“67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and 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.
80 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.” Luke 1: 67-79.
Like a melody in a musical overture, Zechariah’s prophecy hints at things to come, while reflecting refrains from long before.
Together with other “songs” in Luke — such as the songs of Mary (Luke 1:46-55), the heavenly host (1:14) and Simeon (1:29-32) — Zechariah’s contribution to the musical score offers a symphony of praise to the God who is, who has been, and who always will be working among God’s people.
The prophecy previews several claims of this Gospel:
God remains faithful to God’s promises
God’s way is salvation
God’s path is peace.
As was true for Sarah and Abraham before them, Zechariah and Elizabeth are old, well past the age of childbearing (Luke 1:7); nevertheless, God has given them a son, John, whose life is caught up in the designs of God. John “will be great in the sight of the Lord…and he will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God” (1:15-16). On the eighth day after John’s birth, his parents bring him to the Temple for naming and circumcision, and Zechariah answers the question that is on everyone’s hearts: “What then will this child become?” (Luke 1:65-66).
We learn three (3) things of great importance in this Song of Zechariah.
1. God remains faithful to God’s promisesFilled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah’s song begins with words of praise from the psalms (“Blessed be the Lord,” Psalms 41:14; 72:18; 106:48). God’s promises have come “from of old” through the prophets (1:70), given first to “our ancestors” (1:72) in an oath sworn to “our ancestor Abraham.” This is no distant God, content to set the world in motion and then to leave it alone. This is the God who comes “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:79), the God who has raised up a savior for us. The promise given long ago through the birth, naming, and circumcision of John is the same as the promise given today: God is active among God’s people, here and now.
2. God’s way is salvationJust as Mary praises God as Savior (Luke 1:47) and Simeon rejoices at seeing God’s salvation in the infant Jesus (2:30), Zechariah blesses the one who has “raised up a horn of salvation for us.” Before long, the day will come when his own son will prepare the way for God’s son, participating in God’s mission of salvation by calling people to repentance for the forgiveness of sins (1:77; 3:3,6). It is a mighty task to be prophet of the Most High (1:76; see also 7:28), and the rulers of the age will not go easy on him–John will eventually be thrown into prison and beheaded by the king (9:9).
But on this day, when John is barely a week old, his father is filled with the hope that accompanies new life. It is the hope of salvation for all people: Jews and Gentiles, insiders and outsiders, rich and poor, blind and lame, tax collectors and sinners, women and men, old and young, fishermen and farmers, Samaritans and soldiers, lepers and lawyers, and many others. As Zechariah waits, as we all wait, for the unfolding of God’s purposes in John, we look ahead to the one who is more powerful than he (3:16), the one who is to come, whose own name portends that all flesh shall see the salvation of God (3:6).
3. God’s path is peaceLong before Zechariah, Isaiah spoke words that resonate today as much as they did for those who awaited a Messiah: “The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths. Their roads they have made crooked; no one who walks in them knows peace. “(Isaiah 59:8-9). As if in response, Zechariah sings a declaration of God’s purpose as a message of hope to a world in danger of losing hope: “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78-79). The heavenly host gives divine affirmation to this purpose when the angels sing at Jesus’ birth, “Glory to God…and on earth peace among those whom he favors” (Luke 2:14; cf. 19:38). Simeon does, too, as he holds the infant Jesus in his arms (2:29).
By the time of Luke’s Gospel, the Romans have destroyed the Jerusalem Temple, and news about Jesus has begun to spread beyond Palestine to pockets around the Roman Empire. The message of God’s peace comes to a world more practiced at the art of warfare than it is at the craft of reconciliation, and doesn’t that truth sound familiar to us today? God’s peace stands in striking contrast to the peace of the Roman Caesars, during whose reign John and Jesus are both born and executed.
Luke uses the word “peace” more often than the other three Gospels combined. Indeed, God’s peace is a message that frames the beginning and end of this Gospel and permeates its message throughout. In the end, Zechariah’s song is not simply a way to announce the birth of John the Baptist, but rather to proclaim God’s faithfulness, God’s salvation, and God’s peace.
During the remaining hours of this season of Advent, as we remember again the birth of the Savior of the world, we can pray together with Zechariah, “Blessed by the Lord God of Israel.” Let that be your prayer today.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
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