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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come to His people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David (as He said through His holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember His holy covenant, the oath He swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.”
“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising Sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Luke 1:67-80
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Zechariah’s heart was full of gratitude and praise.
Having gone through the inability to speak for more than nine months, a punishment from God for his display of unbelief after receiving a revelation from the angel Gabriel, the priest suddenly was able to speak again after simply writing these words on a tablet as his miraculous son was circumcised:
“His name is John.”
As his tongue was set free and he was “filled with the Holy Spirit”, Zechariah proceeded to give thanks to God, a song of thanksgiving captured in the final verses of Luke, chapter 1. Here’s what Zechariah said about what was to come and how his son John would play an important part in God’s plan of salvation for His people:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come to His people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember His holy covenant, the oath He swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.”
“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising Sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Luke 1:68-79
Let’s look at three specific ways that Zechariah lifted up adoration to God.
1. He adored Him as the great Redeemer.
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come to His people and redeemed them.”
From as far back as their rescue from the clutches of Egypt and their Pharaoh, God had continuously delivered His people, the Israelites, preserving them as He had promised through His covenants with Abraham, Noah, and David (more on that in a minute).
Unfortunately, those deliverances were only temporary as the Israelites were still trapped in sin that they themselves could not permanently atone for. And so God, their great Redeemer, established a new covenant, one that would bring final atonement to anyone who would believe in His Son Jesus who He sent from Heaven and earth to be the Savior of the world.
And this takes us to the second thing Zechariah praised God for.
2. He adored Him as the great Savior.
“He (God) has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David (as He said through His holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember His holy covenant, the oath He swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.”
In Jesus, God raised up the “horn of salvation” who was in the line of David as foretold by Zechariah and the other holy prophets before. This salvation would fulfill the covenants of old, like the promise made to Abraham, while saving God’s people from the hatred of their enemies, chief of which was Satan himself.
Through the salvation established by Jesus, all people, Jew or Gentile, could serve the Lord “without fear” and “in holiness and righteousness” for all their days for God had made the way for them to have an everlasting hope and promise of eternal life, a victory that no adversary could ever take from them.
3. He adored Him for the special purpose his son John was born for.
“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising Sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Finally, we find Zechariah praising God for the amazing promised future his son John would have, a future that included:
- Becoming a “prophet of the Most High”.
- Preparing the way for Jesus.
- Providing God’s people “knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins”.
- Ensuring people understood the “tender mercy” of their God.
- Sharing the good news of Jesus, the Sun who would be the Light of the world, the promised One who came to be the Prince that would guide the people’s “feet into the path of peace”
As the chapter ends, the scriptures tell us that as John grew up, he “became strong in spirit”, living “in the wilderness” until he would make his public appearance to fulfill the plan God had for him, the proclaiming of Jesus’ coming and His subsequent baptizing.
With Christmas only a few days away now, I pray that we will join with Zechariah by praising God for being our great Redeemer, great Savior, and the One who has specially purposed us all to do wonderful works to advance His holy Kingdom here on earth by sharing the Gospel and striving to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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