The father of John the Baptist was a priest named Zechariah, who when he was told he and his wife would have a baby at their old age, had a hard time believing the good news. God shut his mouth, and when he was eventually able to speak again, he praised the goodness of God.
Luke 1:67-80
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—
72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 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,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Reflections
What does Zechariah recall about the history of God’s faithfulness?
What does he say will be his son John’s role in God’s work of salvation?
The carol O Come, O Come, Emmanuel refers to Jesus as “Dayspring,” an ancient way of referring to the dawn. How is Jesus like the rising of the sun in the morning?
Prayer
Faithful God, who loves your people even when they are not faithful to you, forgive me for my sin. Make me more like your Son Jesus, so that when he returns I will be found faithful, and in the meantime, others would come into a relationship with him because they have experienced his love through me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
