In today’s gospel Luke 1:57-66,80, Luke takes the adult John the Baptist into the desert where his mission is bridge between the old and New Testament as the Herald of the Messiah.

In the verses before those read today, the birth of John the Baptist has been announced by the angel Gabriel to Zechariah, his father. Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, are advanced in age, yet Elizabeth will give birth to John the Baptist.

Elizabeth's friends and relatives rejoice with her because God has shown her mercy in the birth of a son. But they are confused when she tells them that his name is to be John, which means “God has been gracious.”

Zechariah has been unable to speak since Gabriel appeared, because, unlike Mary, he doubted the angel's word. But when he writes on a tablet “John is his name” all are amazed, and a fear comes upon everyone. Fear, joy and praise, is for Luke a proper response to God's mercy.

People ask, “What, then, will this child be?” But this question has already been answered by the angel. “He will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.”

We jump to the last verses of the chapter, which explains that John will become strong in spirit living in the desert until it is time to show himself to the people of Israel. When John appears again after the stories of the birth and childhood of Jesus, he will prepare those people for the ministry of Jesus by preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

The characters in this story may seem a lot like us. If we put ourselves into the story with Elizabeth and Zachariah, we can admit that God has intervened in our lives in special ways. The neighbors and relatives might be skeptical or fearful at times, and simply question what all this means. Then like John the Baptist, we can become those who make straight the way of the Lord.