And thou, child ... - Zechariah predicts in this and the following verses the dignity, the employment, and the success of John. He declares what would be the subject of his preaching, and what his success.

Prophet of the Highest - Prophet of God; a prophet "appointed by God" to declare his will, and to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.

The face of the Lord - The Lord Jesus, the Messiah, that was about to appear. To go before "the face of one" is the same as to go immediately before one, or to be immediately followed by another.

To prepare his ways - This is taken from Isaiah 40:3. See the Matthew 3:3 niote, and Isaiah 40:3 note.

And thou, child, etc. - Zacharias proclaims the dignity, employment, doctrine, and success of his son; and the ruin and recovery of the Jews and the Gentiles.

1. His dignity. Thou shalt be called (constituted) a prophet of the Most High. Prophet has two acceptations: -

1st. A person who foretells future events; and;

2dly. A teacher of men in the things of God, 1 Corinthians 14:3.

John was a prophet in both senses: he proclaimed the mercy which should be communicated; announced the baptism of the Holy Spirit; and taught men how to leave their sins, and how to find the salvation of God. See Luke 3:5-14. His very name, Jehochanan, the grace or mercy of Jehovah, (see Luke 1:60), was a constant prediction of the salvation of God. Our Lord terms him the greatest prophet which had ever appeared in the world. He had the honor of being the last and clearest prophet of the old covenant, and the first of the new.

2. His employment. Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. He should be the immediate forerunner of Jesus Christ, none being capable of succeeding him in his ministry but Christ himself. He was to prepare his ways, to be the honored instrument, in the hands of God, of disposing the hearts of multitudes of the Israelites to believe in and follow the Lord Jesus.

3. Zacharias points out the doctrine or teaching of John. It should be γνωσις σωτηριας, the science of salvation. Men are ignorant, and they must be instructed. Human sciences may be profitable in earthly matters, but cannot profit the soul. The science that teaches God must come from God. No science is of any avail to the soul that does not bring salvation with it: this is the excellence of heavenly science, and an excellence that is peculiar to itself. No science but that which comes from God can ever save a soul from the power, the guilt, and the pollution of sin.

4. Zacharias predicts the success of his son's ministry. Under his preaching, the people should be directed to that tender mercy of God, through which they might obtain the remission of their sins, Luke 1:77, Luke 1:78. Those who are sent by God, and preach his truth, and his only, shall always be successful in their work; for it is for this very purpose that God has sent them; and it would be a marvelous thing, indeed, should they labor in vain. But there never was such a case, since God made man, in which a preacher was Divinely commissioned to preach Jesus and his salvation, and yet had no fruit of his labor.

5. Zacharias points out the wretched state in which the inhabitants of Judea and the Gentile world were then found.

1. Their feet had wandered out of the way of peace, (Luke 1:79), of temporal and spiritual prosperity.

2. They had got into a state of darkness - they were blind concerning the things of God, and the things which belonged to their salvation.

3. They had become contented inhabitants of this land of intellectual darkness - they had sat down in it, and were not concerned to get out of it.

4. They were about to perish in it - death had his dominion there; and his swift approaches to them were now manifested to the prophet by seeing his shadow cast upon them.

Ignorance of God and salvation is the shadow of death; and the substance, eternal ruin, is essentially connected with the projected shadow. See these phrases explained at large on Matthew 4:16 (note).

continued...

And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest,.... Here Zacharias turns himself to his son John, though an infant, and incapable of knowing what was said to him; and for the sake of those that were present, describes his office and work; and says, that he should be "called", that is, that he should "be", and be accounted a "prophet": for he was not only a preacher of Christ and his Gospel, but he also foretold the coming of the Messiah; and the vengeance that should fall on the Jewish nation, for their unfruitfulness, impenitence, and unbelief: and the Prophet "of the Highest"; that is, of God; as the Persic version renders it, of the most high God; and by whom is meant, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose prophet, harbinger, and forerunner John was; and so is a proof of Christ being the supreme, or most high God:

for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare his ways; as the angel had suggested in Luke 1:17 and as was prophesied of him in Isaiah 11:3. See Gill on Matthew 3:3.

And thou, {m} child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

(m) Though you be at this present time ever so little.

1:76 Thou, child. The babe, John, before him.

The Highest. The Most High is an epithet in Scripture only of the supreme God.

1:76 And thou, child - He now speaks to John; yet not as a parent, but as a prophet.

76-79. Here are the dying echoes of this song; and very beautiful are these closing notes-like the setting sun, shorn indeed of its noontide radiance, but skirting the horizon with a wavy and quivering light-as of molten gold-on which the eye delights to gaze, till it disappears from the view. The song passes not here from Christ to John, but only from Christ direct to Christ as heralded by His forerunner.

thou child-not "my son"-this child's relation to himself being lost in his relation to a Greater than either.

prophet of the Highest; for thou shalt go before him-that is, "the Highest." As "the Most High" is an epithet in Scripture only of the supreme God, it is inconceivable that inspiration should apply this term, as here undeniably, to Christ, unless He were "God over all blessed for ever" (Ro 9:5).

1:67-80 Zacharias uttered a prophecy concerning the kingdom and salvation of the Messiah. The gospel brings light with it; in it the day dawns. In John the Baptist it began to break, and increased apace to the perfect day. The gospel is discovering; it shows that about which we were utterly in the dark; it is to give light to those that sit in darkness, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It is reviving; it brings light to those that sit in the shadow of death, as condemned prisoners in the dungeon. It is directing; it is to guide our feet in the way of peace, into that way which will bring us to peace at last, Ro 3:17. John gave proofs of strong faith, vigorous and holy affections, and of being above the fear and love of the world. Thus he ripened for usefulness; but he lived a retired life, till he came forward openly as the forerunner of the Messiah. Let us follow peace with all men, as well as seek peace with God and our own consciences. And if it be the will of God that we live unknown to the world, still let us diligently seek to grow strong in the grace of Jesus Christ.