The Prologue by Andrew Nash
“... for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.” (Luke 1:76-77)
What is this all about? That’s both the purpose and the challenge of a good introduction.
Many good stories have a prologue or opening that serves to sum up the story before it gets going. In “Romeo and Juliet,” the prologue lets you know in the opening sonnet that it’s about two kids from opposing families who will commit suicide and end their parents’ rivalry. The opening paragraph of “A Tale of Two Cities” serves the same function: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” The Dark Tower series by Stephen King opens: “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” These beginnings explain what is to come.
Zechariah’s story in Luke 1 serves both as a self-contained story and as the answer to “What is this all about?” It’s a foreshadowing of Luke’s Gospel.
In the most basic of reading, Zechariah is declaring the birth of a prophesied child and to proclaim his purpose in God’s vision. This story of John the Baptist goes before the larger story of Jesus and underscores and foreshadows what is to come in the rest of Luke – the birth of a prophesied child and to proclaim his purpose in God’s vision.
Zechariah’s prophetic prologue comes into clearer vision in the final verses. While ostensibly about John, it foreshadows the life of Jesus. To paraphrase the end of the passage: He is coming to give God’s people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, to shine on those living in hard times, and to guide our feet into the path of peace.
It’s about John the Baptist, but not really. John the Baptist is the prologue; Jesus is the story.