Monday, December 10, 2018

Zechariah's Prayer: Promises Fulfilled


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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