"Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,"
Says the LORD of hosts.

Malachi 3:1

"Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,
Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel,
With the statutes and judgments.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."
Malachi 4:4-6

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, "to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Luke 1:13-17

Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.

Matthew 17:11-13

Jesus said that John the Baptist had come as the Elijah-like preacher predicted by the prophet Malachi. Now, consider what the Bible said about his parents:

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. (Luke 1:5-7)

They were both descended from priests, righteous before God, blameless. They were Spirit-filled keepers of the Covenant. In v. 15, "He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb." Later, in v. 41, "And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." It is also said of Zacharias, "Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied" (v. 67).

In v. 13, the angel told Zecharias that his prayer was heard. So, they had been praying for a child. And now he would receive a son filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

Now, we are all born guilty and sinful, even John. Yet, this child was considered holy. As 1 Corinthians 7:14 said, "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy."

The angel had said that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb, and, three months before he would be born (v. 36), "when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb" (v. 41). Elizabeth told Mary, "For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy" (v. 44).

Elizabeth indicated that John, three months before he was born, being filled with the Spirit, recognized the presence of the newly conceived Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and responded with joy.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months (v. 56). Then, when John was born, Zacharias said of him, ""And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord [who would be born in six more months] to prepare His ways" (v. 76).

So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.

Luke 1:80