NOTES for Luk 1:57-66
On the day of the Nativity of John the Baptist, the Church offers us readings that tell of the relationship between God and His chosen people. And although John is first mentioned only in the New Testament, he has the most direct connection with all the preceding history of Israel. Sometimes he is spoken of as the last prophet of the Old Testament, and this is truly so. Being the son of one of the priests of the Jerusalem Temple, he became heir to all the piety of the Old Testament, and not only by origin. He experienced an encounter with the Lord even before his birth into the world, and the Lord called him "from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him" (Isa. 49:5).
John continued to carry out his service to God, calling people to repentance, even after the beginning of Christ's preaching. But by his actions he "fulfilled," that is, brought to fullness, what the whole people of Israel had been called to do during the Old Testament period: to live before God and bear witness to the world about the coming Savior. He shows the fullest possible holiness for God's people: the closest possible approach to God by human strength. But as the Lord Himself said, "among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he" (Matt. 11:11), because our efforts alone are not enough. And the Lord wants us to make efforts, to try as much as possible to draw near to Him, and He will fill up the rest by coming to us.