Two of the four gospels, Matthew and Luke, include an account of the conception and birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Unlike Matthew, Luke also includes the birth of John the Baptist. Luke set the details of Jesus’ nativity alongside John’s so as to encourage the reader to compare them. The observant reader will conclude that Jesus is greater than John, infinitely greater. John was called the prophet of the Highest (1:76), but Jesus, the Son of the Highest
(1:32). John gave the knowledge of salvation, but Jesus is the salvation of which John bore witness. John made ready a people prepared for the Lord (1:17); Jesus is the Lord (2:11).
During John the Baptist’s ministry as the forerunner of Christ, people wondered whether or not John was the Christ, the Messiah (3:15). Luke answers the question very earlier on by comparing and contrasting the details surrounding John’s birth with that of Jesus. John was not the Christ but His forerunner.