Nativity of Saint John the Baptist seen in the emphasis Luke gives to the announcement of his birth and the event itself, both set in prominent parallel to the same occurrences in the life of Jesus. The sole biblical account of the birth of John the Baptist comes from the Gospel of Luke. John's parents, Zechariah or "Zachary" — a Jewish priest — and Elizabeth, were without children and both were beyond the age of child-bearing. During Zechariah's rotation to serve in the Temple in Jerusalem, he was chosen by lot to offer incense at the Golden Altar in the Holy Place. The Archangel Gabriel appeared
Gospel of Peter as the text that was discovered in modern times.<ref name="e/p 371">Ehrman and Pleše 2011, p. 371.</ref> The Rhossus community had already been using it in their liturgy. John Dominic Crossan disagrees with most Biblical scholarship. Calling this gospel the "cross gospel", Crossan believes that this Gospel was written before the synoptic gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, and considers Peter to be a forerunner to those gospels. Crossan's view is not accepted by other Biblical scholars. Later Western references, which condemn the work, such as Jerome and "Decretum Gelasianum", traditionally connected to Pope Gelasius I, are apparently based upon the