Luke 1:56–80
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72 to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
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,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
From silent to praise: from unbelief to belief
Man is unfaithful but God is faithful forever. The God of faithfulness never forgets his promise of salvation to Abraham who is the father of faith. The God of holiness and righteousness remembered his holy covenant with Abraham and initiated his plan of salvation with him. The God of mercy chose imperfect persons to prepare his plan of salvation.
The God of might can do impossible miracles. People need faith to respond to his invitation.
The miracle of a child was promised to Zechariah in his old age. The child would become John the Baptist. However, Zechariah responded to God’s invitation with unbelief and became mute until the child was born. When his mouth finally opened it was full of praises. He went from unbelief to belief. The merciful God was patient with Zechariah who did experience him and his might finally, after the ten-month wait.
This story recalls another miracle child, born to Abraham in his old age: Isaac. Abraham believed God’s invitation and God considered him as being righteous. The faithful God honored his faith and continued to choose Abraham’s descendants: Israel (Jacob), David, and so on, as the chosen people, and important part of his plan of salvation. The savior Jesus, the son of God, is from the Abraham’s descendants.
After the birth of his son, Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, praised God and exalted him as faithful, merciful, holy, righteous and powerful. As a priest, Zechariah sincerely brought people to praise God and to remember how God started the covenant with Abraham, and followed through faithfully. He is always present with his plan of salvation. Zechariah believed that God would fulfill what he had promised.
Zechariah proclaimed by faith the future job description of his son, John the Baptist: preparing the way for the savior to come, by helping people examine their hearts and realize their needs to repent. As a result, they would accept Jesus as their savior.
- After ten months, how did Zechariah change? How could his change motivate us in our faith journey with God?
- From the passage, how do we know our God who is always present, willing to save? By knowing this, how we can depend on God in our daily concern?
- If God invites you to have a journey with him in an unknown way, what would be your response?
“Dear heavenly father, I praise you for who you are. You are faithful, merciful, gracious, holy and powerful. I am grateful to be called a child of God. I want to follow you all the way, because you are the one who really knows the way now and forever. You are trustworthy. May the Holy Spirit lead me down the path I should go, and help me do the job description you have assigned me to do with passion and a grateful heart. In Jesus’ name I pray.”
Author Bio
Lydia Leung is an emeritus license worker, as spiritual director in Manna Counseling and Educational center. She retired to take care of her mother full time during COVID. She had served The C&MA as a pastor and as an international worker for 27 years. She worked as an RN before.
Luke and Acts taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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