The Horn of Salvation
Michael Hansen
Liturgical Day / Luke 1:68–79
Introduction
These words of the Benedictus are sung by Zechariah after the birth of his son, John the Baptist.
The Benedictus is one of three songs that show up in the opening chapters of Luke’s gospel along with Mary’s Magnificat and Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis. Each of these songs set the scene in Luke’s gospel for the birth of Jesus, the Messiah.
And along with the other songs, the Benedictus is packed with allusions and echoes from Israel’s scriptures. Practically every line harkens to a character, event or prophecy from Israel’s history. In Luke’s gospel, he is showing the reader that Israel’s history is reaching it’s climactic conclusion in the events of the gospel. He is linking the births of John the Baptist and Jesus to the promises that God has made to visit his people and bring salvation to them through a Messiah in the line of David.
Zechariah’s words break into two parts:
1. In verses 68-75 Zechariah praises God for the promises of Messianic deliverance.
2. In verses 76-79 Zechariah prophecies about his own son, John the Baptist, and Jesus who was to be born of Mary.
Praise for Messianic Deliverance (vv. 68-75)
In the first section of the Benedictus Zechariah meditates on the salvation that has been promised to Israel in their scriptures.
The first thing that Zechariah alludes to the is the fact that Israel’s redemption would come through the House of David:
Redemption for Israel through David’s House (vv. 68-70)
Luke 1:68-70 ““Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,”
This is seen in verses 68-70 where Zechariah blesses God for visiting and redeeming his people by raising up a horn of salvation in the house of his servant David as he has spoken by the prophets.
Zechariah blesses God just as David blessed God when it was granted that Solomon would sit on his throne in 1 Kings 1:48 when David says, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted someone to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it.”
Zechariah anticipates that God’s messiah will arrive in his kingdom as Solomon did, destroying all who would pretend to the throne that is rightfully his (1 Sam 2:25).
Zechariah speaks of God visiting His people and redeeming his people. This language echoes what Moses wrote in Exodus 4 where God visited his people who were suffering under Egyptian slavery. Throughout the OT there are hints that God would once again deliver and redeem His people from their enemies in a New Exodus.
Zechariah declares that it is in God raising up a horn of salvation in the House of Davidthrough whom salvation will be accomplished.
In 1 Sam 2:1 Hannah prays after Samuel is dedicated to the LORD in the Tabernacle “My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.”
In Psalm 132 the psalmist declares that God will abundantly bless Zion and that “God will make a horn spout for David” and He will “clothe the enemies of his anointed with shame but the crown of his anointed will shine.”
In the Benedictus Zechariah declares that the time is fulfilled. What was spoken by the prophets of old is now coming to pass. God is visiting his people as he visited them in Egypt by his servant Moses and as he visited his people in the time of Samuel to establish the kingdom under David.
A New Exodus is about to take place. There is a new prophet like Samuel who is about to anoint a new and greater king in David’s line.
The God Who Remembers His Covenant (vv. 71-75)
Verses 71-75 describe why it is that God is going to save His people from their enemies and to show mercy to His people. We see here that it is due to the fact that God is remembering the covenant that he made of old with the Patriarchs and with Israel at Sinai. It is because God remembers his covenant promises that he is coming now, to save and show mercy on His people!
God’s Covenant Faithfulness (vv. 71-73)
Luke 1:71-73 “that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us”
Psalm 106:10 declares that at the Red Sea God “Saved Israel from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.” and Zechariah echoes this language in verse 71 to reinforce that the salvation that is coming to Israel is on the scale of the Exodus.
In verse 72 Zechariah draws from the prophecy of Micah to express what is happening in his day when he says that God is going to show the mercy promised to our fathers.
Micah concludes his prophecy by asking “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of your inheritance?” How is it that God can be so patience and long-suffering with his people. Micah answers that it is because God delights in steadfast love and that God will yet again have compassion on his people and tread their iniquities underfoot.
And the very last thing that one reads in Micah’s prophecy is that God will cast all His peoples’ iniquities into the depths of the sea and that God “will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.” (Micah 7:20)
Zechariah prophecies that this is what is beginning to happen in the birth of his son and in the coming birth of the messiah who his son will make a way for.
This theme continues in the second half of verse 72 when he says that God is going to remember his holy covenant.
This is an allusion to Leviticus. In Leviticus 26 Moses writes out the blessings that will come to Israel if they are faithful to the covenant. But he also lays out the curses that will come to Israel if they are faithless to the covenant. In Leviticus 26 describes how God will set his face against Israel if they do not obey what is written. But in all of this it is clear that these consequences are a form of discipline. Even though God will go so far as to scatter Israel among the nations (Lev 26:33) he does so to discipline them.
But later in Leviticus 26 (Lev 26:40-42) God tells Israel that if they confess their iniquity and they are humbled in the circumcision of their hearts that God will “remember his covenant with Isaac and with Abraham”. Moses writes that God will not destroy and utterly break his covenant them but that he will “remember his covenant with their forefathers, whom he brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that he might be their God.” (Lev 26:44-45)
In verse 73, Zechariah stretches back even beyond the Exodus and God’s covenant with Israel at Sinai to say that God is now fulfilling the oath that he swore to Abraham!
In Genesis 22 God swore to Abraham that he would multiply his offspring, that Abraham’s offspring would posses the gate of his enemies and that in Abraham’s offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.
Paul teaches in Galatians (Gal 3:16) that Jesus is Abraham’s offspring and that it is in Jesus that these promises are fulfilled.
Zechariah announces that the time has come for Abraham’s offspring to be greatly multiplied, to possess the gates of his enemies and to bless the nations.
Zechariah declares the faithfulness of God to his covenant! God keeps his promises!
› And God keeps his promises to you! In your baptism God promises to be your God, to forgive all of your sins, and to walk with you in this life by his Spirit.
› Believe and trust that God is a promise keeping God. The entire story of the Bible, as it finds its climax in the story of Jesus, is a story about a promise keeping God.
› God has kept his promises to Adam and Eve, God has kept his promises to Noah, God has kept his promises to the patriarchs, God has kept his promises to Moses and Israel, God has kept his promises to David, and God keeps his promises to you! As surely as Jesus is risen from the grave, all of God’s promises to you are “yes” and “amen” in Jesus Christ!
Covenant Faithfulness of God’s People (vv. 74-75)
Luke 1:74-75 “that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
Verses 74-75 tell the result of God’s covenant faithfulness.
It is that we might be delivered from the hands of our enemies that we may serve God without fear!
Again, Zechariah echoes the scriptures when he says this. Zephaniah (Zeph 3:15) states that “The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.”
As God fulfills his covenant promises the result for God’s people is that you are delivered from the hands of your enemies. And as Zephaniah declares, this is closely related to God taking away the judgements that are against you.
The enemies of the people of God are defeated because they no longer have any accusations to bring against the brethren. Satan is an accuser and he accuses God’s people of their sins and this debilitates God’s people in their work to extend God’s kingdom on earth.
› But God has dealt with the judgements against you in Christ and you can now serve God without fear.
God saves His people in an expression of his covenant faithfulness so that his people might live faithfully in the covenant. God saves, redeems, and delivers so that we might serve God in holiness and righteousness all our days.
› So remember, God calls you to holiness and righteousness. And this is not a heavy burden. The commands of God are pleasant and good.
Prophecy about Jesus and John (vv. 76-79)
In verses 76-79 that Zechariah speaks specifically about what is going to take place through his son, John the Baptist and Jesus, the Messiah.
Verses 76 and 77 speak about John the Baptist while verses 78 and 79 speak about Jesus.
John (vv. 76-77)
Prophet of the Most High to Prepare the Way (v. 76)
Luke 1:76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,”
Verse 76 states that John will be called the prophet of the Most High and that he will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.
This is a clear allusion to the Prophet Isaiah where he prophecies about a voice crying: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
John the Baptist is the last of the prophets of the Old Covenant. For all the glories and wisdom of Solomon, for all the drama of Samuel establishing the Davidic Kingdom, for all the mighty works of Moses establishing Israel, it is John the Baptist who has the great honor of preparing the way for the Jesus.
To Give Knowledge of Forgiveness of Sins (v. 77)
Luke 1:77 “to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,”
And according to verse 77, John the Baptist is going to give knowledge of God’s salvation in the forgiveness of sins.
John’s message is no different from Jesus’ message or the message of the Apostles. Indeed the message of God throughout all of Scripture is the message of salvation and forgiveness.
Zechariah prophecies that John the Baptist will step into the long stream of prophets that declare to God’s people that God is merciful.
Jesus (vv. 78-79)
Luke 1:78-79 “because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.””
The final two verses of the Benedictus transition from John the Baptist to Jesus.
The chief emphasis of these verses is that Jesus comes to his people as light to those who are in darkness and in the shadow of death.
He is described here as the “Sunrise” or as other translations put it “the Dayspring from on high.”
Malachi (Mal 4:2) speaks of the day when the LORD will act and “the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.” And God’s people shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet.”
Isaiah (Isa 9:2) states that “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light shown.
Psalm 107 tells the story of the return of God’s people from exile in Babylon. The psalmist states that their souls were hungry and thirsty. That they cried to God and he delivered them. God led them by a straight way and he satisfies the longing soul and he feeds the hungry soul with good things.
The psalm continues to say that some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death because they rebelled against God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. God disciplined them but he brought them out of darkness and he burst their bonds apart. The psalmist declares that they should thank the LORD for his steadfast love “For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron.”
Conclusion
In the Benedictus Zechariah is retelling Israel’s entire history. Israel’s entire history has been a history of hopeful expectation that God would finally show up and act in the way that he had always promised to.
Yes, God had delivered Israel from Egypt in the Exodus, but Israel looked forward to a greater Exodus in the future where God would defeat an enemy greater than the Egyptians.
Yes, God established the throne of David, but Israel looked forward to the day when David’s Lord would say to His Lord “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
Yes, God had brought his people back from physical exile in Babylon, but God’s glory never filled the second Temple like it did Solomon’s temple or the Tabernacle.
Israel was waiting for the glory of God to come and dwell in their midst, to redeem them from the bonds of death, to establish his kingdom, and to receive their worship in a more glorious way.
And on Christ the King Sunday and every Sunday we can declare that what Zechariah declares is true. God has redeemed his people! God has raised up a horn of salvation! God has remembered his covenant! And the light of the great King Jesus has risen on the nations and we now walk in his light.
And we walk by faith in the light of his word until he calls us home or until he returns!
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