The Birth and Circumcision of John the Baptist
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[57] Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. [58] And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. [59] And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father, [60] but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." [61] And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name." [62] And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. [63] And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marvelled. [64] And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. [65] And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; [66] and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.
[80] And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
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Commentary:
59. Circumcision was a rite established by God under the Old Covenant to mark out those who belonged to His chosen people: He commanded Abraham to institute circumcision as a sign of the Covenant He had made with him and all his descendants (cf. Genesis 17:10-14), prescribing that it should be done on the eighth day after birth. The rite was performed either at home or in the synagogue, and, in addition to the actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and the naming of the child.
With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise ceased to apply. At the Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1ff), the Apostles definitely declared that those entering the Church had no need to be circumcised.
St. Paul's explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the context of the New Alliance established by Christ is to be found in Galatians 5:2ff; 6:12ff; and Colossians 2:11ff.
60-63. By naming the child John, Zechariah complies with the instructions God sent him through the angel (Luke 1:13).
64. This miraculous event fulfills the prophecy the angel Gabriel made to Zechariah when he announced the conception and birth of the Baptist (Luke 1:19-20). St. Ambrose observes: `With good reason was his tongue loosed, because faith untied what had been tied by disbelief" (Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam. in loc.).
Zechariah's is a case similar to that of St. Thomas, who was reluctant to believe in the resurrection of our Lord, and who believed only when Jesus gave him clear proof (cf. John 20:24-29). For these two men God worked a miracle and won their belief; but normally He requires us to have faith and to obey Him without His working any new miracles. This was why He upbraided Zechariah and punished him, and why He reproached Thomas: "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29).
80. "Wilderness": this must surely refer to the "Judean wilderness" which stretches from the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea to the hill country of Judea. It is not a sand desert but rather a barren steppe with bushes and basic vegetation which suit bees and grasshoppers or wild locusts. It contains many caves which can provide shelter.
Preaching in the Synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia (Continuation)
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(Paul said to the Jews,) [22] "And when He had removed him (King Saul), He raised up David to be their king; of whom He testified and said, "I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after My heart, who will do all My will.' [23] Of this man's posterity God has brought Israel a Savior, Jesus, as He promised. [24] Before His coming John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. [25] And as John was finishing his course, he said, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. No, but after me One is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.'
[26] "Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation."
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Commentary:
16-41. Paul's address here is an excellent example of the way he used to present the Gospel to a mixed congregation of Jews and proselytes. He lists the benefits conferred by God on the chosen people from Abraham down to John the Baptism (verses 16-25); he then shows how all the messianic prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus (verses 26-37), and, by way of conclusion, states that justification comes about through faith in Jesus, who died and then rose from the dead (verse 38-41).
This address contains all the main themes of apostolic preaching, that is, God's saving initiative in the history of Israel (verses 17-22); reference to the Precursor (verses 24-25); the proclamation of the Gospel or "kerygma" in the proper sense (verses 26b-31a); mention of Jerusalem (verse 31b); arguments from Sacred Scripture (verses 33-37), complementing apostolic teaching and tradition (verses 38-39); and a final exhortation, eschatological in character, announcing the future (verses 40-41). In many respects this address is like those of St. Peter (cf. 2:14ff; 3:12ff), especially where it proclaims Jesus as Messiah and in its many quotations from Sacred Scripture, chosen to show that the decisive event of the Resurrection confirms Christ's divinity.
Paul gives a general outline of salvation history and then locates Jesus in it as the expected Messiah, the point at which all the various strands in that history meet and all God's promises are fulfilled. He shows that all the steps which lead up to Jesus Christ, even the stage of John the Baptist, are just points on a route. Earlier, provisional elements must now, in Christ, give way to a new, definitive situation.
"You that fear God" (verse 26): see the notes on Acts 2:5-11 and 10:2.