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Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students
his birth the Holy Spirit testified of John: “He shall be great in the
sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and
he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.... And many of the children
of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before
Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers
to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:15-17
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In his prophecy Zacharias said of John, “Thou, child, shalt be
called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of
the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto
His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy
of our God; whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us, to
give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the way of peace.” And Luke adds, “The child
grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day
of his showing unto Israel.”
Luke 1:76-80
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It was John’s choice to forgo the enjoyments and luxuries of city
life for the stern discipline of the wilderness. Here his surroundings
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were favorable to habits of simplicity and self-denial. Uninterrupted
by the clamor of the world, he could here study the lessons of nature,
of revelation, and of providence. The words of the angel to Zacharias
had been often repeated by his God-fearing parents. From childhood
his mission had been kept before him, and he accepted the holy trust.
To him the solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from society
in which suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well-nigh
all-pervading. He distrusted his own power to withstand temptation
and shrank from constant contact with sin lest he should lose the
sense of its exceeding sinfulness.
But the life of John was not spent in idleness, in ascetic gloom, or
in selfish isolation. From time to time he went forth to mingle with
men, and he was ever an interested observer of what was passing
in the world. From his quiet retreat he watched the unfolding of
events. With vision illuminated by the divine Spirit, he studied the
characters of men, that he might understand how to reach their hearts
with the message of heaven.
Of Christ, Simeon said, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart in peace, according to Thy word: for mine eyes have seen Thy
salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people;