Zacharias’s Prophecy

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.

Zacharias’s Prophecy

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.

In today’s text, after John was born and Zacharias had been silenced for nine months because of his lack of faith in believing what the angel said, it says:    “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him. And his father 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.”  During the time that Zacharias was silenced, he continued to seek God. Not being able to speak, he listened instead. How much might we hear from the Lord if we would take time to be silent before him? How much more would we understand and how much more would we be able to speak what God was saying? To prophesy requires first that we hear God. Many people speak their own opinion as if it were God’s. In John 12:49-50 Jesus says: “I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”  Even Jesus spoke only what the Father told Him.

Furthermore in John 15:19-20 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.”  We need to learn to listen to God. Even more we need to learn to see from heavens perspective; to see what the Father is doing in the circumstances and situations that are around us. Jesus taught us to pray saying:  Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth and it is in heaven.  If we truly want to fulfill God’s will, we need to know what He is doing. In Acts 26:14, when Paul was confronted on the road to Damascus because he was zealously persecuting the church, the Lord said:  ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’  Conversely, in Matthew 11:29-30, Jesus invites us saying:  “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”   If we are struggling against God, even if we are doing what we believe to be good, it will be hard. If we will walk with and work with Jesus and the Father we will find rest even in our labor.

Zacharias  prophecy said:   “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.”   If we will listen, we too will hear God’s call to us to: 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.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; may I hear and see what You are doing. Empowered by the Holy Spirit and yoked to You Jesus, may I join You Father by doing what You are doing in the circumstances and situations I see. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.