That priest and his wife, who was also born of the priestly clan, had prayed and waited for so many years! They just had the bare minimum prayer: to have a prodigy to preserve their lineage! Yet, heaven was silent until finally man had given up. Then, when he least expected it, there arrives an angel from heaven. The Ark of the Covenant was gone long before! The priests at that time were offering incense in front of a curtain which covered the Holy of Holies that was empty, imagining that God's presence was there inside. Zechariah also did the same. The message he received there was to go home and join his wife. "Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John." - The angel said.
The child would be his prodigy. But at the same time, he would not be his prodigy! By saying that the child's name would not be Zachariah, but John, what we hear is that he would not be a priest who would offer incense before a veiled void. Rather, he would be ministering before the real presence of the Spirit and Truth. He would not be cleansing the Holy of Holies with the water from the pool of Siloam, but with the flowing waters of the River Jordan. He would not be a priest of shadow. Rather, he would be a priest of reality. Thus, although he was a priest born in the priestly lineage according to the order, he did not take up the priesthood of the temple but exercised another priesthood of the wilderness. Like Elijah, he became a priest and prophet one and the same time. Still, unlike Elijah he did not sacrifice bulls - but himself!
When he was acclimated to be the greatest of those born of women, it wasn't an empty praise!
