Thoughts for the Day

Zechariah’s Prophecy

Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:

‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a mighty saviour for us
in the house of his servant David,
 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
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 in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

As we saw yesterday at the birth of Elizabeth's son his father Zechariah gets his voice back when he agrees to call him John, the name the angel had given him (Luke 1.5-20 and 57-66). As we also saw with Elizabeth and Mary, so too with Zechariah, he is filled with the Holy Spirit, and the prophetic voice that had been missing for five hundred years is now alive again. In a Canticle that we call the 'Benedictus' (the Latin word for 'Blessed') Zechariah begins to speak first of God's plans for the future. This hymn of praise is divided into two parts. Zechariah does not concentrate on his own son initially, but thanks God for remembering the covenant He made with Abraham to rescue the Jewish people from their enemies by sending a Saviour to redeem them.

Only halfway through is Zechariah inspired to address his new-born son John, whom he says, will be "the prophet of the Most High" and will "go before the Lord to prepare His ways". He is to warn the people of the Messiah's coming and to encourage them to confess their sin - the work that John, who would then be known as 'John the Baptist' would carry out almost 30 years later to foreshadow the arrival of Jesus as the Messiah. Finally, Zechariah tells those who are listening that the end result will be like a light to all who live in darkness and who are, he says, under the threat of death. What Zechariah saw so clearly was not to be seen so easily in the future when Jesus began his ministry, and many were to reject him, as we know. But nevertheless God's plan would not be stalled as the gentiles took up God's promises.

So, now our time of Advent preparation as inheritors of God's promises is ended. We have conducted a Holy Advent and now we move forward to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus, who in his coming sought to bring light to all who sit in darkness.

Heavenly Father
we thank You for the birth of John the Baptist,
for his parent's faith and for Zechariah's foresight
who saw Your great plan coming to fruition.
May we welcome the coming of the Christ-child
once again this Christmas,
and help to lead our world with the help of Your Spirit
out of darkness and into light.
Amen.