Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Zechariah's Prophecy

Luke 1:67-80 (ESV)
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.
“And 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, “
Zechariah’s prophecy is recorded here. He sings the first words after a long silence. His words are too joyful to be just spoken, they are sung as a chant. He tells exactly what John, his son will do and be. He will be called the prophet of the Most high, going before the Lord to prepare his ways. This says a lot not only of what John will do, but who Jesus is. He is the most high, a term used for God. He is the Lord, he is God. He will give knowledge of salvation which is found in the forgiveness of sins. Where there is forgiveness there also is salvation and eternal life.


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