Thoughts for the Day

Luke 1:76 “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…”

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 what John will be and will do.

He will be a prophet, and what a prophet!  He will be the one foretold by Malachi who will prepare the way for Jesus.  And how will he do that?  How would you or I have done it?  If I pause to think about it, it really isn’t immediately self-evident.  The answer is that he will prepare people’s hearts, to give them “the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins”.  He will tell God’s chosen people that being chosen is not enough, they need to repent of their wrongdoing.  As Mark opens his gospel account, John will “proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”.  He will point to the need for salvation, which ultimately will open people’s hearts to the need for a saviour.

After only two verses speaking of John, Zechariah’s prophecy returns to speaking of Jesus.  And here I wonder what his audience made of his closing statement that Jesus will “guide our feet into the way of peace”?  Slightly at odds with their expectation of a military deliverer perhaps?  From our perspective this side of the cross, Jesus will be the mediator of peace with God and the source of our own inner peace, but I fancy guiding our feet into the way of peace may be just as connected to Jesus’ statement “Blessed are the peacemakers” … such a challenge, especially in a time of war.