The preparing the way for disruption
Luke 1:67-80
67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
68 ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a mighty saviour for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands 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
by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
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 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.
Zechariah’s song has two parts – vs. 68-75 and vs. 76-77; and then a summary in vs. 78-79.
In the first section focusses on God’s action in raising up “a mighty saviour for us in the house of his servant David.” This is about the child Mary is going to give birth to – Jesus. This is not about Zechariah’s son, John. First, John is not the Saviour – that is Jesus, and second, Zechariah is from the tribe of Levi (he is a priest) not from the family of David who was from Benjamin. For three months Mary had been in the house with Zechariah and he had had time to think about the two children growing in their mother’s wombs, and there relationship to each other.
The Saviour is coming to fulfill the promises God made, for God is going to keep covenant made to Abraham. The promise of being able to serve God faithfully and without fear. These are the things the Saviour will do.
Then Zechariah turns in vs. 76 – as the song moves to think about John, “my child”. Zechariah is clear John “will go before the Lord to prepare his way” – John is the messenger of the one Zechariah was speaking of in the first part of his song. John is not the show – John is the warm-up act.
But Zechariah is justly pleased with the role his son will play, a role of disruption. John’s calling will be to remind people of their need for a Saviour, he will point them to the fact that their lives are in need of reformation. And at the heart of that reformation is the promise of forgiveness for sins. There are few things in the world as disruptive as forgiveness. The forgiveness God offers us frees us from the weight of guilt and the desire/need to hide who and what we are. Having been forgiven we can then offer forgiveness to others which frees us from anger and bitterness. John will bring disruption even as he prepares the way for the light of God’s mercy to shine.
PRAYER:
God of disruption, disrupt our world with the power of forgiveness. We thank you that John came to preach forgiveness, make that forgiveness real in our lives – both as people who need to receive it, and as people who need to offer it. Spo that the light of your mercy might shine. In Jesus’ name. Amen.