Luke 1: 67 – 79
67 And his father Zechari’ah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, 68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us; 72 to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, 74 to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. 76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 78 through the tender mercy of our God, when the day shall dawn upon us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Reflection
Two days before Christmas and all the Christmas gifts had been prepared by now. But what is that one gift we can give to all people you will meet which everyone needs yet, will cost you not a single cent? Ask me what? It’s simply LOVE.
Zechariah had in his old age a son with Elizabeth whom he named John, the pre-cursor to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. John is the gift of LOVE from God given to the old couple Zechariah and Elizabeth. As you know, in the context of the Jewish culture, having no offspring makes them useless couple and is almost equal to a curse as it means you won’t have any posterity. NO one in the family will continue your lineage. Thus, the immense love of God for Zechariah and Elizabeth is manifested by making happen what is impossible with men, God made possible for Elizabeth to conceive in her old age. And as a show of love to God, Zechariah offered John back. Love begets love.
In today’s reading, Zechariah prophesied what his son would be destined to do: Luke 1:76-77 “76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins”. Today as we read this Gospel of Luke, the same prophecy is addressed to all of us. We are all called to be “Johns” for our family, friends, relatives and neighbors. And we can do this not just by shouting on the house tops for repentance of sins. Not just by giving expensive gifts.
We can be John’s to our family by giving LOVE as it is the summation of the Gospels and the Commandments. Giving love unconditionally reflects the mercy of God who loves us and forgives us even before we repent, even before we love Him back.
Giving love unconditionally gives knowledge of salvation to those who receives it. Start wrapping and sending your gifts now… Send your LOVE.
Prayer
Lord make us your instruments to bring knowledge of salvation to our fellow men. Bless us with wisdom, strength and all provisions we need to effectively spread the good news to all people. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Gift for Today
The easiest thing to do is to criticize and highlight the negatives of anything or anyone. Even the people closest to us are not spared. As a gift for today, let us show by our examples the tender mercy of God and to give light to those in darkness of sin.
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