Luke 1:5-25, 57-79
“Zechariah’s Song”
During this Season of Advent, I decided to move away from the usual Revised Common Lectionary readings for Sundays, and to focus on the prophetic voices of some of the biblical song-writers that had a special part to play in the story of Christ’s birth into the world. I need to acknowledge the influence of the Rev. Angie Song, another PCC minister who wrote this year’s Advent Devotional Study “Sing a New Song” and suggested that we look at the songs of Mary, Zechariah, the angels, Simeon, and the Psalmist through this season.
Last Sunday’s “Magnificat” song from Mary was one of the more well-known songs, and today’s is probably a bit less familiar. In fact, if I just mentioned “Zechariah’s Song” to most Christians, they might say, “Zechariah? Who was that, again?” He’s not a particularly famous person in the New Testament, given that we only have this one story from his life and ministry. But I think there is a lot that we can learn from him.
Zechariah was, of course, John the Baptist’s Dad. We know the importance of John’s role in preparing the way of Christ into the world. We remember how he preached and … Read more »