Blessed be [the] Lord the God of Israel, because he has visited and wrought redemption for his people,
Zacharias had been silent for nine months. He had doubted the angel's word and lost his speech. Now, at his son's naming, his first words bless God for something no one had yet seen. His song raises two questions. What does it mean that God "visited" His people? And if He has already "redeemed" them, why were they not yet free?
The praise is remarkable because of who speaks it. Zacharias had doubted, and his silence followed. One writer shows how God dealt with that failure:
Now we see a beautiful thing in Zacharias's mouth being opened. Unbelief had shut it — faith opened it. God does not afflict willingly, but personally — with an end in view. It was very right that God should silence him for a time. But as soon as possible his mouth was opened, wider than he ever counted on.
More than one man's voice returns here. Prophecy itself had been silent for ages, and with this song it begins again.
Prophecy begins afresh. On the eighth day after the child's birth the father could speak again. He praised God, and prophecy through a human voice was heard once more. Silent for ages, it burst out afresh as Zacharias blessed God... His unbelief had vanished.
Luke's opening chapters are full of people coming to one another — an angel to Zacharias, Mary to Elizabeth, angels to the shepherds. Against that background one visit stands apart:
Luke reports many visits. In Luke 1 Gabriel "appeared" and "came in" (1:11, 28). Mary "entered into the house," and Elizabeth said "the mother of my Lord comes to me" (1:40, 43)... In the next chapter the shepherds in the field find that "there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host" (2:13). But the greatest visit is God's own. Three times we read of this tremendous fact: "God has visited his people" (7:16; see also 1:68, 78)!
Later in Luke, a crowd in the town of Nain says the same words back.
"God had visited His people" was, as it were, the response of the multitude at the gate of the city of Nain.
"Redeemed" is not a soft word for rescue. It means paying a price, and Israel's own law about buying back a person or a field shows how:
The paying of a price, a full price for the thing or person sold. Anyone who had bought an Israelite, or his property, had to receive the full price in weighed-out money. Only then could he be required to give the man or his land back to the kinsman. In the same way, Scripture shows that our glorious kinsman — the God of heaven and earth, appearing in human flesh — has Himself paid the full price of our redemption. He has paid the debt that lay on us and on our inheritance... And so Scripture calls Jesus a redeemer... He visited and redeemed His people. And the price that He paid was His blood, or Himself.
You might expect a father to sing about his own newborn son. Zacharias looks past his own family to another house:
It is remarkable, the grace that does not so much look at his own house as at the house of God's servant David. There was faith here. While he could not speak, Zacharias thought deeply about the ways of the LORD. The Holy Spirit had filled Elisabeth, and had filled the baby from his mother's womb. Now He filled Zacharias too, and Zacharias prophesies the end of these wonders.
Zacharias uses the past tense for a Child not yet born. Commentators explain this as the settled manner of prophecy:
He spoke of the coming of Christ as though it had already happened. He celebrated the effects of His coming as though they were already complete. This is a common feature of prophecy. It speaks of things as done which are still in the future.
Another writer points to what Israel missed. They looked for power, and did not see the suffering it would cost.
The LORD, the God of Israel, had visited and redeemed His people, he declared. There is no question that this is accomplished, though the people were not yet free... It is in Christ that God has visited His people, He who is raised up as a horn of salvation in the house of David. The horn speaks of potential power. Israel was looking above all for power in salvation. They little realized that this must involve great suffering and death for the Messiah.
- Silence — unbelief closed this man's mouth. Faith opened it wider than he expected, and prophecy broke its own long silence with him.
- Visit — Luke's chapters are full of visits. The greatest is God's own coming to His people, a phrase Luke repeats three times.
- Price — redemption means buying back. The kinsman paid the debt on the people and on their inheritance, and the price was Himself.
- Reach — the song looks past the singer's own family to the house of David. There God raised up the horn of salvation.
- Result — the past tense is prophecy's confidence, not confusion. The visit came in Christ; the nation's full freedom is still ahead.
and raised up a horn of deliverance for us in the house of David his servant;
Zacharias had been unable to speak for months, and at his son's birth his first words point away from that son to a rescuer raised up in another man's family line. Three words carry the verse: a horn, a salvation, and a house.
In Scripture a horn stands for power. One writer points to the promise behind Zacharias' words.
Horns in Holy Scripture stand for power... In his great prophecy by the Holy Spirit, Zacharias blessed the Lord God of Israel. He blessed Him for raising up a horn of deliverance, or salvation, in the house of David His servant. No doubt Psalm 132:17-18 was in his mind as he said these words. There the Psalmist said, "There I will make a horn to sprout for David... his enemies I will clothe with shame." Zacharias expected that this prophecy, and many more like it, were about to be fulfilled in the baby who would be born in David's house.
The word behind "salvation" here means deliverance. One writer draws that out from a translator's note on the passage.
A note in the New Translation may help the reader with the meaning of the word "salvation" in this scripture. That translation gives it as deliverance in the text, and its note on verse 77 says, "Or 'salvation.' Same word as in verse 69. 'Saved' in verse 74 is a different word."... But it is plain, if you look up the various passages where the word "salvation" occurs, that the scriptural idea is deliverance.
"House" here is not a building but a bloodline.
Clearly, the house of David does not mean a physical house. It means the family of David, including his descendants down the generations. Many Old Testament references show this too (e.g. 1 Ki. 12:19, 20; 13:2), including some made centuries after the time of David (e.g. Isa. 7:2, 13).
That royal line was poor and forgotten when God began to act.
At a time when the House of David had sunk into obscurity and poverty, Heaven began to move to keep the promises... The stable and the manger are lit with a glory beyond anything we can think, and lifted for all time above the grandest palace.
Zacharias has just received a son, yet his song turns to another man's household.
How remarkable is this grace: it does not look so much at his own house as at the house of God's servant David. There was faith here. While he could not speak, Zacharias thought deeply about the ways of the Lord. The Holy Spirit had filled Elisabeth, and had filled the baby from his mother's womb; now He filled Zacharias, who prophesies where all these wonders lead.
At the moment the words are spoken, the deliverer has no public existence at all.
That horn of salvation was the still unborn child of Mary, and a man now filled with the Holy Spirit announced Him. The Spirit has so large a place in all these scenes and events! How clear God's hand is here!
The same writer counts up how the song is shared out.
It is interesting to notice that his prophecy fills twelve verses. Eight of them speak of the One he calls the horn of salvation, and only four of his own child, the prophet of the Highest! But when the Holy Spirit speaks, He always glorifies the Lord Jesus as His brightest theme.
Zacharias speaks of redemption as already done, though his people were not yet free. And the way that power would work was not what Israel expected.
Jehovah, God of Israel had visited and redeemed His people, he declared. There is no doubt that this will be done, though the people were not yet free... The horn speaks of power held ready, for Israel was looking above all for power in salvation. They hardly realised that this must involve great suffering and death for the Messiah.
The verse sounds national — "for us," in David's line. Luke's Gospel does not stop there.
Zacharias might speak of Him as "a horn of salvation (or deliverance) for us in the house of David" (Luke 1:69); but chapter 3:6 says, "all flesh shall see the salvation of God"... It is indeed for the nation of Israel, but it is also for the world.
- Horn — the picture is power. God promised to make a horn sprout for David and to clothe his enemies with shame.
- House — that power rises inside David's family line, not a building. It rises just when that line has sunk into poverty.
- Deliverance — the word for salvation here means rescue. Zacharias speaks of it as already done, while his people are still not free.
- Person — the horn is a child not yet born, and eight of the twelve verses belong to Him rather than to the prophet's own son.
- Reach — spoken as "for us," yet the same Gospel widens it until all flesh sees the salvation of God.
as he spoke by [the] mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began;
Zacharias had doubted the news he was given, and he lost his speech. At his son's naming his voice came back, and his first words praised God — not for a new plan, but for an old promise God had made through the prophets long before.
Zacharias' song stands at the end of a long gap in which no prophet had spoken in Israel. One writer marks the moment when that gap closed:
Prophecy begins afresh. On the eighth day after the child's birth the father could speak again. He spoke and praised God, and once more people heard prophecy come through a human channel. It had been silent for ages. Now it burst out afresh as Zacharias blessed God for visiting and redeeming His people, and for raising up a horn of salvation for them in the house of His servant David. His unbelief had vanished.
Zacharias' own song is prophecy through a human channel — the very thing the verse describes.
The phrase "by the mouth of" makes the prophet the channel and God the speaker. One writer also names what the Spirit was pointing to through them:
Christ is the centre of God's thoughts, and it is the great work of the Spirit to point to Him... Whoever spoke for God was simply and only His mouthpiece. The human side of inspiration is simply this: God uses human instruments to convey His thoughts perfectly.
This reaches the words themselves, not just the ideas behind them:
Men heard them speak in a completely natural way, as one man might speak to another. But the words they spoke were the words of God, put into their mouths by the Holy Spirit... Nothing less than verbal inspiration is affirmed of the Old Testament prophets. What they gave expression to were the words of the living God.
The ESV renders this phrase "from of old." One writer counts the verse among the proofs that God never changes:
Scriptures such as these show the unchangeable character of God. There has been no alteration in His purposes and of course none in His Being.
But "since the world began" is not the same as "before the world began," and one writer sets the two side by side:
God announced the redemption and salvation of His earthly people "by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began." But the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, was foreknown before the world began.
What did those prophets promise? One writer, who spells the name Zechariah, sets the Old Testament answer beside the New:
In the Old Testament it is nearly always salvation from enemies that is before us, as Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, stated. In his prophecy he said that the holy prophets, raised up since the world began, had promised this: God would save Israel from their enemies and from the hand of all who hate them. The New Testament in its very first chapter speaks of Jesus saving "His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). This at once lifts the whole matter on to a much higher platform.
Zacharias praises God as if the promise were already kept. One writer notes how sure he was about what had not yet happened:
The angel Gabriel had said that nothing will be impossible with God, and Zacharias added his Amen to that. He spoke with no uncertain note about what was still future: John was born, but the Virgin's Son was not. The forerunner had appeared, so the Son of David, he believed, would come.
Another writer looks on to the day when the whole song comes true:
Zacharias prophesies. He praises God for the fulfilment of His promises spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets... He sees the blessings of the promised Kingdom and the blessed results of the visit of the dawn from on high... The fulfilment of Zacharias' prophecy takes place with the second coming of the Lord.
- Mouth — the prophets were God's mouthpiece, and the Spirit's great work through them was to point to Christ.
- Words — writers call this verbal inspiration. What the prophets said was what God said, not their own summary of it.
- Age — He has spoken this same message since the world began. His purposes have not altered, and neither has His Being.
- Reach — the prophets announced Israel's rescue from enemies. God foreknew the blood of Christ even before the world began.
- End — Zacharias sings of it as done, and writers look for it to be fully carried out when the Lord returns.
deliverance from our enemies and out of the hand of all who hate us;
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, prophesies here, and the first thing he names is rescue from enemies. Which enemies did he mean, and has that rescue come yet?
In the Old Testament, "salvation" almost always points to one thing. The New Testament will lift the word higher.
Both the Old and the New Testament speak much about salvation. In the Old Testament it is almost always salvation from enemies that is in view, as Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, said. The New Testament in its very first chapter speaks of Jesus saving "His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). This at once lifts the whole matter on to a much higher platform.
Zacharias' song has a definite shape. It belongs to Israel, and to promises already spoken.
The Song is completely and distinctly Jewish in character. It sets out the promised mercies fully and exactly, and celebrates their fulfilment. This, he says — or rather the Spirit testifies through him — is the horn of salvation in the house of David. It is the answer to all the hopes the prophets' words had raised. It is the salvation, the long-awaited "deliverance from enemies" and from "those that hate us."
Two verses earlier Zacharias calls the coming Deliverer a "horn of salvation." What does a horn stand for?
The horn speaks of potential power. It was above all power in salvation that Israel was looking for. They little realised that this must involve great suffering and death for the Messiah. Zacharias gave no hint of this, though he mentions the remission of sins (v.77).
One psalm stands behind the picture:
No doubt Psalm 132:17-18 was in his mind as he said these words. There the Psalmist said, "There (in Zion) I will make a horn to sprout for David… His enemies I will clothe with shame." Zacharias expected that prophecy, and many more like it, to be fulfilled soon in the child to be born in David's house. Sadly, that was not to be.
Israel was not freed from her enemies when Christ came. So what happened to the promise? Commentators point to the nation's refusal of Him.
The godly remnant of Israel looked for salvation when the Messiah came — salvation from their enemies, and "by the remission of their sins" (Luke 1:71, 77)… But the nation rejected and crucified the One who was God's salvation. Even so, Israel's evil served to make known the infinite wisdom of God. He used the rejection of His Son as the occasion to lay the basis in redemption, so that those who believed in Christ would have the remission of their sins. The salvation from their enemies that Zacharias spoke of will come to the remnant who look for Him. Christ "was once offered to bear the sins of many," and He will appear "a second time… to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" (Heb. 9:28).
This verse is not a picture of Christian experience. The believer stands in a different place today.
Notice how strongly this carries the flavour of Old Testament hopes. It is not a question of sins only, but of being delivered from their enemies. That last point is surely not the feeling of the Christian now, and it ought not to be. Does the Christian not serve God, delivered from his sins, while surrounded by his enemies? So when the Lord comes, it simply means taking him up out of the middle of his enemies at the time of deliverance.
The enemies themselves are of a different order:
Salvation from enemies can mean physical enemies or spiritual ones. With Israel it was physical enemies, like the Egyptians and the Canaanites. With Christians it is spiritual ones — sin, death, the world and the power of Satan. Salvation in this sense is by the power of God. Luke 1:71.
- Enemies. In the Old Testament, "salvation" almost always means rescue from enemies. That is what Zacharias looks for here.
- Promise. The prophets had raised one hope: rescue from every enemy. Zacharias says God has answered it in David's house.
- Horn. The horn stands for power. Israel wanted power to save, not seeing that the Messiah must first suffer and die.
- Postponed. The nation rejected its Deliverer. So the rescue waits until He appears a second time.
- Ours. The Christian's enemies are sin, death, the world and Satan. He serves God while still surrounded by them.
to fulfil mercy with our fathers and remember his holy covenant,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
[the] oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
to give us, that, saved out of the hand of our enemies, we should serve him without fear
Zacharias is praising God for an oath, and this verse names what the oath was for: a rescued people who serve Him without fear. Three questions follow — who are these enemies, when does the rescue come, and what does "serve" mean?
Zacharias sings of a rescue that has not happened yet. And he grounds it not on good behaviour but on a promise God swore long before.
He spoke of the coming of Christ as though it had already happened. Prophecy often does this: it speaks of things as done which are still in the future. In the coming appearance of Christ, Zacharias saw the Lord God of Israel visiting His people to redeem them. The salvation He would bring would deliver them from all their enemies. It would enable them to serve Him in freedom, in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. All this would fulfil His promise and oath to Abraham. Notice how the Holy Spirit inspired him to refer to the unconditional promise to Abraham, just as Mary had done. Israel's blessing will be on that basis and not on the basis of the covenant of law.
Zacharias speaks of enemies, not only of sins. One writer marks off Israel's hope from the Christian's place now.
Notice how much this carries the flavour of Old Testament hopes. It is not a question of sins only, but of rescue from their enemies. That last is surely not, and should not be, how the Christian feels now. Does not the Christian serve God, delivered from his sins, in the middle of his enemies? So when the Lord comes, He simply takes him up out of the middle of his enemies, at the time of deliverance.
So when will the fear be gone? One writer points to the coming thousand-year reign of Christ on earth.
In Israel's future deliverance Zacharias expresses the desire that Israel might serve God in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. This will be true in the Millennium, when all their fears will be gone (v.74).
The Greek verb behind "serve" is not the word for ordinary work. One writer traces how Scripture uses it.
latreuo is another word three times translated "worship," though its usual rendering is "to serve." The word is linked to latron, "hire." So its original force is "serving for pay," not under compulsion like a slave. But Biblical Greek has lifted the word, and its noun latreia, "service," to a higher use. It never expresses any service except that of God, or of false gods. So it answers most fully to the present sense of "worship," and all true service shares this character.
Commentators differ on how far Christians can claim this song. One writer grants real overlap, but not the whole prophecy.
I grant that many of the blessings are shared, such as "in holiness and righteousness before him," faith resting on Messiah and the new birth. There are, of course, general principles which mark all the people of God in every age. But I say that this prophecy as a whole is not in any way a charter of church privilege. It is still unfulfilled, and it rests plainly on the oath sworn to Abraham.
Others apply the words to anyone who trusts Christ now.
When a man faces the reality of his guilt, he cannot help being filled with dread. But to every soul whose confidence is in Christ and in the precious blood He shed, the divine message is, "Fear not." Such people have a right to know that their sins are fully atoned for and put away for ever. Their hearts turn gratefully to the God of infinite love who provided such a costly sacrifice for them. Love at once drives out dread… From that moment we "serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life."
Note: the closing words quote this verse and the next in an older translation; the ESV ends "all our days."
- Oath first. God rests this rescue on the unconditional promise He swore to Abraham, not on obedience to the law.
- Enemies next. The rescue is from real enemies, not from sins only. It waits for the reign of Christ, when every fear will be gone.
- Service is the goal. Scripture keeps this verb for the service of God alone — service that is worship, offered freely, not slave labour.
- Fear is the barrier. Guilt brings dread. Trust in the blood of Christ turns that dread into love, and service becomes fearless.
- Meanwhile. Israel will serve beyond the reach of her enemies. The believer today serves free from sins, still surrounded by enemies.
in piety and righteousness before him all our days.
Zacharias ends his song by naming what the rescue is for: a life of service. Two questions follow. What life do holiness and righteousness describe? And whose days are these — Israel's future ones, or ours?
Zacharias speaks of a rescue that has not yet happened as though it were already done.
He spoke of the coming of Christ as though it had already happened. He celebrated its effects as though they were already complete. This is a common feature of prophecy: it speaks of things as done which are still in the future. … The salvation He would bring would free them from all their enemies. It would let them serve Him in freedom, and in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. And all this would be in fulfilment of His promise and oath to Abraham. … Israel's blessing will be on that basis and not on the basis of the covenant of law.
Some translations render the word behind "holiness" as "piety."
On "piety," the Greek hosiotēs, Carr says: "A conscientious obedience to God. … a wider word than dikaiosynē, obedience to law."
The two words cover different sides of a life. One writer shows what produces both.
When the truth governs and orders our thoughts and affections, there will be a good conscience, and a holy and righteous walk with God and before men. … Righteousness is careful attention to what we owe to God and to man. As the apostle says, "So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man" (Acts 24:16). This is practical righteousness — a righteousness which gave the apostle amazing courage, holy boldness, when he stood up before his enemies. Holiness is what repels evil — it turns away by instinct from whatever is against God.
This service is to be free of fear. One writer traces what removes that fear.
When a man sees the reality of his guilt, dread is bound to take hold of him. … But to every soul whose confidence is in Christ and in the precious blood He shed, the divine message is, "Fear not." They have every right to know that their sins are fully atoned for and put away forever. Their hearts turn gratefully to the God of infinite love who provided such a costly sacrifice for them. Dread is at once displaced by love. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). God then gives them the Holy Spirit. He is not the spirit of fear, but the Spirit of sonship, by whom they cry, "Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15).
Commentators read the song first as a hope for Israel, still ahead.
In Israel's future deliverance Zacharias expresses the desire that Israel might serve God in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. This will be true in the Millennium, when all their fears are gone.
One writer marks a sharp difference between that hope and the Christian's place today.
It is important to observe how thoroughly this has the flavour of Old Testament hopes. It is not just a question of sins, but of deliverance from their enemies. That last hope is certainly not, and ought not to be, how the Christian feels now. Does not the Christian serve God, delivered from his sins, in the middle of his enemies?
Commentators differ here. Others apply the same words to daily Christian living.
When we yield ourselves wholly to God, and sin no longer reigns in our mortal bodies, the life will show itself in holiness and righteousness. Our members are no longer to be under the control of our old master, sin, but we are to serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness all our days. The new life is to be the ruling life. Our mortal bodies, with all their members, are to be instruments, wholly at God's disposal. We have become His servants.
- Service is the point. The rescue Zacharias celebrates is not an end in itself. It sets people free to serve, and it rests on God's oath to Abraham, not on law-keeping.
- Service without dread. Guilt produces fear. Knowing that your sins are atoned for replaces dread with love, and the Spirit God gives is the Spirit of sonship, not of fear.
- Service with two sides. "Holiness" here is conscientious obedience to God, a wider word than righteousness. Righteousness gives God and others their due; holiness turns from what is against God.
- Service in a coming day. Commentators see the promise reaching its full form when God delivers Israel and every fear is gone.
- Service all our days. Meanwhile the Christian serves among his enemies, not lifted out of them. Body and members are handed to God as instruments, and the new life rules, day after day.
And *thou*, child, shalt be called [the] prophet of [the] Highest; for thou shalt go before the face of [the] Lord to make ready his ways;
God had been silent for four hundred years. Then a priest named Zacharias speaks over his newborn son and tells him what his life is for. The words settle two things at once: who this child will be, and who is coming behind him.
The title Zacharias gives his son points away from the boy himself. Older translations say "the prophet of the Highest." The ESV says "the prophet of the Most High." The sense is the same. One writer ties John's greatness to the One he announces:
In this verse he speaks to his child John, to say that he will be called the prophet of the Highest. John goes before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, a herald of One infinitely greater than himself. Because of this great honour, no greater prophet had ever risen than John. No one else had a place like this (Luke 7:28).
One writer sets this moment against the long silence that came before it:
He had inspired no prophets since the days of Malachi, an interval of 400 years. Then He spoke by the mouth of Zacharias the priest about his infant son John... Isaiah had long before foretold the forerunner of the Messiah (Isa. 40:3). That herald had now come.
A herald goes before someone. Who is that someone? One writer answers with God's own name, Jehovah:
The child whom God had given to Zacharias and Elizabeth would go before the face of Jehovah to prepare His ways. For the Son of David was Jehovah. He came according to the promises, and according to the word by which God had announced that His glory would be shown.
Zacharias is not inventing his language. Another writer traces it to two earlier prophets:
"You will go before the Lord to prepare His ways" — clearly an allusion to Malachi (Mal. 3:1) as well as to Isaiah.
Zacharias calls John the prophet of the Highest. He does not call him the son of the Highest. That one word marks the gap between a servant and his Master:
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born Son of God, and Son of the Highest. But John was only the prophet of the Highest. He was honoured to be the forerunner of our Lord, yet his own testimony was that he was not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal.
Even the shape of the father's song keeps John in his place. One writer counted the verses:
It is worth noticing that his prophecy runs to twelve verses. Eight of them go to Him whom he calls the horn of salvation, and only four to his own child, the prophet of the Highest! But when the Holy Spirit speaks, He always glorifies the Lord Jesus as His brightest theme.
John built no road of stone. His road ran through people:
He is the messenger of the Lord Himself, sent to prepare His way before Him... He cries, "Prepare the way." The way by which the Lord could enter was repentant hearts: convicted of sin, confessing their guilt, seeing that the flesh was finished, with death and grace as their only resource.
John grew up with these words spoken over him, and Mary was his mother's relative. Yet he later said twice that he did not know Jesus:
Twice over John the Baptist said of the Lord Jesus, "I did not know Him" (John 1:31-33). This is striking in the light of the words of John's father, Zacharias... John's mother and Jesus' mother were related, and that is enough evidence that John would know Jesus as a natural relative. But it took a revelation from God to bring John into the secret of who Jesus really was. His father's words, though he remembered them, would not be enough. God had to reveal to him the glory of Jesus.
- Silence broken. God sent no prophet for four hundred years. Then He speaks again, through a father over his newborn son.
- Title given. Zacharias calls his son the prophet of the Highest, a herald of One far greater than himself. John's greatness lies in whose road he clears.
- Person revealed. The Lord whose face John goes before is Jehovah, so the Son of David coming after him is God Himself.
- Road built. John prepares the way in repentant hearts, not in the landscape. They confess their guilt and find grace their only resource.
- Glory kept. Eight verses go to the Saviour and four to the son. That is the Spirit's own proportion. Even John needed God to reveal to him who Jesus was.
to give knowledge of deliverance to his people by [the] remission of their sins
After months of silence, the Holy Spirit fills Zacharias, and he tells his newborn son John what work lies ahead of him. Two questions sit in this line: who are "his people," and why does forgiveness of sins bring the knowledge of salvation? (Where older writers say "remission," the ESV says "forgiveness.")
Zacharias speaks to a baby, but he maps out a life's work. One writer notes that "his people" here means less than the whole nation.
Verses 76 and 77 refer directly to John, who had just been born. He was to go before the face of Jehovah preparing His ways. He was to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins. He did this, as Luke 3:3 records, in connection with his baptism. Notice that "His people" here takes on a somewhat new sense — not Israel as a nation, but the believing remnant within that people. Everything rests on mercy, even with John and his Elijah-like ministry.
Commentators differ here. Another writer reads the whole song as a promise to the nation of Israel.
This is part of a song of praise to "the Lord God of Israel," who "has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David." So when Zacharias speaks of "us," or of "God's people," he means Israel. The salvation John was to proclaim, the remission of sins he was to announce, and the "dayspring" (the dawn) that had visited the people are all national in kind.
One writer traces the word behind "forgiveness" to a courtroom picture, and to the blood that made it possible.
Aphesis (from aphiemi, to "let go," and so "to let go free from a charge") was to mark John the Baptist's testimony: "to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins." (Luke 1:77.) So we find him preaching "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3.) When God lets a person go free of the charge, He must do it in righteousness. So we read in Hebrews 9:22 that "without shedding of blood" there could be "no remission."
Zacharias does not say John will give salvation. He will give knowledge of it.
The knowledge of salvation comes through the remission of sins, as we know from Luke 1:77. When God speaks of remission, He does not mean something true in His heart about us before we knew it. He means forgiveness actually given to us... And we see what salvation is according to Scripture — not just the giving of life, but the position we are consciously brought into, by faith in the testimony of Christ's finished work.
Another writer asks how that knowledge reaches a person, and where its certainty rests.
It puts me in the place where Christ is. So even from John the Baptist's father we learn it was "to give knowledge of salvation to His people." This knowledge comes by the Holy Spirit. I know that Christ is at the right hand of God, and that He is the One who bore my sins. If the work had not been complete, finished and accepted, He could not have been there. But it was God who raised Him from the dead.
The promise assumes a lack. One writer contrasts it with what Israel had before.
In Old Testament times the Jews did not know this full forgiveness. They got a kind of absolution for each sin they committed. The veil shut them out of the most holy place, where God revealed Himself... That one work, done once for all and never to be repeated, really does give peace to the conscience. It is the ground on which we have eternal redemption and full forgiveness, so that God remembers our sins and lawless deeds no more.
Earlier in the song, Zacharias celebrates rescue from enemies. This verse adds a second blessing rather than replacing the first.
"To give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins." It is not that the Jews will be without the remission of their sins; they will have that beside deliverance from their enemies.
Forgiveness given once raises a question: what about the sins a believer commits later?
We receive the forgiveness of sins that comes with salvation (see Luke 1:77) once for all. It is a blessing that is always ours. But if we, the children of God, sin, that sin interrupts our communion with Him, and we need forgiveness to restore that communion.
- Errand — John went ahead of the Lord to hand people knowledge. Commentators differ on who "his people" are: Israel as a nation, or the believing remnant.
- Charge dropped — "Remission" means being let go free from a charge. God grants it in righteousness, and only shed blood makes that possible.
- Conferred, then known — Forgiveness is not just a fact hidden in God's heart. God actually gives it, and the Spirit makes you sure of it by pointing to the risen Christ at God's right hand.
- New ground — Israel had repeated absolutions and a veil that shut them out. This promise rests on one work, never repeated, that clears the conscience for good.
- Kept — Forgiveness received once for all stays ours. Later sin interrupts communion, and forgiveness restores it.
on account of [the] bowels of mercy of our God; wherein [the] dayspring from on high has visited us,
Zacharias ends his song by naming the reason for everything he has just described: the tender mercy of God. He pictures that mercy as a sunrise — one that breaks from above, not from the horizon.
Zacharias has been celebrating forgiveness. One writer shows it rests on nothing in the people themselves.
Verses 76 and 77 refer directly to John, who had just been born. He was to go before the face of Jehovah preparing His ways. He was to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins... Notice that here "His people" takes on a somewhat new sense. It does not mean the whole nation of Israel, but the believing remnant within that people. All is on the ground of mercy, even with John and his Elijah-like ministry. It is "the remission of their sins on account of the bowels of mercy of our God."
The older phrase "bowels of mercy" points to the deep inward feeling behind the whole mission. One writer sees that mercy at work when Jesus sat down in a tax collector's house:
The Servant of Jehovah, the "dayspring from on high," had visited His people for the remission of sins, not for their judgment. His mission came from the tender mercy — the heart of mercy — of God Himself. It stays true that judgment will overtake every evil work. Yet in the house of Levi the tax collector, the mercy of God gloried against judgment.
The ESV calls Him "the sunrise"; older versions say "dayspring." Behind both is a word for the east, where the sun comes up.
The word comes from "to arise up." Elsewhere it is translated "east," because the sun rises in the east. Here Christ is compared to the spring of day from on high, the true heavenly light, "to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
But this is no ordinary dawn. The phrase "from on high" marks the difference.
The "Dayspring from on high" is an especially lovely description of Christ. Alternative words for "Dayspring" would be "Daydawn" or "Sunrising." His coming was indeed the dawning of a new day. Every earthly sunrise has been, to human eyes, from beneath upwards. This one was "from on high," that is, from above downwards. The Spirit of God moved Zacharias to announce the dawning of a new day. Its full wonder was still hidden from his own eyes.
Zacharias saw the first beams of a day that had not yet fully come.
It was not yet time for the day of Christ to dawn. But as the Dayspring, the beams of Messiah's light were springing up — not to announce the day, but to give light to His faithful remnant and bring them the "knowledge of salvation... by the remission of their sins." It was the same light that would light up the earth in a coming day, but it now brought the knowledge of God to His people.
The visit was short. Its results were not small: God revealed, the Father's name made known, redemption accomplished, the enemies of God and His people defeated (An Outline of Sound Words).
Did Zacharias know how far this light would travel — beyond Israel to the Gentiles? One writer leaves the question open.
How far Zacharias understood the full meaning of his words is not for us to determine. But with Isaiah 42:6 before us, may it not be that the Holy Spirit meant more than a Jew would have thought to sing of — even grace that would reach the Gentiles, as that prophet had foretold?
Luke's whole Gospel carries the stamp of this mercy.
Jesus did not appear in might and glory but in humility and grace. Luke emphasises the grace of God. He speaks of the tender mercy of our God, "whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high," to shine on those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death. Only in his gospel do we find parables like the good Samaritan and the prodigal son. Only Luke tells us that the thief on the cross received pardon at the point of extreme helplessness, just hours before the end of his life.
- Cause. Everything in Zacharias' song rests on mercy. Forgiveness comes "because of the tender mercy of our God" — not because of anything in the people.
- Gift. That mercy took the form of a dayspring: the word means "sunrise," and it names Christ as the true heavenly light.
- Direction. Every other sunrise climbs from below; this one came down "from on high."
- Reach. It shone first on a believing remnant in Israel — and perhaps, in the Spirit's intention, on the Gentiles beyond.
- Result. Not yet full day, but real light — God revealed, redemption accomplished, and pardon given to a dying thief at his most helpless.
to shine upon them who were sitting in darkness and in [the] shadow of death, to guide our feet into [the] way of peace.
Zacharias ends his song. He pictures the coming of Christ as a sunrise over people who sit in darkness, in the shadow of death. Who is this light? Who sits in the dark? And where do their feet end up?
The word behind "sunrise" holds a picture of its own:
The word is from "to arise up." Luke 1:78. It is elsewhere translated "east" because that is where the sun rises. Christ is here compared to the spring of day from on high, as the true heavenly light.
One writer notices that this sunrise runs the wrong way:
"Dayspring" could also be rendered "Daydawn" or "Sunrising." His coming was indeed the dawning of a new day. Every earthly sunrise has been, to human eyes, from beneath upwards. This one was "from on high" — that is, from above downwards.
"Shadow" means power, one writer explains, and it covers the whole world we live in:
The words "Valley of the Shadow of Death" mean simply this earth, the place where death reigns. Death is the "King of Terrors." And the one who has the power of death is the devil, "the prince of this world" and "the god of this world." The whole scene around us bears the stamp of death. It lies under the shadow — that is, under the power — of death.
And those in it are described as sitting — settled, not searching. The light comes to them; they do not go and find it.
Who are the people in the dark? One writer answers from who is singing:
When Zacharias speaks of "us," or of "God's people," he means Israel. So the salvation John was to proclaim was national. So was the forgiveness of sins he was to announce, and so was the "dayspring" which had visited the people. God's grace may have enlarged the scope of the prophecy. But in the mouth of Zacharias, its terms and its meaning were simply Jewish.
Commentators differ here. Another writer thinks the Spirit meant more than Zacharias could grasp:
How far Zacharias understood the full meaning of his words is not for us to decide. But Isaiah 42:6 stands before us. May it not be that the Holy Spirit included more in His thoughts than a Jew would naturally have sung of? He included even grace that would reach the nations, as that prophet had foretold.
That darkness was more than moral. One writer describes it, and says it will return:
The Lord came the first time when they were in bitter degradation under the Gentiles, and in moral darkness too. It will be even more so when He comes again. There will be bondage again under the power of the West. A foreign king will reign in the land, and a special deceiving power of Satan will be there. But the Lord will appear, to the defeat of all their foes and the full deliverance of His people Israel.
The sunrise came. One writer traces what happened next:
At His first coming Jesus came as the dawning of a new day, bringing light to those sitting in darkness. But the Jew rejected the light. As far as they were concerned, they put it out. So He was given as a light for the nations, to be God's salvation to the end of the earth. His second coming will be in "the day of Your power," when "Your people will offer themselves freely." Then at last they will come into the full blaze of that light. They will reflect it, as the moon reflects the light of the sun.
The verse ends with feet on a road. One writer notes what Zacharias saw in the coming of Christ:
He saw that it meant the bringing in of both light and peace for men... When He came out in His public ministry the light began to shine. The way of peace was well and truly laid in His death and resurrection. Right after that, the feet of His disciples were led into it... In the first glimpse we have of him he is a troubled and fearful man. His last word recorded in Scripture is "peace."
- Light — Christ Himself is the dayspring: the true heavenly light, come down on a world in the dark.
- Sunrise — "Dayspring" is the word for where the sun comes up. Every other sunrise climbs from below; this one comes down from on high.
- Shadow — The shadow of death is this world, where death reigns and the devil holds the power of death. People sit in it, and the light comes to them.
- Reach — Zacharias sings as a priest of Israel, about Israel. Commentators differ over whether the Spirit already had the nations in view.
- Peace — The light does not only show the road; it guides feet along it. That road was laid in Christ's death and resurrection, and the last recorded word of a once-fearful man is "peace."