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Another Miracle. Immediately, Zach was
able to speak and hear, and their guests saw another miracle of God. The one who could not hear or speak was
now able to share what God had done in his life.
And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him. (NASB) Luke 1:64-66 The news spread like wild fire through the Jewish community. Have you ever noticed that good news rarely
spreads faster than bad news? Bad news, especially gossip, flows fast and furious. Gossip is a cancer among
Christians. What a sad commentary on our churches when it is present. If only our lips were as slow to spread
bad news as some Christians are when it comes to telling others about Jesus Christ! But with Zach and Liz the
news was good, and it spread all over that the hand of the Lord was on their child.
Zacharias’ Prophecy - The Rescue. Sometime after the baby was named, Zach
was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave a prophecy concerning their son - concerning the forerunner of the
Messiah. This must have been emotional.
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant — as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old — salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, and FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US . . . (NASB) Luke 1:67-71 The Greek word he used for “visited” in verse 68 implies that the Lord God had not just visited
them; He visited with the goal of helping them. He came to save them from their enemies. The Greek word
for save or salvation literally means “saving, preservation, deliverance, restore to safety, and made
safe.” Most Christians think of “salvation” as implying forgiveness from sin, but it can
also simply refer to being rescued from something or someone. In Zacharias’ prophecy “salvation” refers
to being rescued from their enemies - from people and nations who hate them. This was a fulfillment of prophecies
made by the prophets of old.
We will see later that the Jews rejected Jesus. They rejected their king. The sign nailed to
the wooden cross on which He died read, “King of the Jews” (John 19:21), but the Jewish leaders
rejected Him. They did not want Him to be their king. What a mistake! Jesus knew this would happen, and so
He had previously predicted that the city of Jerusalem - the nation of Israel - would be destroyed.
When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “ . . . For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (NASB) Luke 19:41-44 The expression “horn of salvation” in verse 69 implies that God had intended to do a great rescue
(1 Sam. 2:10; 2 Sam. 23:3). That rescue was delayed to a distant future after they rejected Jesus Christ. That
future rescue has not occurred yet. We are still waiting for it to occur.
Jesus came to show mercy, grace, compassion, and to fulfill His promise to the prophets and
to Abraham. Jesus had a mission in life. He had a purpose for coming to this planet.
To show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. (NASB) Luke 1:72-75 |
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | |||||