You will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways

Luke 1:57-80 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

⁵⁹ And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father. ⁶⁰ But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.” ⁶² And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. ⁶³ And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. ⁶⁴ And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. ⁶⁵ Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

⁶⁷ And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
⁶⁹ And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant—
⁷⁰ As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
⁷¹Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷² To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
⁷³ The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
⁷⁴ To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
⁷⁵ In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
⁷⁶ “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;
⁷⁷ To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
^[By the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
⁷⁹ To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

⁸⁰ And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

In today’s text, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist said:  “His name is John.” … “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant— As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old— Salvation from our enemies, And from the hand of all who hate us; To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand 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 on before the Lord to prepare His ways;  To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins, Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”     In Luke 7:27-28 Jesus says of John:  “This is he of whom it is written:‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,Who will prepare Your way before You.’For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”   We who are in the kingdom of heaven, are greater than John the Baptist, but do we live as though we believe it? We also have a similar call and purpose. John prepared the way for the first coming of Christ as Savior of the world, preaching a message of repentance. We are to prepare for the second coming of Christ as conquering king and righteous judge, preaching a message of repentance and shining His light upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

In Matthew 3:2 John’s message was: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  In Matthew 4:17, Jesus also began His ministry saying:  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”   In this time of chaos and confusion in the world, our message should be not that the end of the world is coming, but rather that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.   Shining the light of Christ in the darkness of the world, we should call them to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  Not only did Jesus say the we who are in the kingdom of God are greater than John, but in John 14:12-14 He says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.  Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”  In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus says:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Receive the prophesy of Zacharias as yours today: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant— As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old— Salvation from our enemies, And from the hand of all who hate us; To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand 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 on before the Lord to prepare His ways;  To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins, Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”     Amen.