Shea Zellweger
Luke 1:67-80
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a mighty savior for us
in the house of his servant David.
– Luke 1:68-69
In October, I participated in my first ever marathon. I had trained for four months, and I had a simple goal; cross the finish line. I had no target time, or pace, or rank. I did not care if I was last or even if the course was still open when I completed it. All that mattered to me was being able to say I had traveled 26.2 miles by foot in one shot. And yet despite my ample preparation and the very low bar I had set for myself, I was not particularly confident I would succeed. So I was a bit taken aback a month prior to the race when a fellow runner told me he would be qualifying for the Boston Marathon during our run.
I wondered how he could possible know such a thing? He had a month of training – and the race itself – in which he might injure himself. He had no idea what the race day conditions would be like. He could take ill, or fail to properly carb load in that final week. The prediction seemed so brazen, yet I couldn’t help but to believe him.
There is something brazen about Zechariah’s song as well. John is but an infant, and Jesus has not yet been born. Any number of things could have happened after the birth of his son to prevent this “mighty savior” from being “raised up,” but Zechariah speaks with confidence, saying not that God will redeem, or even that God is redeeming, but that right now, before either John or Jesus has proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God (or said anything for that matter), God has already redeemed the people of God.
I wondered how he could possible know such a thing? He had a month of training – and the race itself – in which he might injure himself. He had no idea what the race day conditions would be like. He could take ill, or fail to properly carb load in that final week. The prediction seemed so brazen, yet I couldn’t help but to believe him.
There is something brazen about Zechariah’s song as well. John is but an infant, and Jesus has not yet been born. Any number of things could have happened after the birth of his son to prevent this “mighty savior” from being “raised up,” but Zechariah speaks with confidence, saying not that God will redeem, or even that God is redeeming, but that right now, before either John or Jesus has proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God (or said anything for that matter), God has already redeemed the people of God.
O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you, I will praise your name;
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
- Isaiah 25:1
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