Luke 1:57-80
Good morning, RTB’ers!
Today we have a helpful explanatory note in STS prior to our readings. The note guides us a bit into the structure of Zechariah’s prayer/prophecy. What was intriguing to me in his prayer is that Zachariah’s words have little to do with his own son’s birth and more to do with Jesus. It’s only two verses that relate to John: “And you, child, also will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins…” (vv. 76-77).
The Holy Spirit is mentioned four times in this first chapter of Luke’s gospel – John, Elizabeth and Zachariah were all (or would be) filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:15,35,67) and for Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you…” (v. 41). One online source suggests that there will be fifteen more mentions of the Holy Spirit in Luke’s gospel (https://spectrummagazine.org/post-archives/misplaced-expectations-ministry-holy-spirit-presented-gospel-luke/). So the Holy Spirit is Someone we will want to be watching for as we read further, including in both of the next two chapters. Who is He? What does He do? What can He do to/for us? How can we know Him better? Good questions to ponder…
Blessings!
Thank you for your daily comments, Fred! I was encouraged this morning to read in Zechariah’s prophecy the purpose of salvation: “That we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” (Luke 1:74,75) And how can that purpose be achieved in us without the filling of the Holy Spirit? So cool to see how the Spirit has been working for our salvation since the beginning of time.