Joseph had probably died, and the care of Mary fell especially on Jesus.  But in the carpenter’s shop, in the home, and wherever He was, He had thoughts and feelings and purposes hidden from all others.  They were such as no mere human being could have.  He was alone in the world.  In silence and solitude His communions were with His Father in heaven.  Calmness and peace filled His soul.  His great work was before Him, ever present to His thought.  So was His cross, and the glory which should come to God, and the blessedness to man, when His work on earth was done.  As John long after declared, “He was in the world and the world knew Him not.”  As a great King He had come from heaven, and was waiting for a certain one to proclaim His coming.  Toward that herald let us turn and with John listen to his voice.

CHAPTER IX

"The Prophet of the Most High"

“Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, ...  “Yea, and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High:  For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready His ways.”—­Luke i. 67, 76.

     “There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John.  The same
     came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all
     men might believe through him.”—­John i. 6, 7.

     “He was the lamp that burneth and shineth.”—­John v. 35.

     “In devotional pictures we see St. John the Evangelist and St. John
     the Baptist standing together, one on each side of Christ.”—­Mrs.
     Jameson.

Salome and Mary had a cousin named Elizabeth.  Her home was not in Galilee, but in Judaea—­the southern part of the Holy Land—­probably near Hebron, possibly near Jerusalem.  She had a son also named John.  He was so called because the angel Gabriel, who had told Mary to call her son Jesus, had said to Zacharias, an aged high priest, the husband of Elizabeth, concerning their son, “Thou shalt call his name John.”  This name means “The Gift of God.”  Born in their old age he seemed especially such to them.  He was a gift not only to his parents, but to his country and mankind.  While Zebedee and Salome had not been told what their John should become, Zacharias and Elizabeth had been told the future of their John.  The angel declared, “He shall be great.”  Had he said only this, we might think he meant great in power, or learning, or in other things which men call great, but which the Lord does not.  Gabriel said, “He shall be great in the sight of the Lord.”

Mary visited the home of Elizabeth and the happy cousins praised God for what He had revealed to them concerning their sons.

The greatness to which Elizabeth’s son was to attain was that of a prophet—­greater than Elijah, or Isaiah, or any other who had lived before him.  With exultation Zacharias said to him, “Thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High.”