The people of Israel suffered from amnesia. So do we. When life goes well, we forget our rescue and become complacent. The psalms remind us: “Our fathers in Egypt failed to understand [God’s] miraculous deeds or remember [His] many acts of faithful love” (Psalm 106:7).
Former slaves found themselves trapped—with the Red Sea in front and Pharaoh’s army behind—and terror struck them down. Will God save them, Moses’ many miracles only being a fluke? So soon they forget, doubting God’s endurance, of the wonders in Egypt when God set them free.
So, at the Red Sea, God once again saves them, for His faithful love endures forever. God “sent his glorious arm to be at Moses’ right hand, split the water before them to gain an everlasting name, and guided them through the depths” (Isaiah 63:12-13).
Forty years of desert wanderings because Israel forgot what came with God’s name: life, salvation, and forgiveness. A new generation arose. A younger Israel crossed the Jordan River and grew into a nation, which will change the world. So, will life now be different for God’s people?
No, the people forgot the Lord and turned to gods of their making, calling on the names of gods too weak to save. So, enemies came and destroyed their kingdom and took them captive.
The people forgot but God did not. He remembers His covenant promise. He sent prophets to remind His people of His—and their—holy covenant. Oh, they might forget what God did for them—but God always remembers.
Time moved on, with plotting and sin setting up obstacles in God’s way of salvation. God is still God, and He works through all. So, when time unfolded, despite sin and Satan, God came to live among us as He promised. God in human flesh—our Savior.
Still, before God walked among us to reveal Himself as the long-promised Messiah, God would send a forerunner. He will come with Elijah’s prophetic word, with his spirit and power. This prophet will prepare the people to welcome their God.
The Word made flesh stands ready, coming as the Savior. Will His people receive Him, the Messiah, the incarnate Word? The prophet will come to prepare the way, to call the hearts of the people to repent. God will come to forgive and save them. He will visit His people, but will they receive or reject Him?
Over and again, God reminds His people of His promise to save them: “In many portions and many ways, God spoke to His people of old by the prophets.” God tells them what to expect when the Savior will come to live with them. The Savior will be the Son of a virgin. People will call Him, “Emmanuel,” or “God with us.” He will be a King, unlike any other, who will rule forever from the throne of His ancestor, David.
Zechariah lights the incense in the Temple, and the angel Gabriel comes, speaking the Lord’s word, speaking something absurd into his ears! He will be a father. Impossible! No sons or daughters sprang from Zechariah and Elizabeth in their younger years. Old age and arthritis infected their bones; the spring in their step died along ago. Is he now fertile, and Elizabeth, as well? Impossible!
Words of judgment for Zechariah’s disbelief burn from the angel’s lips: “Because you did not believe my words, you will become silent, unable to speak, until the day this happens” (Luke 1:20). Someone cannot be a prophet who does not believe what God gives him to speak.
The people waited outside, but something went wrong during the liturgy. Zechariah didn’t come out of the Temple. They waited and waited. At last, he emerges from the Holy Place, but he doesn’t give the Benediction. Zechariah carried out his priestly duties but denied the people God’s words of blessing. How strange!
From the Temple emerges a speechless priest, who will become the father of a prophet, who will speak of the Savior. For nine months, until John’s circumcision, the angel’s words coursed through Zechariah’s mind. A Savior comes for him, his people, the people of today, and the people of every nation and language. Jesus is Lord!
The time for John’s circumcision arrives, and Zechariah asks for a tablet. He writes, “His name is John.” At once, his mouth becomes free, and his tongue leaps with joy. What words first dance on his tongue? Zechariah picks up where he left off. He speaks a blessing, a blessing unlike those pronounced earlier at the Temple.
Zechariah speaks a blessing of thanks to God for His past promises to save His people. He tells of the salvation the Lord will soon carry out, fulfilling His Old-Covenant promises—of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob: Israel.
Zechariah chants a blessing, a word of thanks, a homily, and a hymn—all packed into one song. The Benediction, which Zechariah so long couldn’t speak, is now the Benedictus of our liturgy. The Holy Spirit fills him, and long-repressed prophetic words escape their bondage: Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, for He comes to His people to redeem them.
The Holy Spirit moves Zechariah to prophesy of John: He “will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.” John will not serve as a priest at the high altar where lamb’s blood drained for people’s sins. No, He will stand at the Jordan and point to Jesus: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
The Word made flesh, Jesus, God Himself, is coming into the world. John is the prophet, who will prepare the people of Israel to meet their God. John will call the people to repent as he prepares the way of the Lord.
The time of wonder is here! God fulfills His Word and remembers the covenant promise He gave to Abraham and His descendants. God is here to save His people, as He promised. John stands on the cusp of the Savior’s arrival, one foot in the Old Covenant, one foot in the New. God’s salvation is here!
Zechariah’s song begins in the past as he remembers the holy prophets of old, whose mouths remained opened to speak of the Savior and the days of salvation. Note “days,” not “day.” For Christ will not only come once to save His people but twice.
He recalls prophets like Moses, who wrote of God’s covenant with Abraham and with Israel at Mt. Sinai. Prophets like Isaiah come to mind. He pointed forward to Jesus as the Suffering Servant. The weeping prophet, Jeremiah, rings in our ears. He spoke of the Lord’s New Covenant, which would forgive our sins forever (Jeremiah 31:31-33).
At the miraculous birth of John and the imminent birth of Jesus, Zechariah sings about the future—the future arrives. Because of God’s merciful compassion, the promised Messiah comes. He will redeem His people from their enemies. Jesus Christ comes to dispel the darkness of sin and shine the light of His mercy.
The startling song of Zechariah reminds us of God’s light in Christ, who shines into our dark places to unmask the darkness of our sinfulness and purify us with His forgiveness. When light glimmers into the darkness, the darkness is no more!
Zechariah remembers with longing, but also leans forward into the future. We are now “in these last days,” as the book of Hebrews tells us. God earlier spoke by His prophets and sent John with Elijah’s spirit and power to prepare the way. “In these last days,” the Word of God came, born among animals, to save us, fallen creatures.
Jesus is God’s radiant “glory and the exact imprint of his nature.” Jesus is God, and He is upholding all by His mighty word. John’s hands and words led others to the Lamb of God—the Lamb sacrificed on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus rose from death’s tomb to sit “at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” where He rules in power for the benefit of His Church.
We also gaze with wonder into the future: God returning to fulfill salvation’s promise. “In these last days,” Jesus our King rules over us now with His Word and forgiveness. Like the people of Israel, like Zechariah and Elizabeth, we are still waiting.
Malachi wrote of a “terrifying and dreadful Day of the Lord,” which is our Lord’s second coming for our salvation, not His first. God is holding another promise He will still fulfill. Jesus comforts us with His word: “I will come back and welcome you into my presence so where I am, you may also be” (John 14:3). The Last Day for God’s people is not terrifying, but a joyous Day of salvation’s fulfillment (Luke 21:28).
Yes, during Advent, we also remember the Day of our Lord’s return, for Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” We remember our Lord’s first coming as the Child of Bethlehem. We also do not forget our Lord, who is now ruling at the Father’s right hand, who will come in glory as King and Judge. Both times, Jesus is fulfilling our salvation.
Jesus promises, “I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:20). The Day of our salvation is still to come! Oh, the wonders of our God! Jesus, the Word made flesh, is coming again, and the Day approaches! We, in His Church, celebrate our Lord coming twice to save His people, in the past and in the age to come. Amen, come, Lord Jesus!
