Thoughts for the Day

Luke 1:76-80 “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

Having announced the arrival of the Messiah, Zechariah now turns to the mission of his own son.  Rightly or wrongly, I imagine in a normal scene for such occasions a father holding his son in his arms, staring intently down at him, still getting used to the reality of this new life, so frail, so full of potential, so special to him.  I imagine the father speaking words of hope and aspiration, yet, in reality, knowing nothing of the child’s innate strengths and talents.  But not so here.  Zechariah heard the words of Gabriel, and surely, as the father-to-be, would have wanted to know more.  Gabriel said John would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”  How?  Surely Zechariah had prayed and searched the scriptures, and now, empowered by the Holy Spirit, he declares confidently that John will “give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins”.  It is easy to let such phrases trip off the tongue without really connecting them, so perhaps today it may be worth dwelling on those connections: how did “forgiveness of sins” give people a “knowledge of salvation”, and how did that in turn prepare people to hear Jesus?

As a final note on Zechariah’s prophecy that we’ve looked at yesterday and today: my bible provides over 20 Old Testament references covering almost every phrase of it, but no reference for the final words that Jesus will “guide our feet into the path of peace”.  It doesn’t quite fit into the picture of a rescuing King, come to save us “from our enemies and the hands of all who hate us”.  I fancy it is an indication that Jesus will not quite fit people’s preconceptions of the Messiah!