Zechariah’s Prophecy
67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: 68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,because he has visited and redeemed his people.
69 He has sent us a mighty Savior[g]
from the royal line of his servant David,
70 just as he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.
Zechariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied. It’s significant that after nine months of imposed silence, Zechariah’s first words were not about his newborn son. First he praises God, and then recognizes that it’s all about Jesus. John is not mentioned in Zechariah’s prophecy until more than halfway through. Here is the second aspect of praise for blessings. As I mentioned yesterday, it’s important to acknowledge that the good things that happen to us come from God, and to praise him for what he’s done. But look at how Zechariah did that. Did he start by praising God for ending his muteness, or for giving him a child in his old age? No, he praised God for sending a Savior, and for keeping his promises to Israel.
God doesn’t primarily perform miracles to solve our problems. He performs miracles to glorify himself, and to help us believe. Zechariah recognized that God had not done all of this to make him and Elizabeth happy. He had done it to keep his covenant with Israel (to glorify himself by demonstrating his faithfulness), and to send a Savior so that we might believe in him. While we praise God for the things he does for us, remember that it’s not about us. He does these things for us to bring glory to himself, and so that we and those around us might believe in him.
71 Now we will be saved from our enemies
and from all who hate us.
72 He has been merciful to our ancestors
by remembering his sacred covenant—
73 the covenant he swore with an oath
to our ancestor Abraham.
74 We have been rescued from our enemies
so we can serve God without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
for as long as we live.
Like Mary’s song, Zechariah’s has some politics in it. Who do you think he’s referring to in verse 71 and 74 when he talks about our enemies and those who hate us? It has to be the Romans. In some ways, apparently Zechariah expected Jesus to be a political Messiah as well. Most of Israel did expect a political Messiah to free them from Roman oppression, so that’s not surprising. But Zechariah also understood that the true purpose of the Messiah, even a political one, was spiritual freedom, not political freedom. Look at verses 74-75. They had been rescued from their enemies, not so they could live free from oppression, but so they could serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as they live.
76 “And you, my little son,
will be called the prophet of the Most High,
because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
77 You will tell his people how to find salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,[h]
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.”
80 John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.
Verse 76-79 are basically a father’s blessing on his son, not unlike Isaac’s blessing of Jacob (Genesis 27:27-29). Zechariah refers to Gabriel’s prophecy about John (1:17), acknowledging that God’s word through Gabriel would come true. And he ties it in with the prophet Isaiah in verses 78-79. But I don’t mean to imply that this is some clever poem that Zechariah wrote ahead of time. This was prophecy, and prophecy is quite literally the Word of God. Prophecy is not necessarily predicting the future. When prophets spoke in the Old Testament, they often began their prophecy by saying “This is what the Lord says”(Ex. 8:1, 1 Samuel 2:27, 1 Kings 12:22-24). What Zechariah is doing here is nothing less than delivering the Word of the Lord. What Isaiah had written centuries before, what Gabriel had said months before, and what Zechariah says here are all consistent with each other because they all came directly from the mouth of God.
The most important statement in this prophecy, I believe, is in verse 77. John would tell people how to find salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. He could only do that because of the one he was preparing the way for. And through Zechariah, God made sure we all knew that this was what all of this was about.
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