Luke
1:57-80
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth,
and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and
relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced
with her. 59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise
the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60 but
his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” 61 And they
said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62 And
they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63 And
he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all
wondered. 64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his
tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 And fear came on all their
neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country
of Judea, 66 and all who heard them laid them up in their
hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was
with him.
67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the
Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and
redeemed his people
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his
servant David,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets
from of old,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all
who hate us;
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy
covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us
74 that we, being delivered from the hand of
our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before him
all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of
the Most High;
for you will go before the
Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of
their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall
visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the
way of peace.”
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
Alternative:
Luke 1:57-66
Who is
this Child? John the Baptist is born to aging parents. They were blessed with
special knowledge to name this child John. Zechariah’s mouth is opened and he is filled with the Holy Spirit.
Zechariah provides a prophesy about his child and ultimately about the Advent
of our Lord.
In the
order of Matins the Benedictus is generally over looked in exchange for the Te
Deum. But it is amazing to hear the Words of Zechariah. This song provides a
dramatic connection between Israel as a nation and people with John the Baptist
and his preparation. John the Baptist is not the Christ, but “you, child will be called the prophet of the most High; for
you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation
to His people in the forgiveness of their sins.”
John the
Baptist came to talk to Israel about their sins. He came to call these people
to repentance. He brought the truth to light in the world. John points his
figure to the one who will provide the forgiveness of sins. “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the
world.” John the Baptist fulfills
this prophecy.
You are a
sinner. You are in need of a savior. You cannot justify any of your actions.
You are a sinner. You have a savior. Jesus Christ has died for the forgiveness
of all your sins. He has cleansed you from all unrighteousness. He has saved
you from your enemies. You are forgiven.
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