The Sunrise Song of the Covenant Text: Luke 1:67-80
Introduction: When God Breaks the Silence
For four hundred years, the heavens had been brass. The prophetic voice in Israel had fallen silent. The people of God were left with the echoes of Malachi, a promise of a coming messenger, and then nothing. In that long quiet, religion had not ceased, far from it. It had grown meticulous, professional, and dead. The Pharisees were busy polishing the brass on a sinking ship, the Sadducees were collaborating with the Romans to keep their comforts, and the common man was left with a ritualistic husk, a faith of memory and not of present power.
And into this meticulously arranged funeral home, God sends two babies. First John, then Jesus. And with the coming of John, the silence is shattered. But it is not shattered by the cry of the infant in the wilderness. It is shattered here, by the song of his father, Zechariah. This man, a priest of the old order, had been struck dumb for his unbelief. Nine months of silence, a divine discipline for his doubt. But when his obedience is complete, when he names the boy John as God commanded, his tongue is loosed. And what comes out is not a croak, not a complaint, but a torrent of Spirit-filled prophecy. This song, often called the Benedictus, is not a sentimental ditty about a new baby. It is a declaration of war. It is a covenant lawsuit summary. It is the trumpet blast announcing that God is on the move again, that He is keeping His promises, and that history is about to pivot on the hinge of two lives in Judea.
Zechariah's song is a map of God's plan. It looks back to the ancient promises made to David and Abraham, and it looks forward to the work of the Messiah. It is saturated with the Old Testament, reminding us that the New Testament is not a radical break from the Old, but its glorious, appointed fulfillment. God does not make things up as He goes. He is a covenant-keeping God, and this song is the celebration of His unwavering faithfulness. It is the overture to the gospel, setting the themes of redemption, kingship, mercy, and light that will define the ministry of Jesus Christ.
The Text
And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He visited and accomplished redemption for His people, And raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old, Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US, To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO MAKE READY HIS WAYS, To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins, Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To direct our feet into the way of peace.” And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the desolate regions until the day of his public appearance to Israel.
(Luke 1:67-80 LSB)
The Uncorked Prophecy (v. 67-68)
The song begins with the divine enablement and the central theme of God's action.
"And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: 'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He visited and accomplished redemption for His people...'" (Luke 1:67-68)
First, notice the source. Zechariah was "filled with the Holy Spirit." In our therapeutic and emotionally-driven age, we tend to think of this as being filled with a warm feeling or a bubbly enthusiasm. But in the Scriptures, being filled with the Spirit results in bold, authoritative, God-centered speech. Peter was filled with the Spirit at Pentecost and preached the law and the gospel with cutting clarity. Stephen was filled with the Spirit and recited covenant history to the Sanhedrin before they murdered him. The Spirit does not give us sentimental mush; He gives us the truth and the courage to speak it. After nine months of silent reflection on the Word of God and his own foolish unbelief, Zechariah is now a firehose of divine truth.
And what is the first thing he says? He blesses God. He doesn't start with his son, or his feelings, or his personal experience. He starts with God. "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel." This is the proper starting point for all sane theology and all true worship. The story is not about us. It is about God and His glory.
Why is God to be blessed? Because "He visited and accomplished redemption for His people." This is not a future hope; Zechariah speaks of it in the past tense. The redemption is so certain, its arrival so imminent, that he can speak of it as an accomplished fact. God has not been distant or forgetful during those silent centuries. He has been planning His visitation. And this is not a social call. A divine visitation is always a moment of reckoning. For His enemies, it is judgment. For His people, it is redemption. God has stepped into history to buy His people back from their slavery. This is exodus language. God is about to do something that will make the parting of the Red Sea look like a preliminary sketch.
The Davidic King and His Salvation (v. 69-71)
Zechariah immediately identifies the nature of this redemption. It is a kingly, military, and political salvation.
"And raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old, Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US," (Luke 1:69-71 LSB)
A "horn" in the Old Testament is a symbol of strength, power, and kingly authority. Think of a bull or a ram, powerful and formidable. God has not raised up a pillow of salvation, or a nice thought of salvation. He has raised up a Horn, a conquering King. And this King comes from a very specific address: "in the house of David His servant." This is a direct fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7), where God promised David a son who would sit on his throne forever. For centuries, that throne had been empty, that dynasty in disgrace. But God did not forget. He was sending the true Son of David to claim His rightful throne.
And what is the purpose of this Horn of salvation? Zechariah is brutally clear, and his words are deeply offensive to our modern, gnostic sensibilities. It is "Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US." We have been trained to spiritualize this away, to say that the only real enemies are our bad attitudes or spiritual doubts. That is a lie. Of course, the ultimate enemy is sin and Satan. But sin and Satan have allies, they have foot soldiers, they have structures and governments and ideologies that hate God and His people. The salvation Christ brings is comprehensive. It is salvation from sin, yes, but the fruit of that is salvation from the consequences of sin, which includes being subjugated by wicked men. Zechariah is prophesying a real, historical, concrete victory over the enemies of God's people. This is postmillennialism in seed form. The Horn of salvation has been raised up to crush His enemies and establish His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
The Abrahamic Oath and Its Goal (v. 72-75)
The prophecy then digs deeper, from the Davidic covenant to the Abrahamic, showing the ultimate purpose of this mighty salvation.
"To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days." (Luke 1:72-75 LSB)
God's actions in the present are a fulfillment of His mercy to the "fathers." Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not forgotten. God is keeping faith with the dead saints as much as with the living. He does this by remembering His covenant, the oath He swore to Abraham. God's promises are not suggestions. They are sworn oaths, backed by His own divine character. And what was the goal of that oath?
Here it is, the positive purpose of redemption. It is "to grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear." Salvation is not just a fire escape from hell. It is liberation for service. We are rescued from slavery to one master in order to become joyful servants of another, better Master. And notice the nature of this service: "without fear." This is not the cowering fear of a slave before a tyrant. This is the confident, joyful service of a son in his father's house. The gospel frees us from the fear of condemnation, the fear of man, and the fear of failure. It liberates us to serve God boldly.
And this service has a character: "In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days." Holiness is our separation unto God; righteousness is our conformity to His law. This is not a temporary burst of enthusiasm. It is a lifelong pursuit, a cultural reality. "All our days" speaks of a settled, stable, multigenerational faithfulness. This is the vision of Christendom. A people rescued by God to build a society where He can be served openly, without fear, in every area of life.
The Forerunner's Mission (v. 76-79)
Having laid out the grand scope of God's plan, Zechariah turns to his own infant son and defines his specific, crucial role in it.
"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO MAKE READY HIS WAYS, To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins, Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To direct our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:76-79 LSB)
John's identity is "prophet of the Most High." His job is to be a herald, to go "before the Lord to make ready His ways." He is the road crew for the royal procession. He is to fill in the potholes of religious pride and level the mountains of self-righteousness. He prepares the way by giving "the knowledge of salvation." This is not a secret, mystical knowledge. It is a public declaration. And the foundation of this salvation is explicitly stated: "By the forgiveness of their sins." All true reformation, all true revival, begins here. It begins with the preaching of repentance and the declaration that God, in Christ, forgives sin. Without this, there is no salvation, only moralism.
And why does God do this? Not because we are worthy, but "Because of the tender mercy of our God." The source of our salvation is not in us; it is in the heart of God. His mercy is not reluctant; it is tender. And this tender mercy has a name: "the Sunrise from on high." This is Jesus. Malachi prophesied that the "Sun of righteousness" would arise with healing in his wings (Mal. 4:2). Zechariah sees that dawn coming. Christ is the sunrise. His first coming was not the beginning of the twilight, not the setting of the sun on the world. It was the dawn. The light has come, and the darkness cannot, and will not, overcome it.
The purpose of this Sunrise is "TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH." This is the state of all men apart from Christ. We are sitting in a dark prison, on death row. We are not just lost; we are inert, seated, unable to save ourselves. The light must invade our darkness. And when it does, it has a goal: "To direct our feet into the way of peace." This is the shalom of God's kingdom. It is not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of a comprehensive, ordered well-being under the reign of King Jesus. The gospel puts our feet on a new path, the path of the King's peace.
Conclusion: The Hidden Growth
The passage concludes with a simple summary of the next thirty years.
"And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the desolate regions until the day of his public appearance to Israel." (Luke 1:80 LSB)
John grew, not just physically, but strong in spirit. He was being prepared in the wilderness, away from the corruption of the religious establishment in Jerusalem. God prepares His instruments in secret before He reveals them in public. This was a thirty-year boot camp for a ministry that would last only a few months but would shake the entire nation. It was in the desolation that he was being made ready to be the voice crying in the wilderness.
Zechariah's song is therefore our song. It is the song of the new covenant, which is the fulfillment of the old. It reminds us that our God is a promise-keeping God. It reminds us that salvation is a mighty, conquering work of a King who has come and who is reigning now. It reminds us that we have been rescued from our enemies, not to sit around and wait for evacuation, but to serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all our days. The Sunrise has visited us. The dawn has broken. We are not children of the night, or of the darkness. We are to live as children of the day, walking in the light, on the path of peace, extending the borders of our King's ever-increasing kingdom. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.