Mercy and remembrance

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— ⁷¹ Salvation 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.

Upon the birth of John, the forerunner to Christ, today’s text says:  Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:  “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.”    Jesus came to bring and establish a new covenant. In Luke 22:20, when Jesus ate with His disciples before His death, He said:   "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”   Jesus established the new covenant of mercy and grace, yet the prophecy said:  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.  Jesus established a new covenant based on mercy and grace rather than on the law. Yet in Matthew 6:17-20 Jesus Himself says:  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Even though we are under the new covenant, God still remembers the covenant He made with Abraham and the covenant of the law. Jesus did not abolish what was before, but rather He fulfilled it. The prophecy of Zacharias says: that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.  

We too should remember the old covenant, fulfilled by Jesus. We too should serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness, not so He will rescue us, but rather because He has. Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.   We are not saved by our works, but rather because we are saved we should do the good works of God. We should serve God and live in holiness and righteousness. Grace does not abolish or do away with righteousness and holiness. Rather, through righteousness and holiness in response to God’s grace the covenant and all the promises of God that are ours through Christ are fulfilled. Many people want to claim the promises of the covenant of grace while continuing in sin and unrighteousness. Freedom to continue in sin is not the fulfillment of grace. It is presuming on grace. Instead, by grace we are freed from sin to live righteously, to fulfill God’s covenant requirement from Leviicus 11:44-45:   ”I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy… I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”  

The prophecy in today’s text came forth as Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5 tells us how we should live if we too are filled with the Holy Spirit.  It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.  You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness… For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” …But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for Your covenant of grace. May I never forget Your covenant promises and so, may I walk by the Spirit and fulfill grace in righteousness through Christ.  Amen.