LUKE 1:76-80
ZACHARIAS’ PROPHECY OF THE NEW COVENANT
In the first part of Zechariah’s Song he has exalted God for establish His glorious covenants starting with Abraham and then for bringing His covenants into glorious fulfillment through the coming of the Messiah. The Hymn then blesses God for the Messiah and the unique deliverance His salvation brings.
Still moving in the power of the Spirit, the second part of Zechariah’s prophecy continues blessing God for His covenants and for the work of preparation for Messiah which will be done through Zechariah’s son, John the Baptist. The Messiah is declared to be the Most High God, blessed forevermore, who comes bringing Messianic blessings. He will be and bring the light of salvation to the people.
Zachariah’s son was the prophet God chose for a key role in the drama of the ages. Jesus was to do the work of deliverance; John was to prepare the way for Him. The prophetic forerunner would point to Jesus, the bright Morning Star, who shines His eternal light that those in darkness might find the path to peace with God.
I. THE PROPHET OF THE MESSIAH, 1:76a.
II. THE PROCLAMATION OF MESSIAH’S WAY, 1:76b-79.
III. THE PREPARATION OF THE PROPHET, 80.
In verses 76–79 the song changes its form and becomes an address to the newly born child. He will be a prophet and prepare the way of the Lord (Is 40:3; Mal. 3:1) by assuring the people of forgiveness of sins (77) and how to follow God’s light & find God’s peace.
Verse 76 begins the second major part of the hymn honoring the miraculously born child whom God has appointed to service. “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; [for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;]”
The Psalm passes from praise to prediction as it directs us to the Messiah’s forerunner. Zachariah’s call his newborn “child” instead of “my son,” as the child’s relation to himself is lost in his relation to One Greater than either.
John is to be the Messiah’s “prophet.” He was chosen for a key role in the unfolding of the drama of the ages. Prophets and prophecy had ceased for 400 years but in John the office is revived. As with Samuel, John was born in answer to prayer. As with Abraham and Sarah, he was born to aged parents.
God starts with something as weak as a babe and molds Himself a special tool. Although God has unlimited power, He chooses to work through frail humans who begin as helpless babies. Don’t minimize what God is preparing to do through children who are faithful to Him.
“The Most High” in Scripture is a title only for the supreme God. It is inconceivable that inspiration should here apply this term undeniably to Christ, unless He were “God over all blessed forever” (Rom 9:5).
II. THE PROCLAMATION OF MESSIAH’S WAY, 1:76b-79.
The reason for John’s calling as prophet is provided in the second half of verse 76. “for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;”
John is to announce the coming or arrival of the Lord Most High. [The title Lord is ambiguous as it may refer to God (as in 1:46, 68) or to Jesus (as in 1:43).] John as the forerunner of the Messiah, draws on Malachi 3:1–2 and 4:5–6. Malachi pictures the forerunner as Elijah returned.
Not only would John announce the coming of the Messiah, he would prepare His Way. He would be no preacher of national revolt, but of repentance. His work was to awaken the realization of the need for salvation. The people must turn from enslaving sin and turn to God. John was to awaken people to the decadent condition of society and convict people of their sinfulness. John confronted all the obstacles that would keep people from believing in the Messiah (Is. 40:3-4). [The verb tense changes from past to present then to future when it speaks of John’s future mission.]
The following verses set forth the direction of John’s ministry. Verse 77 contains the aim and hope of John’s prophetic ministry. “To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins,”
“Salvation” involves “knowledge.” Without the knowledge of certain facts, you cannot be saved. Without knowledge in the Christian way you cannot progress in your salvation or continue being saved or sanctified. The knowledge that makes for salvation is not simply mental assent to certain facts, but the knowledge that comes from believing, from taking hold of the facts by faith with the intent to live them out.
The spiritual nature of the salvation here intended is explained by how it is to be accomplished: “by the remission of sins.” Personal salvation is experienced when ones’ sins are forgiven. If you do not have assurance of your salvation, it may be because you never experienced the forgiveness of your sin.
Remission or forgiveness [aphesis] means “to send away, to dismiss as in a debt.” All of us are in debt to God because we have broken His law and failed to live up to His standards (Lk. 7:40-50). Additionally, all of us are spiritually bankrupt, unable to pay our sin debt before God. Jesus came and paid the sin debt for us (Ps 105:12; Jn. 1:29) that we might be forgiven of our sin.
To proclaim the message of a needed and provided “salvation” was the noble duty of John. It is to be the intent of all subsequent ministers of Christ also. Though the circumstances and result of our ministry will be different than the ministry of John the Baptist, the ideals of our ministry are the same.....to so live in God’s presence and power that we point people to God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Verse 78 gives the reason for God’s willingness to forgive our sin. “Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,”
The reason Jesus came and provided salvation through personal repentance and forgiveness of sins is “because of the tender mercy of our God.” “The tender mercy of our God” is the sole absolutely necessary source of all salvation for sinners. [“Tender mercy” literally is bowels of mercy (splanchma eleous-the seat of emotions) or heart-felt mercy for us today.] John was to help people understand that though their sinfulness was deplorable, it was not hopeless, for pardon might be obtained because of the divine favor or compassion of our God. The redemptive mission of Christ was because of the compassion of God for sinners.
For those who will receive it, God’s mercy comes to us like a sunrise on a cloudless day. It brings a new dawn, the dawn of a New Covenant. Christ brings the dawn of a new day, a new life, for all who would receive the Light of the Word. Jesus, the “Sun of Righteousness” was arising with healing in His wings to shine the glory of God upon mankind.
[“Dayspring from on high” (anatole-rising dawn) could be either Christ Himself, as the “Sun of righteousness” (Mal 4:2), arising on a dark world, or the light which He sheds. The sense, of course, is one.
The Dayspring from on high” indicates that the Messiah’s coming would be like the coming of dawn’s light driving away darkness.] [The rising sun is an allusion to Mal. 4:2 (Nu. 24:17), but the phrase (Gk. anatole) might be a translation of the Hebrew word for ‘shoot’ or ‘branch’ (which is a title for the Messiah in Zech. 3:8; 6:12).]
Verse 79 relays the purpose of the dawning of the Messiah upon mankind. “To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
People were sitting, abiding in darkness and death (Compare Isa. 9:2; Mt. 4:13–17). Mankind was in a condition of danger, fear, and hopelessness with death closing in on them. Distress and delusion gripped mankind. Then Jesus came shining into the spiritually dark hearts and minds of the world like the dawning of a new day which brought light, life, and peace.
How can those trapped in the darkness of turmoil, fear, and hopelessness find their way out? They need someone one capable of rescuing them and of guiding them to the way of escape. Jesus, the light of the world, came to forgive our sins and show us the way out of darkness.
Jesus came to be our guide, literally “straighten” [kateuthunai] our feet so we could walk in the way of peace (hodon eirene). Jesus by His presence, His truth, His deeds of mercy and power would fill His followers with joy and hope. He would shatter the gloom and despair in the hearts of man.
Christ’s visitation (episkepsetai- to look for, care for, concerned about, examine, visit, appearing to see) and enlightenment are meant to lead us to the path where we can find peace with God, and therefore with ourselves and with our brothers.
Peace is shalom in the Old Testament. Its meaning includes the sum total of all men require for their well-being. We find peace through a relationship with God and when our inner man in harmony with Him. Jesus came to lead us out of the cruel dungeon of sin into His glorious light and into the blessed path of peace. We are simply to walk with the Lord, enjoy our relationship with Him, and follow His peace in our heart, which will tell us whether any given direction leads us toward or away from Him.
[The gospel brings light with it and when received, a new day dawns. In John the Baptist it began to break, and in Jesus it shines like fullness of the noon- day. The gospel is discovering; it shows that about which we were utterly in the dark; it is to give light to those that sit in darkness, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the presence of Jesus Christ. It is reviving; it brings light to those that sit in the shadow of death, as condemned prisoners in the dungeon. It is directing; it is to guide our feet in the way of peace, into that way which will bring us to peace at last, Rom. 3:17. [Henry, Matthew. E4’s Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary (electronic ed., p. 2).]
Because the Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, we get to be those who share with people not our philosophies, not our ideas, not our agendas, but the Light of the World.]
Here in the dying echoes of this song we find beautiful closing notes, like the setting sun skirting the horizon with simmering light that cast varying golden colors on which the eye delights to gaze, till it disappears from the view.
III. THE PREPARATION OF THE PROPHET, 80.
Verse 80 summarizes approximately 30 years. “And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.”
As with Christ (compare Luke 3:23), there is but scant mention of his childhood. So the story of John’s birth is completed with a brief note of his upbringing (2:40, 52) and his period in the desert. This concluding thought concerning the bodily and mental development of the Baptist recalls Samson the Nazirite (Judg. 13:24) and Samuel (1 Sam. 2:26).
Before John was ready for public ministry he needed the work of God in his inner man. John would grow in his capacities of reason, conscience, and discernment far beyond that of other children. He also became “strong in spirit” indicating he had strong inner vitality, resolve, and fortitude.
Until John was prepared for public ministry he lived in the desert. “The desert” is probably “the wilderness of Judea” (Mt 3:1), where he would flee to be free from rabbinical influences and be alone with God. There his spirit would be educated, like Moses in the desert, for his future high vocation.
Why did John live out in the desert? Prophets (like Elijah and Elisha) used the isolation of the uninhabited deserts to enhance their spiritual growth and to focus their life on God. God calls a man to harsh places and dry days of preparation so that God might make them more useful, but He has a fit time to call them out of obscurity into public ministry. So John, because of his special mission, lived in the wilderness disciplining himself physically and spiritually, waiting for the day when God would send him out to prepare Israel for the arrival of the Messiah. Thus he ripened for usefulness.
So concludes all we know of John until the presentation of himself before his nation as Messiah’s forerunner. When his story resumes, when John is manifest to Israel some thirty years later, he will come demanding the cleansing of repentance (Luke 3:3).
IN CLOSING
The picture God paints of the world is that it is cloaked in darkness and death, desperate for someone to lead its fallen inhabitants into light and life. The Messiah thus is sent on a rescue mission. He comes as the bringer of forgiveness in order to bring about the dawn of a new day, a new era. Once His day dawns, the light of His life never set.
John and Jesus came by God’s great mercy to prepare and lead God’s people to salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. John will proclaim salvation, but Jesus alone will grant it. Those who receive Jesus deliverance find that the dawn of a new day of God’s great mercies has come upon them.
Do you walk in the light and life of Christ, God’s Messiah,, and know His way of peace? Only believe in Him and tender mercies of our God will shine on you to bring you out of darkness into the magnificent light of relationship with the Creator Redeemer. You will then see His light and walk in His way of peace.
Let us walk in peace with others, as well as seek peace with God and our own consciences. [And if it be the will of God that we live unknown to the world, still let us diligently seek to grow strong in the grace of Jesus Christ.]
[Benediction:] May the Christ of Christmas arise over you with deliverance and healing in His wings!
