Luke 1:65-66 :

Fear came on all who lived around them, and all these sayings were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?”

Another thing to see about faith is that it has an effect on those around us. When we have faith, God does great things and when God does great things, people talk. This is how Christianity spreads.

I like how it says that the people who heard the news, laid it “up in their hearts” for later. John’s ministry was to be a ministry of preparation and already, the Holy Spirit had used the circumstances surrounding his birth to get people thinking. This could be one of the biggest reasons why God made Zacharias and Elizabeth wait abnormally long to have children. By doing this, God made it clear that this child was a very special one and one that should be considered as to what he will become.

As we watch the events of John’s life play out, we see who is really in charge of things. Everything points back to God and what He wanted to happen. Even though the events seem quite natural, God is clearly bringing them about to do exactly what He predicted. This is one of the wonderful things about our Creator. He made things the way He wanted and He made it seem so natural. God doesn’t usually use “shock” as a way to move things in His direction. When God does use strange events, He is often counteracting evil in some way. I think that this is evidence that God intended nature to just be naturally good. Something disturbed nature that required intervention. This reveals some of the special characteristics of God such as His righteous judgments, His wrath, His mercy, His patience and His grace which, without sin in the world, are difficult to demonstrate.

During this miraculous time of Jesus’ arrival as a child to earth, it is easy to see why this revival was important. God was making it very clear that this was a very special time and wanted to give a strong wake up call to the world. John was to be that call.