For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord - i:e., great officially beyond all the prophets that went before him (as is evident from Matthew 11:11). In personal character John was indeed among the greatest of men; but it is the supereminent dignity of his office, as Messiah's Forerunner, that is here meant.
And shall drink neither wine nor strong drink - that is he, shall be a Nazarite, or ' separated one.' See Numbers 6:1, etc. As the leper was the living symbol of sin, so was the Nazarite of holiness: nothing inflaming was to cross his lips; no razor was to come on his head; no ceremonial defilement was to be contracted. Thus was he to be ceremonially "holy to the Lord all the days of his separation." In ordinary cases this separation was voluntary and temporary: we read of three only who were Nazarites from the womb-Samson (Judges 13:7), Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11), and here John Baptist. It was fitting that the utmost severity of legal consecration should be in the Forerunner. In Christ Himself we see the REALITY and PERFECTION of the Nazarite without the symbol, which perished in that living realization of it. "Such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, SEPARATE FROM SINNERS" (Hebrews 7:26).
And he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 1:18 ), even from his mother's womb - a holy vessel for future service. This is never said of the supernatural endowments of ungodly men; and indeed of John it is expressly said that he "did no miracle" (John 10:41). Nor can the reference be to inspiration, because this does not appear to have come upon John until his public ministry commenced, when "the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness" (Luke 3:2). It is sanctification from the womb-a truth of high import in personal Christianity, of weighty bearing on the standing of the infants of believers in the Church of God, and ministering precious encouragement to religious parents.