Sunday 22 July 2012

He has visited and redeemed


Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, - Luke 1.68-69

From Mary we move on the Zechariah, John’s father.  John's job was to go ahead of the Messiah and prepare His way. Zechariah was silenced for not wanting to name his son John. But once his lips were opened he was full praise filled prophecy for his son and the One who would follow.

There had been about 400 silent years for Israel. No prophets had spoken. Every week the words of the prophets were read in the Temple and the synagogues, but there was no fresh prophecy. John would break that silence.

And what would John’s message be? ‘Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people…’

God would visit His people. What an astounding thought! Not only would the Lord God visit His people – He would also redeem them.

We have to remember that we are still operating on Old Testament ‘rules’ here. The gospel was still a mystery, but not for much longer. Part of the mystery was that God’s visitation and redemption would not be only for Israel but for the whole world.

God came down to visit a humanity that was in utter rebellion against Him. He knew that they would reject, but He still came to redeem those who would enter through the narrow gate and accept.

He came to the world and the world would not know Him. But He still came to redeem us. Praise God for His visitation and His redemption. 

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