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."