5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. 8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” 18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

At a wedding ceremony, the father of the bride is hardly the center piece. Hundreds of people pile into the wedding hall, hear the wedding march, and rise onto their tiptoes to watch the bride enter the room (oh yeah and there’s the groom also). While the father of the bride is not the centerpiece of the wedding day, he does play one of the most critical roles in all the events leading up to that wedding ceremony. His God-given responsibility is to prepare his daughter for another. To make her ready. To teach, to lead, to guide, to counsel, to correct, to train, to care for, to love, to value, to protect his daughter in order to make her ready for her new husband. 

Here in this text, God specifically calls out the role and duty that John the Baptist was to fulfill— ordained even before his birth. 

Luke 1:15-17 says "for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."

What a powerful and humbling duty. To make ready God’s people for the Lord their God. 

God specifically calls out John the Baptist in a special role and duty to proclaim the coming King. Similarly, God also calls us to be a “city on a hill”, a “light in the darkness”, and delights in “how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news” (Isaiah 52:7). It’s a call for us to be others-centered and God-centered. To consider the needs of others before our own (our spouses, our children, our covenant members, our roommates— the totality of our friendships and relationships), and to point them to their true Treasure. And it is nothing but a privilege— to play a small humble nameless and faceless part in serving people and leading them to the holy presence of the God they love.