Word to the Wise
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - December 23
[Mal 3:1-4, 23-24 and Luke 1:57-66]Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me...Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the day of the Lord comes... [Malachi] When the time came 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....[Luke]
It may seem a little strange to celebrate the birth of John the Baptist two days before that of Jesus since the actual liturgical date for John's birth is exactly six months before on June 24 to align it with what the angel Gabriel said to Mary about Elizabeth's pregnancy [Luke 1:36]: "...and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren." What is going on here?
Biblical scholars tell us that the "infancy narratives" in the gospels according to Matthew and Luke contain not just the story of Jesus' birth, but the whole story of his earthly life and ministry. The Gospel According to Luke gives prominence to the role of John the Baptist possibly because there were still disciples of John the Baptist who believed that HE was the messiah. Jesus would later characterize him as "Elijah" after the event of the transfiguration. [Matt. 17:12-13].
All of Jesus' earthly life and ministry and, indeed, God's plan of salvation crowds into the nativity scene as a kind of background to give significance to his birth. The shepherds and the Magi receive the "Good News" (the former from angels and the latter from the star) and proclaim it to others. Along with them and John the Baptist, we are called to do the same. AMEN