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-- THE WORK OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
To give his people
the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun
will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in
the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert
until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Apparently reiterating the message of the angel which was based on Malachi's prophecy and also that of Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3 onwards), Zachariah now confirms that John the Baptist was to prepare the way for the appearance of Jesus. Apparently, it was the custom in those days, when a king or other VIP was visiting, for a team of workmen to go ahead and make sure that the road was clear, free of large potholes, leveled and suitable for the coming caravan -- and perhaps that is the intended metaphor here.
Notice also the implication of Zachariah's phrase: "you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him" -- which identifies Jesus as the Lord himself, as God. The Jews did not understand this, and no doubt they expected the Messiah to be just another man, great as he might be, another Abraham, David or Moses.
Zachariah then compares the coming of Jesus to the rising of the sun that sustains life on earth, saying: "The rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness". Truth and knowledge are always compared to light shining in the darkness -- and perhaps it is not surprising that many pagan religions saw a comparison between the sun and God, the giver of life. The inspired metaphor appears to be that just as the sun radiates physical life-sustaining energy down to the Earth, so God sends the power of the Holy Spirit from Heaven to energize and illuminate his followers.
Yet again Zachariah's words are rooted in the Old Testament, and again in the scary message of Malachi, who says, speaking of the very end when the wicked will be destroyed: "The day is coming that will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire . . . But for you who revere my name, The sun of righteousness will arise with healing in its wings" (Malachi 4:1-2).
Priests undertook their service at the mature age of 30, and so it appears that John, the son of a priest, began to preach in publicly at the appropriate time -- possibly taking his message of human mortality and death and the need for salvation from the aforementioned prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 40:6-7).
In summary, there are two halves to the gospel -- JESUS is the Saviour of the world, and CHRIST, at his return, will be the ruler of the world.