Thoughts for the Day

Luke 1:67-75 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us — to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

Those gathered at John’s circumcision ceremony have just witnessed Zechariah’s sudden ability to speak after being struck dumb in the temple 9 months or so previously, and one look at the parents will remind them of the miraculous nature of John’s conception.  What does this all signify?  Surely Zechariah will have everyone’s full attention as he begins to speak about his son.  Except, of course, that he doesn’t begin to speak about his son.  Instead, he begins praising God and speaks prophetically about the arrival of the Messiah.  It could be this triumphant outburst was purely and spontaneously the result of being filled with the Holy Spirit and surprises him as much as everyone else.  More likely, though, the groundwork had been set over the intervening months.  He has had plenty of time to ruminate on Gabriel’s words – both those to him and those to Mary – to study the scriptures and to pray.  And now, as the Holy Spirit fills him, the results of his meditation fall into place and this prophecy bursts out.  What a changed man he is!  Back in the temple, his question “How can I be sure?” was a polite expression of his disbelief.  Now, not only does he have the evidence of the birth of his son before his eyes, but he understands the significance.  He declares not that God will but that God “has” come to redeem his people and “has” raised up a horn of salvation.  He knows with such certainty that John’s birth must lead to the coming of the Messiah that, on the strength of the former, he confidently describes the latter as already achieved.  He must have been so excited!