Reading
Lk 1:67-79
Zechariah his father, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David. Through his prophets he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hand of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Meditation
As soon as Zechariah "the mouth was opened" (Lk 1,64), full of the Holy Spirit, he raises to God a hymn of praise, known as Benedictus (by the Latin translation of his first word). Like the Magnificat, the canticle of Zechariah is largely composed of phrases taken from the Greek Old Testament and may have been a Judeo-Christian hymn in the liturgical context.
The powerful salvation raised up by God, literally the "horn of salvation" - a recurring figure in the Old Testament to represent the saving power of God - is referred not to John but to Christ, as indicated by the mention of the house of David. Elizabeth and Zechariah were in fact descendants not of David, but of Levi. The horn of salvation mentioned in the hymn is filled for us with the spiritual goods of the justifying and sanctifying grace.
God, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and spoke many times through the prophets, has now come to visit his people, to dwell with them, to take our humanity upon himself, to transcend the borders of Israel. John will go before the Lord Jesus as a precursor sent to announce salvation through the forgiveness of sins.
The possibility of serving God without fear (greek: aphobos) is the heart of the great promise sung in the Benedictus. Freed from Satan and the power of sin we no longer serve God with fear as slaves, but with filial love, according to the spirit of adoption.
The visit of the sun that comes to illuminate those who are in darkness is an image present in the Old Testament and also taken up in the New testament. Thus Isaiah prophesies: "The people who walked in darkness saw a great light" (Is 9,2) and "Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn" (Is 60,3); and Malachi: "But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings" (Mal 4,2). The metaphor of light is also used by Peter: "So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts "(2 Pt 1:19). Jesus himself in the Apocalypse defines himself as "the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star" (Rev 22:16).
Let us therefore greet the light of the Gospel. These first pages of the Gospel of Luke present John as a small flame. But the voice of the precursor will soon echo in the desert, to fill the ravines and lift the hills (Lk 3,5); to fill the voids of our hearth with consolation and call us back to humility in conversion to God. So that he who came to bring fire to earth (Lk 12:49), the Spirit that Christ pours out, may rise up in the soul of whoever believes in the word of salvation.
Prayer
Arise, Lord, and disperse the darkness that envelops our hearts; fill us with the grace your servant John foretold, so that we can bless your name. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
