ACC ~ Luke 1 v67 - 80

OVERVIEW:

The Benedictus hymn embraces the Old Testament and the New Testament by describing God’s mighty acts of salvation in the past and how John and Jesus will bring these mighty acts to fulfillment (NICETA OF REMESIANA). The Holy Spirit now fills Zechariah so that his prophecy breaks the nine-month silence as he speaks to John’s opened ears on the day of his circumcision (AMBROSE). Zechariah acknowledges at the beginning of this canticle the incarnation and atonement of Christ for which John will prepare (BEDE). The symbol of the horn in the house of David indicates power and royalty (JEROME). David’s seed will produce a horn of salvation planted in the vineyard of Israel, whose vine is Christ (ORIGEN). [1] Central to this hymn is God’s remembrance of his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham, an oath that assures Israel of the certainty of God’s promise (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Thus the motive is God’s faithfulness to his promise to visit his people and redeem them from all their enemies, corporeal and spiritual (ORIGEN).

Just as John leapt in the womb when he heard the voice of Mary who bore his Savior, so now he hears the voice of his father, Zechariah, who instructs him before he goes forth into the wilderness like Moses (ORIGEN). John is called “prophet of the Most High” because his office is from God like all the prophets before him (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

John is that lamp that lights the way for Christ’s coming, typified by the law, which preceded the coming of the Messiah (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). God’s goal of incarnation and atonement is to bring peace to his creation that now sits in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide his people to peace (BEDE). The dayspring from on high is the Son of the Highest (GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS). This is the Christ who is the Light and Sun that brings this peace to the creation (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The Evangelist concludes the Benedictus by giving the hearer a glimpse of the mystery of how John grew in the Spirit (ORIGEN).

[1] See FC 94:10n.

1:67 | Zechariah, Filled with the Holy Spirit, Prophesied

ZECHARIAH’S PROPHECY IS A HYMN

NICETA OF REMESIANA: That which was spiritual in the Old Testament, for example, faith, piety, prayer, fasting, patience, chastity and psalm singing—all this has been increased in the New Testament rather than diminished. Therefore you will find in the Gospel Zechariah, the father of John, who uttered a prophecy in the form of a hymn after his long silence. LITURGICAL SINGING 9. [1]

[1] FC 7:72*.

THE HOLY SPIRIT OPENS JOHN’S EARS

AMBROSE: Some might consider it ridiculous that [Zechariah] spoke to an eight-day-old infant. [1] But if we hold the truth, we will understand that the child who heard the salutation of Mary before his birth could hear the voice of his father. The prophet knew that a prophet has other ears that are opened by the Spirit of God despite bodily age. He who had the disposition to rejoice had the perception of understanding. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 2.34. [2]

[1] Lk 1:59.

[2] EHG 49**; CSEL 32 4:59.

1:68-70 | God’s Visitation and Redemption as Foretold

BLESSED FOR INCARNATION AND ATONEMENT

BEDE: Hear what Zechariah, prophesying and blessing God, said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.” Notice in these words that Zechariah was telling by way of prophecy, as if it had already come to pass, what he had foreseen in spirit had begun and would soon come to pass. By his appearance in the flesh our Lord visited us when we were distancing ourselves from him, and he chose to seek out and justify us when we were sinners. He visited us as a doctor visits an ill patient, and, in order to cure the ingrained sickness of our pride, he gave us the example of his own humility. He redeemed his people by giving us freedom, at the price of his own blood—we who had been sold into the slavery of sin and were committed to serving the ancient enemy. Therefore the apostle exhorts us, saying, “For you have been purchased at a great price. Glorify and carry God in your bodies.” [1] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.20. [2]

[1] 1 Cor 6:20.

[2] CS 111:208-9*.

THE HORN IS FOR POWER AND ROYALTY

JEROME: The sound of the horn represents the man of God in all his sovereignty. In Scripture, the horn properly signifies kingship and power, just as it is written: “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us.” HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 25. [1]

[1] FC 48:201.

REDEMPTION THROUGH DAVID’S SEED

ORIGEN: Over the course of three months Zechariah kept receiving spiritual nourishment from the Holy Spirit. Although he did not realize it, he was being instructed. Then he prophesied about Christ and said, “He redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,” because Christ was “descended from David according to the flesh.” [1] He was truly “a horn of salvation in the house of David,” since the following passage reinforces it: “For a vineyard was planted on the horn-shaped ridge.” [2] Which horn was it planted on? On Christ Jesus, of whom Scripture now says, “He raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 10.2. [3]

[1] Rom 1:3.

[2] Is 5:1 LXX.

[3] FC 94:40-41**.

1:71-75 | Remembering God’s Covenant of Deliverance and Mercy

CHRIST IS MERCY AND JUSTICE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Christ is mercy and justice. We have obtained mercy through him and been justified, having washed away the stains of wickedness through faith that is in him. COMMENTARY ON LUKE. [1]

[1] CGSL 41*.

GOD’S OATH DEMONSTRATES CERTAINTY

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: No one should swear just because God swore to Abraham. For just as God’s anger is not anger, nor does anger imply passion but signifies power exercised in punishment or some similar motion. So neither is an oath an act of swearing. For God does not swear but indicates the certainty of the event—so that which he says will necessarily come to pass. For God’s oath is his own word, fully persuading those that hear and giving each one the conviction that what he has promised and said will certainly come to pass. COMMENTARY ON LUKE. [1]

[1] CGSL 41.

DELIVERANCE IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH

ORIGEN: “Deliverance from our enemies.” We should not think that this means corporeal enemies, but rather spiritual ones. For the Lord Jesus came, “mighty in battle,” [1] to destroy all our enemies and free us from their snares, namely, from the hand of all our enemies “and from the hand of all who hate us.” “To bring about mercy for our fathers.” I believe that, when our Lord came, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were blessed with God’s mercy. Previously they had seen his day and rejoiced. [2] It is not believable that they did not profit from the later, when he came and was born of a virgin. And why do I speak of the patriarchs? I will boldly follow the authority of the Scriptures to higher planes, for the presence of the Lord Jesus and his work benefited not only what is earthly but also what is heavenly. Therefore the apostle too says, “Making peace by the blood of his cross, whether on earth or in heaven.” [3] But if the Lord’s presence was beneficial in heaven and on earth, why do you hesitate to say that his coming also benefited our ancestors? What Scripture said is fulfilled, “To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham,” to grant us deliverance “without fear from the hand of our enemies.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 10.3. [4]

[1] Ps 24:8.

[2] See Jn 8:56.

[3] Col 1:20.

[4] FC 94:41*.

1:76-77 | John to Prepare the Way of the Lord

ZECHARIAH TEACHES JOHN AS AN INFANT

ORIGEN: So John heard Jesus while he was still in his mother’s womb, and he leaped up and rejoiced when he heard him. Why might you not believe that John could understand his father’s prophecy once he was born, as Zechariah said to him: “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” So I suppose that Zechariah hastily spoke to the infant because he knew John would soon be living in the desert, and therefore he would no longer enjoy John’s presence. “For the boy was in the wilderness up to the day of his revelation to Israel.”

Moses also lived in the desert. After turning forty years old, he fled from Egypt and pastured Jethro’s herds for another forty years. [1] But John went out to the wilderness as soon as he was born. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 10.6-7. [2]

[1] Ex 2:15; Acts 7:23, 30.

[2] FC 94:42-43**.

PROPHET OF THE HIGHEST COMES FROM GOD

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Know that Christ is the Most High. … What do those who neglect his divinity have to say? And why will they not understand that when Zechariah said “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, he meant “of God,” of whom the rest of the prophets also belonged. COMMENTARY ON LUKE. [1]

[1] CGSL 41**.

1:78-79 | The Visitation of Peace on Those in Darkness

JOHN AS THE LAMP PRECEDING CHRIST

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: For those under the law and dwelling in Judea, John the Baptist was a lamp preceding Christ. God also spoke of him in a similar way: “I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.” [1] And the law also typified him in the lamp. In the first tabernacle it was necessary for the lamp to always remain lit. But the Jews, after being pleased with him for a short time, flocking to his baptism and admiring his mode of life, quickly made him sleep in death, doing their best to extinguish the ever-burning lamp. Therefore the Savior also spoke of him as “a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” [2] COMMENTARY ON LUKE. [3]

[1] Ps 132:17 (131:17 LXX).

[2] Jn 5:35.

[3] CGSL 42**.

GOD ENTERS THE DARKNESS OF OUR WORLD AND BRINGS LIGHT

BEDE: When Zechariah says, “for his people,” he certainly does not mean that he found them his people upon his arrival but that he made them his by visiting and redeeming them. Do you want to hear about the condition in which he found this people and what he made of them? The end of this canticle clearly makes this evident by saying “the day shall dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” He found us sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, weighed down by the ancient blindness of sins and ignorance, overcome by the deception and the errors of the ancient enemy. He is rightly called death and a lie, [1] just as on the contrary our Lord is called truth and life. [2] Our Lord brought us the true light of recognition of himself and, having taken away the darkness of errors, opened up for us a sure way to heaven. He guided our works so that we may be able to pursue the way of truth that he showed us and enter into the dwelling of everlasting peace, which he promised us. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.20. [3]

[1] Jn 8:44.

[2] Jn 14:6.

[3] CS 111:209.

THE DAYSPRING IS THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: What greater destiny can befall man’s humility than that he should be intermingled with God, and by this intermingling should be deified, and that we should be so visited by the “dayspring from on high”? Further, that even the holy thing that should be born should be called the Son of the Most High and that he should be given “a name that is above every name”? And what else can this be but God? That every knee should bow to him that was made of no reputation for us, that mingled the form of God with the form of a servant, and that all the house of Israel should know that God has made him both Lord and Christ? For all this was done by the action of the begotten One, and by the good pleasure of him that begot him. ORATION 30.3, ON THE SON. [1]

[1] LCC 3:178-79*.

CHRIST BRINGS PEACE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: For the world was wandering in error, serving the creation in the place of the Creator and was darkened over by the blackness of ignorance. Night, as it were, that had fallen upon the minds of all, permitted them not to see him, who is truly and by nature God. But the Lord of all rose for the Israelites, like a light and a sun. COMMENTARY ON LUKE. [1]

[1] CGSL 42*.

1:80 | John Grows Strong in Spirit

HOW JOHN BECAME STRONG IN THE SPIRIT

ORIGEN: John, while still a little boy, grew and became stronger. But it is exceedingly difficult, and very rare among mortals, for one who is still a little child to grow in spirit. “But the boy grew and was strengthened in spirit.” It is one thing to “grow,” another to “be strengthened.” Human nature is weak. It needs divine help to become stronger. We read, “The flesh is weak.” What forces can strengthen it? The Spirit, of course, “for the spirit is quick to respond, but the flesh is weak.” Someone who wants to become stronger should be strengthened only in spirit. Many are strengthened in the flesh, and their bodies become more powerful, but an athlete of God should become more powerful in spirit. Thus strengthened, he will crush the wisdom of the flesh. Spiritual activity will subject the body to the soul’s command. We should not think that, when Scripture says, “he grew and was strengthened in spirit,” what was written about John was just a narrative that does not pertain to us in any way. It is written for our imitation. We should take “growth” in the sense we have explained and be multiplied spiritually. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 11.3. [1]

[1] FC 94:45*.