What, then, will this child be? Right from his conception to his birth, it was clear that John the Baptist was no ordinary individual. He was conceived of parents who were past the age of childbearing. His father lost the ability to speak throughout the entire period of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. When the time came for the child to be given a name, contrary to tradition, he was given a name that was unknown even to his family. And as soon as Zechariah had confirmed that the child’s name was John, his tongue was suddenly loosened and he broke out in a song of praise. John was no ordinary child, and his life was not going to be ordinary either. Those gathered to rejoice over his birth were right to be seized by fear, for John was coming with a refiner’s fire to purify the sons and daughters of Israel (cf. Malachi 3:1-3). 
John’s emergence was to be a fulfillment of a prophecy: the appearance of Elijah whose main responsibility would be the preparation of the hearts of the people for the reception of the Messiah of God. It was a task that was not going to be easy by all accounts, for the hearts of the people were no longer turned towards the Lord their God. As a prophet, John was coming to remind the people of what they loathed the most: that they had to walk in righteousness and fear of the Lord lest the Lord be moved to strike their land with doom. John was coming to remind the people of something that the people would have loved to forget: that the day was coming when every man and woman would answer for how they had lived their lives. As the much dreaded Elijah, John’s coming would usher in that period when men and women would be given an opportunity to make a choice, either for or against the Lord. Those who will make a choice for the Lord would be saved, and those who will reject the Lord will perish as did the prophets of Baal during Elijah’s time.
The role that John the Baptist was sent to play is a reminder of how the Lord never forgets God’s people. John’s ministry of preparing the hearts of the people for the reception of the anointed one of God is a demonstration of the lengths to which God would go in order to secure salvation for God’s people. May we take advantage of God’s mercy and hearken to God’s call to come back to God since only in God is our salvation assured.