TUESDAY
The prophecy of Zechariah after the birth of John is quite dense so we are going to take two days on it. Let’s look at the first few verses today.
Luke 1:67–75 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.
Note how in this first chapter of Luke the Holy Spirit is busy at work, long before Pentecost. Pentecost, then, is not the beginning of the Holy Spirit's work, but a vast expansion of his work. Here he fills Zechariah, giving him words of prophecy. This prophecy is divided up into two sections. Today we will look at the first part (v. 67-75). Tomorrow we will look at the second part.
The basis of his prophecy is praise, expressed in verse 68. His mouth is opened and his tongue set free and he immediately speaks praise to God. The biblical use of the word prophecy is more broad than simply predicting the future or knowing something that was otherwise unknowable. It is relaying any word from the Lord and is often simply declaring the goodness and glory of God. Prophecy is often worship.
Zechariah describes what God is doing through the birth of John and the pregnancy of Mary as God visiting his people (translated "has come to his people" in v. 68) and redeeming them. The combination of these two words would bring to mind the Exodus for the people of Israel (Ex. 4:31). The term for “visited” implies one who sees and makes an appearance to help. God sees his people’s plight and shows up to help by redeeming them. Redemption implies a release or ransom from an oppressive situation, often slavery. It's hard to imagine that Zechariah has a fully developed concept of the redemption that Jesus will bring, liberating humanity from bondage to sin and death, but he knows the Messiah will bring some sort of redemption (Ps. 111:9; 130:7, 8; Isa. 43:1; 59:20). It seems that he has a more comprehensive understanding of Jesus as Immanuel, God with us. This we will see tomorrow. This visitation and redemption will far exceed the greatness of the Exodus, which for the people of Israel was the greatest display of God's power in their history.
This is also indicated in his "horn of salvation" reference. The horn he has in mind is not the instrument horn, but the horn of an ox. It is a symbol of strength and power that is often used of kings (Ps. 92:9;18:2; 2 Sam 22:3; 1 Sam 2:10). In Psalm 132:17, it is even used to describe the coming Messiah:
Psalm 132:17 “Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one (Messiah).
The Messiah is to be a horn of salvation, i.e., he is mighty to save. The term salvation can be used to refer to physical deliverance from oppression or the spiritual salvation from sin. In this prophecy, Zechariah seems to carry both senses of God's salvation through Jesus: The physical deliverance from Israel's enemies (v. 71, 74) and spiritual salvation through the forgiveness of sins (v. 77).
Who are the enemies Zechariah has envisioned here in this prophetic praise? It is likely that he is thinking of the Roman oppression that the people of Israel are currently living under. This is true of Jesus, in a sense, as the people of God are given eternal life in Christ and worship in the Spirit. Therefore, as we saw the whole book of Revelation revealing, the church is rescued from the hand of the empire and the enemies of God. But there is likely a deeper meaning here that Luke will unpack in the rest of his gospel. Jesus delivers the people of God from the power of Satan and evil spiritual forces (Lk. 13:10-17). He also delivers people from the effects of sin on creation (Lk. 18:35-42). The deeper enemies of God’s people are defeated by Jesus as well.
The name Zechariah means “The Lord remembers.” His wife’s name, Elizabeth, means “My God is an oath.” It is fitting that Zechariah includes those two words in subsequent lines in verses 72-73. God has remembered his covenant and his oath to Abraham he made about 2,000 years prior. Talk about waiting! No matter how long it may seem, God will remember what he has promised to do and accomplish it.
The last thing I want to point out from the first section of this prophecy is the profound reason Zechariah gives for this salvation and deliverance that God will bring. It is not so that the people of Israel can be self-determined and free from all limitations. It is, "to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." The reference to fear in verse 74 likely refers to the fear of the enemies (see above), not the fear of God. The salvation, deliverance and freedom Christ brings us is so that we can then serve God. This service to God is in the holiness and righteousness of Christ, attained by faith in him, and will be for all time.
Reflection
In this praise of Zechariah we see the themes of redemption, salvation, covenant faithfulness, and mercy. Spend some time reflecting on those themes in Scripture. Worship God for his redemption, salvation, covenant faithfulness and mercy.