12/11/10 Luke 1:67- 75 Zechariah Sings About Jesus

67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:  68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us— 72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

Thoughts: Zechariah the priest prophesied that the Messiah has come to bring relief from enemies and relief from fear.  Jesus' coming gave relief from the greatest of enemies- not Rome (the greatest of empires), but death.  Paul says it is our last enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), and it is an enemy every single one of God's people must face.  Death and its corollary judgment are our enemies from which Christ saves each one of us.

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for the offer of salvation.

John Calvin Abridged: Zechariah prophesied that God has visited/come to his people that He might redeem them.  It is said that Christ came as a redeemer for the holy and elect people of God- thus even the fathers of the Old Testament were redeemed by Christ's grace.  Zechariah was well aware that the principle battle was not against flesh and blood, but the real enemy is a spiritual one- Satan and his legions.  Though we are surrounded by enemies on every side, we have a sure and certain salvation.