Luke 1: 66-80
And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered 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 before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
Comment:
Zechariah was a priest, he knew the Old Testament well, and no doubt had read up a bit about the fore-runner coming before the Messiah. His wife barren, as it reads probably beyond menopause, was pregnant as promised. A boy was delivered and he was named John. I’m not surprised that he was ecstatic and that this part from the 9 months of waiting and part spontaneous because of the moment should roll off his priestly thankful tongue!
In a verse the child has grown into an adult, and is in the wilderness awaiting the command from God to go ring the bell – he Messiah follows me!
Prayer: If you give me something to say for you please let my words flow as sweetly as Zechariah’s!
As I read it! 