A text – Luke 1:67-79
67 Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied:
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his child David,
70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors and has remembered his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness in his presence all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79 to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
A reflection:
Zechariah was John the Baptist’s father. He and his wife Elizabeth were old and childless. But the angel Gabriel came to him and announced that they would have a son, called John, who would be a prophet for the Lord. Just as when Abraham and Sarah were told they too would have a son in their old age and Sarah laughed at the thought, Zechariah was skeptical about the angel’s promise. And so the angel Gabriel took the man’s voice away. Later, when Elizabeth gave birth and they were about to name the baby Zechariah after his father, Zechariah regained his voice, saying “His name will be John.” His speech returned, and he prophsied this beautiful psalm in praise of the faithfulness of God.
In verses 76 and 77, Zechariah speaks to his son John, calling him a prophet and predicting his destiny. John went before Jesus to prepare his way, giving people knowledge of salvation, forgiving sins. Then the lovely line: “Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” If you ever want to think of what the love of God can do, say those two verses from Luke out loud. They describe a kind of spiritual bliss that can come over a person in the very worst of circumstances. They describe knowing something higher and more beautiful than we can even imagine, something that is a gift we cannot earn but something that is poured out on us. God’s peace.
May you experience that tender mercy, that dawn, that light in the darkness, that peace during this season.
A prayer :
Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for the psalm that Zechariah spoke when he regained his voice. Thank you for the words of beauty that John the Baptist’s father created as his son was dedicated to his destiny. Help us to know that what God promises gets delivered, and that praise like this is our natural response to the faithfulness of God. Amen.
Short Dwellings in the Word by Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison 