God Has Rescued His People From Their Enemies
He raised up salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, in order to show mercy to our fathers by remembering his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, to grant deliverance to us from the hand of our enemies, so that we are able to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:71–75)
When Zechariah did not believe the angel that appeared to him in the temple, Zechariah was made mute and deaf until his son, John was born. After Zechariah wrote that his son would be named John, he was able to speak again. His first words were these words of praise to God because Zechariah understood that John would be the forerunner to the Christ. Because John was in the world, the Messiah would be entering into the world as well. So Zechariah sang praise to God for remembering the covenant that he made with Abraham and sending the promised descendant who would rescue his people from their enemies.
That promised descendant was Jesus, born about six months after John. He came into this world through the virgin Mary, true God, and true man. He came to this earth and lived the perfect life that we could not. He then traded places with us, taking on our punishment, the eternal wrath of God. By doing so, he defeated our enemies: sin, death, and the devil, and granted us salvation from them. He did all this so that we might do as Zechariah said. He did this so that we might serve God without fear of him because we have been made righteous and holy in his sight. We no longer need to fear our enemies or the punishment that God required for sin. We can love God freely and serve him with gladness. Amen.
The song for today is “Zecheriah’s Song” by Ordinary Time