The birth of John the Baptist was the first recorded miracle in over 800 years. The announcement by Gabriel to Zacharias that his wife Elizabeth would have a baby boy was the first recorded communication from God in over 400 years. This amazing story breaks into history with the same forcefulness that John the Baptist himself would display in his ministry as the one sent by God to prepare the way for His Son, Jesus Christ.

As Zacharias says to his infant son in Luke 1:76-79 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of  the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

In this message entitled The Forerunner, The Opening Miracle of the Coming of the Messiah, Larry Barclay  brings the story to life for us.