Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
Luke 1:76–80
“You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins” (vv. 76–77).
In the Benedictus, Zechariah celebrated in song the birth of his son John, better known to us as John the Baptist, and uttered prophecies concerning the Messiah. As we saw in our study of the first part of the Benedictus, Zechariah foresaw the comprehensive ministry of the Messiah in defeating the enemies of God and His people and establishing the servants of the Lord so that they will serve Him in holiness and righteousness forever (Luke 1:68–75). In other words, Zechariah predicted the full scope of the Savior’s work, which will be consummated in His return to bring the new heavens and earth where God and His people will dwell together, with nothing to threaten the security of the Lord’s kingdom (Rev. 21:1–22:5).
Zechariah focuses on the work of his son John in the second half of his song. The Messiah, Jesus, is the horn of salvation in the house of David who will achieve full and final redemption for the people of God, but His ministry will follow the ministry of John. Every king should have a herald to announce his coming, and this is true especially of the King of kings. John the Baptist will be His forerunner, and John will go before Jesus to prepare His way, for in Christ Jesus, God will visit His people with salvation (Luke 1:76–77). This portion of the song essentially repeats Gabriel’s description of John’s work (Luke 1:16–17), demonstrating that Zechariah came to believe our Creator’s promise through the angel while also showing those who heard the Benedictus that the day of God’s redemption was at hand.
Forgiveness of sins will be closely associated first with John and then with Jesus, who purchases our ultimate reconciliation with God (see 2 Cor. 5:16–21). John will proclaim the coming of Jesus, whose ministry is described with a host of light metaphors (Luke 1:76–79). Zechariah’s words recall Isaiah 60:1–3, which describes the light of the Messiah piercing the darkness and drawing all nations to the God of Israel. The work of the Savior has import first for Israel, but His ministry will not be limited to Israel. It will bless all the peoples of the world. His light will enter the darkness and drive it out, and that light will never be extinguished (John 1:5).
Luke concludes the first chapter of his gospel by telling us that John spent time in the wilderness before the start of his public ministry (Luke 1:80). This is yet more evidence that John was a prophet, for Elijah, in whose spirit and power John ministered, did much of his work in the wilderness (e.g., see 1 Kings 19).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
John the Baptist was the herald of Christ’s first advent, and the church is the herald of the second advent of Jesus. Like John, Christians are to go out into the world ahead of the coming of Christ at the end of the age, proclaiming that reconciliation with God is found in the gospel, warning people that if they do not believe now, they will suffer for all eternity at the coming of Jesus. Let us seek to help the church herald the coming of Christ however we can.
for further study
- Isaiah 60:19–22
- Hosea 6:1–3
- John 8:12
- 2 Corinthians 4:6
the bible in a year
- Genesis 41
- Matthew 14:1–21