Zechariah
was a priest, so he knew well the promises God had made to His people
Israel. He remembered the covenants. He kept the prophet's words in
his heart. He looked
forward to the eventual
fulfillment of everything God had spoken. Eventual. For a long
time, that was the key word. Zechariah hadn't been able to get
beyond it. Hope seemed
distant and rather weak, and Zechariah had doubted he would see any
change in his lifetime.
How
wrong he was.
Now
at the birth of his son,
Zechariah's lips were
opened, and he could finally speak again (after nine months of
silence because of his doubts). Filled with the Holy Spirit,
immersed in God's light, he proclaimed that
God does indeed fulfill His promises, that He was doing so right at
this moment, in this very time and place.
God
had promised to raise up a mighty
savior from the house of David. He was doing so. Right now.
Zechariah knew full well that the Child his
wife's kinswoman Mary was carrying would be this savior. And
through Him, God would save Israel from its enemies. God would
deliver His people from those who hated them.
God
had promised to show mercy and to remember His covenant with Abraham.
He was doing so. Right now. He was pouring out His blessing upon
His people in the coming of the Messiah. He would finally make of
them a great nation, a royal nation, a nation that would extend His
blessings to the whole
world.
What's
more, Zechariah's own
son would have a crucial role in the fulfillment of God's promises.
John would be a prophet in his own right, one who would prepare the
way for the Messiah. He
would help the people
repent of their sins and be ready to accept the forgiveness God would
offer. He would point the
way to the new life that
would arise from God's
fulfilled promises.
Zechariah's
joy poured out along with
his words. Hope soared in
his heart. God's promises were at hand, right now, right here, in
his own time and place. How could he have ever doubted that God
would remember
His people?
(See
Luke 1:68-79)
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