christ. Inspired by the Holy Ghost, Zachary in his canticle of praise and thanksgiving testifies to the divine nature of the Redeemer. If John was to be the prophet of the “Highest”, and to go before the face of the “Lord”, then is the Saviour of whom this was foretold both Lord and Highest, or, in other words, God.
The friendly sympathy of their neighbours and relatives with the joy of the aged couple is worthy of praise. Zachary and Elizabeth rejoiced that God had heard their prayer and had given them a son; and their friends really and sincerely shared their joy. He who possesses true brotherly love rejoices at the happiness of his fellow creatures. Those who are envious do not know what love means, being full of nothing but selfishness.
Holy youth. John spent his youth leading a hermit’s life in the desert, till he was thirty years old. Far from the turmoil of the world, he served God with prayer, fasting and contemplation, and grew daily in grace and virtue. Great fortitude was required to lead such a severe and self-denying life for so many years, and therefore the Evangelist says about him that he was “strengthened in spirit”. His angelic and innocent youth prepared John for being a worthy preacher of penance and precursor of the Redeemer. O, how lovely a thing is youth passed in innocence!
