From John to Jesus the New Order

The Christmas story of the miracle birth of Jesus really starts with the story of the miracle birth of John the Baptist. John’s father, Zacharias, was a priest of the line of Aaron, so John was of the priestly line being the firstborn son of a priest (and prophet). The miracle birth of Jesus was ordained to follow the miracle birth of John after three months, and Mary travelled the 200K to be with Elizabeth in Hebron until the birth of John.

THE PROPHECY OF ZACHARIAS
Luke 1:66 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. So the child (John) grew and became strong in the Spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
(when he met Jesus (John1:29) and baptized him in the Jordan river).

THE PRIESTLY MINISTRY IN ISRAEL
The ministry of the priest in Israel was an absolutely essential ministry as it allowed him to stand between God and the people of God to offer sacrifice for their sins, and to symbolically and also ceremoniously cleanse the people from their impurities. The ministry of a prophet was to stand between God and the people of God and proclaim God’s living and active word to them. The highest and most important duty of the high priest was to pronounce the cleansing of the entire Nation of Israel once every year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In Jesus Christ there was to arrive a new order of priesthood and a new order of the prophetic ministry. However, at the time of the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan, the high priestly ministry (shared between Caiaphas and Annas) had been corrupted, and they despised both John and Jesus and were in time part of the conspiracy to have them put to death. So how was the new order of priest and prophet to pass from the old order to the new Eternal order?

Who was the man, in the priestly line of Aaron that was already, as prophesied that he would, preaching the repentance and the remission of sins, and cleansing the people from their sins in the Jordan? Who was prophetically proclaiming that the promised Messiah had indeed come to be amongst them, the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the entire world?
John was the most significant link between the Old and the new Covenants in this respect. The torch could not be passed on by Caiaphas or Annas who shared the high priesthood, the ones who would plan the death of Jesus. So John was the only priest of the line of Aaron worthy to pass a high priestly order on to Jesus, as well as the prophetic mantle, in the waters of Jordan when he baptized Jesus.

THE NEW ETERNAL PRIESTLY MINISTRY OF JESUS
Hebrews 7:15 Jesus who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning a line of bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is testified of him,: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (the Eternal priesthood)
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
25 And because he continues forever he has an unchangeable priesthood, consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost (fully achieves every goal and purpose) those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.