The Sunrise shall visit us from on High

After John the Baptist was born, Zechariah (his father) "was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied". The words recorded in this passage in the gospel of Luke are filled with hope, faith, and eager expectation for the revelation of the Savior. While Zechariah speaks of John the Baptist as preparing the way for the Lord, he also shows the beauty of our Savior in that we can have the forgiveness of sins because of the tender mercy of our God! What a wonderful thought, that we who were sitting in darkness have been washed in the light of Jesus Christ! Truly the sunrise has visited us from on High!

"Blessed be 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,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;


to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father
Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered 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 before the Lord to prepare his ways,


to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,


because of the tender mercy of our God,


whereby the sunrise shall visit 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"


-Luke 1:68-79