Reading 1
Is 49:1-6
Hear me, O coastlands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Reading 2
Acts 13:22-26
In those days, Paul said:
“God raised up David as king;
of him God testified,
I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish.
From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say,
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’
“My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,
and those others among you who are God-fearing,
to us this word of salvation has been sent.”
Gospel
Lk 1:57-66, 80
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.
Meditation: Acts 13:22-26
The Birth of John the Baptist
John heralded his coming. (Acts 13:24)
Today, we honor John the Baptist, the “hinge prophet” of God’s plan of salvation. His birth heralded both the culmination of the Old Testament era and the beginning of the New Testament, the age of the church. It is as if with the coming of John, the whole of human history turned a corner from promise to fulfillment.
God had spoken in many different ways throughout the Old Testament. He gave us the Law and the prophets. He gave signs like the burning bush and the fire that consumed Elijah’s sacrifice. He spoke through angels, in visions, and even through barnyard animals. In each instance, it was his voice speaking, and it bore marvelous fruit. For centuries, God let his voice be heard in these many, glorious, and often unexpected ways. Finally, John was God’s voice, too—the voice of a roughly-clad seer crying out in the desert: “Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23).
As the hinge between the old and the new, John was the last voice to be heard before Jesus appeared on the scene. The time of preparation was over. Now, finally, had come the time of fulfillment!
St. Augustine once said that while John the Baptist was born of an “aged, barren woman,” Jesus was born of “a young virgin.” John’s birth to the elderly Elizabeth shows us how deeply God honors all the heroes and heroines of the Old Testament. It also shows us that, as beautiful and honorable as the Old Testament era was, the coming of Christ and the age of the church are even more marvelous.
Just as the New Testament fulfilled the Old Testament, John the Baptist’s witness tells us that God wants to bring every aspect of our lives to fulfillment in Christ. We all have so many gifts and talents, and our Father wants to fill all of them with his divine grace and blessing. He wants to take all that is good and honorable in us and teach us how to use it for his glory and his kingdom.
“Father, thank you for the birth of John, the hinge between the old and the new. Help me to find you today, as you lead me into a new life of grace and favor.”
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