Advent day 11: Prepare the way

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.

⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
⁷⁷ to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
⁷⁹ to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

Zechariah, now able to speak, sings a song. He is overwhelmed with joy that not only his wife gave birth but that she gave birth to a boy that would prepare the way for the Christ. He knows his Scripture, and knows the Christ coming will change everything. He will redeem His people, and fulfill the promise set before Abraham so many years before.

Here, in Zechariah's arms, was the baby would go before to prepare people's hearts for the Lord. How do you raise a child like that? What changes would the boy bring to Zechariah? Was he fit for this challenge? As he sat there pondering all that these years would bring, he was certain John would teach him more than he taught John. He was okay with that. He praised God that He would give the knowledge to John to preach; "To shine on those living in the darkness and in the shadow of Death." But John was to prepare them for the Bringer of Light, the Defeater of Death. He would see salvation instead of just preach about it.

This baby in Zechariah's arms didn't know the cost of following his unborn relative yet. For now, he was at peace listening to his father sing him a song.