Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24; Ps 25 Lift up your head and see your redemption is at hand; Luke 1:57-66
The gospel writer gazes toward the coming of Christ but first recognizes the birth of John the Baptizer.
"When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son."
It is interesting to note that the gospel speaks of the time arriving when John is born. A natural progression unfolds, first she conceived then she gives birth.
Yet, when St. Paul speaks of the birth of Jesus his terminology is a little different. In Galatians 4:4 St. Paul writes, "When the time had fully come, God sent forth his son."
John comes but Jesus is sent. John arrives on time but Jesus comes in the fullness of time. Time, when the history of salvation is concerned, is filled with many events, but its center and summit is the mystery of Christ.
It is the mystery of Christ, the one who is to come in the fullness of time, that gives meaning to all the rest.
John arrives on time but Jesus comes to fill time with a new dimension, a new dawn "from on high that will shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death and guide our feet to the way of peace" as the Canticle of Zechariah reminds us each morning, a canticle proclaimed when the the time had arrived and John the Baptist was born, the child who was to prepare the way for the fullness of time.
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