Wednesday, December 15, 2021

ZECHARIAH: THE PRAISE

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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 today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It had been months since he was able to speak, months since he encountered the angel Gabriel in God’s temple while performing his priestly duties in the Holy of Holies. If only he hadn’t doubted God when Gabriel shared that he and Elizabeth were going to have a son. He had to feel ashamed over his lack of faith in a God who He knew could do all things. After all, he was a priest. How could he have questioned whether God could do what He said He was going to do?

These thoughts had to be racing through the mind of Zechariah as he paid the price for his lack of trust in the God who he had served and been so faithful to through the years.

But what was done was done and all Zechariah could do was wait for the opportunity to be obedient to the Lord and show he was ready to be restored to His favor, given a second chance to be righteous in His sight. Zechariah knew how long he would have to wait. Gabriel told him so. And so eight days after his baby boy was born, the time had come for him to be circumcised and named. Everyone thought the boy would be named after his father but Elizabeth quickly made it known that the baby would be named John, a proclamation that Zechariah validated through words he wrote on a writing tablet, words of conformity with what God had told him to do, words that led to him receiving his voice again.

So what was the theme of those first words that Zechariah spoke after being muted for so long?

The scriptures tell us that they were words of praise and as we see in today’s passage, Zechariah had a lot to thank the Lord for. Look again at his words here:

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

Yes, Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, lifted his voice in praise, thanking the Lord for:

1. Coming to His people.

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come to His people.”

2. Redeeming His people.

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has redeemed them.”

3. Raising up the horn of salvation (the horn was symbolic of power and majesty that would be found in Jesus who was coming to bring salvation to all mankind).

“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.”

4. Showing mercy to His people.

“to show mercy to our ancestors”

5. Remembering His covenant with His people.

“to remember His holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham”

6. Rescuing His people from their enemies.

“to rescue us from the hand of our enemies”

and

7. Enabling His people to serve Him fearlessly in holiness and righteousness for all their days.

“to enable us to serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.”

He then turned his praise toward his newborn son and who he would become in the big scheme of God’s plan of salvation for all people. Specifically, Zechariah showed gratitude and appreciation that John would be called a prophet of the Most High as he would come on the scene before Jesus to “prepare the way for Him” and “to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins”. Through John’s work, the people of God who were “living in darkness” would see first-hand the “rising sun” who came from heaven to shine on them and guide their “feet into the path of peace.”

And indeed, John would do just that after he grew up and became strong in spirit, living in the wilderness until he emerged to fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah when he wrote:

“A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”  Isaiah 40:3

Zechariah had endured his quandary, accepted the proposition from Gabriel, and experienced the resolution of his quandary, leading him to a point of praise through the Holy Spirit.

As we go through life, we can find ourselves following the same model and maybe that’s a good thing because we’re reminded how very much alive the Lord is in and around us, never compromising His expectation that we remain obedient to Him and His word, correcting us when we choose sin over righteousness but offering us a path to redemption, a path that leads us to resolve His issues with us. All this is accomplished in the spirit of love and forgiveness while returning us to His favor, an act which leads us back to a place of praise and thanksgiving for all He is, all He has been, and all He is yet to be.

Tomorrow, we’ll see where Zechariah wasn’t the only New Testament figure who worked through the quandary, proposition, resolution, and praise process. Joseph, the man who would marry Mary and become the earthly father of Jesus, would go through it as well.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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