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."