Day 13 - Luke 1:64-69
12 Dec 2023
You can listen to an audio version of this blog here -
“And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbours. And all these things were talked about through the hill country of Judea, 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.
And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant Israel.”
The page in our Bibles marked “The New Testament” may take a second for us to turn, but the gap between Malachi and Matthew is 400 years. The God who speaks was silent for a long time - and his people had to wait and trust.
This also explains the discipline Zechariah was put under for his disbelief. The silence of the Lord was ended in the temple when he went in to burn incense. But instead of listening and believing he doubted. So he became silent.
But now it is abundantly clear to everyone that the Lord has broken his silence. John is born. Zechariah’s mouth is opened. And he now becomes a prophetic voice from God - the first public declaration of what God is doing (Mary had so far only spoken to Elizabeth).
The friends at the circumcision asked an important question. They want to know about the greater significance of John. It’s obvious he’s not simply Zechariahs’ long prayed for son (he didn’t give him his family name). Zechariah’s words answer that question they ask.
In his answer he does something surprising. Normally new parent will take any opportunity to talk about their baby, whether it’s how they are doing, or how advanced they are (even at 8 days!), or simply how grateful they are for them. Zechariah has a golden opportunity to talk about his son. But he doesn’t do that. He talks about the one who has given him his son. And he talks about the child given to his relative Mary.
John is important because his birth shows the Lord has come near. After years of feeling distant, he is visiting to redeem and rule. He is fulfilling his covenant with David. Zechariah says - don’t just be amazed at my son. Be amazed at God and who my son points to.
Zechariah also says, John shows who Israel are. During this 400 year silence they may have felt forgotten and ignored by the Lord. But the covenants he made with Abraham, and David were still in force. The wait didn’t mean he had forgotten. He was still the God of Israel. It is to them he has drawn near. This is of course great blessing for us - at is it those very promises which promised blessing for us as the nations.
As we hear what Zechariah says, it is a case of “like son, like father”. John’s whole life was a ministry of pointing away from himself and saying “look at Jesus”. “Go to him”. “Repent and trust him”. Zechariah begins his work at his circumcision, almost being his spokesman. Let’s make sure we hear that message and act on it.