Luke 1:57–80 (NKJV)
57 Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. 58 When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her.
Luke 1:57-66
59 So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. 60 His mother answered and said, “No; he shall be called John.”
61 But they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 So they made signs to his father—what he would have him called.
63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. 65 Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66 And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, “What kind of child will this be?” And the hand of the Lord was with him.
Zacharias had been mute for the extent of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. In this passage, she gives birth to their first child, and family and friends came to rejoice with them. At his circumcision, they asked what the child’s name would be. Elizabeth said he would be called John, which went against tradition, because no one in their family was called by that name. They turned to his father and asked him, and he wrote the name “John.” He immediately received his voice back and he praised God. Obedience and faith restored what had been lost. Everyone marveled and wondered about the future of this child John.
67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”80 So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
Luke 1:67-80
Zacharias began to utter a prophetic word that confirmed that God would send a “horn of salvation,” referring to the Messiah, and that John would be the prophet of the Highest, going before the Messiah to prepare the way for Him. This high calling would make known that the Messiah would come and bring light and life to all who would believe. John was not the light, as was discussed in John chapter 1, but he was the forerunner–the trailblazer–for the One that would come. Be a trailblazer, make way for the Lord. He is coming again soon. Make others aware of Him and help them prepare their hearts for His coming again. You can be a John if you will. Let God’s Word and Spirit work through you as He did in the days of John.
Artwork from https://img.heartlight.org/overlazy/creations/453.jpg
LIVER@5 – December 10, 2021
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