The Bucket & The Thimble | Zechariah’s Praise

Faith Family-

Here is some additional information that Pastor Alex put together regarding Zechariah's Praise that I thought you might find interesting. Each week Alex and I consume a "bucket-full" of information regarding our text and are usually only able to preach on about a "thimble's" worth of what we studied. Zechariah's praise is one of those item's that I did not have time to cover more in-depth this week.  
Enjoy!
-Pastor Josiah

The Dawn from on High

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord shines over you.

For look, darkness will cover the earth,

and total darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will shine over you,

and his glory will appear over you.”

(Isaiah 60:1–2, CSB)

This week, in the Sunday morning message, Pastor Josiah read from the second half of Luke chapter 1. This passage is full of remarkable insights into God’s Word, particularly in the way it alludes to the Old Testament. In this blog, I want to briefly look back at verses 67–80, focusing especially on the verses that inspired Sunday’s sermon title: Luke 1:78–79.

“Because of our God’s merciful compassion,

the dawn from on high will visit us

to shine on those who live in darkness

and the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

(Luke 1:78–79, CSB)

Zechariah’s language here is specific and intentional. Whether he fully understood it or not, Luke’s record of Zechariah’s praise echoes significant ideas found in two important Old Testament books: Isaiah and Zechariah. I want to briefly walk through these connections and shed some light on the continuity between Luke’s Gospel and God’s earlier revelation.

By way of explanation, it is important that we read the Old Testament in light of Christ. Jesus himself tells us this in Luke 24:44, where he explains that the Scriptures were written about him. As a result, when we read the Old Testament, the central focus must always direct us back to Christ. This is most clearly seen in the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament. Sometimes those allusions are direct quotations, but more often they are summaries or rephrasings of major themes and ideas. Luke’s record of Zechariah’s inspired praise is a clear example of this.

Let’s begin with the simpler connection and move toward the more complex.

The phrase “the dawn from on high” naturally draws our attention to the book of Isaiah. The blog began with Isaiah 60, one of the most striking chapters describing God’s restoration of his people after exile. The light described there is not limited to Israel alone, but extends to the nations as well:

“Nations will come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

(Isaiah 60:3, CSB)

This prophecy finds fulfillment in Christ in two ways—both literally and figuratively.

It is fulfilled literally in the visit of the wise men. Matthew’s account of the magi overlaps with key language from Isaiah 60, including references to gold and frankincense (Isaiah 60:6). While Matthew does not quote Isaiah directly, the connections are meant to point us back to this prophecy as fulfilled in Christ.

It is fulfilled figuratively in an even clearer way. Christ himself is the light of God. Isaiah speaks of the glory of the Lord—using the divine name YHWH—and that very glory is revealed in Christ. He is the light meant to draw both God’s people and the nations back to himself. Luke’s record of Zechariah’s prophecy, then, signifies that Christ is the Dawn from on high: the light of God’s mercy who took on flesh, entered into our darkness, and guides us into the way of peace.

There is also a likely allusion to the book of Zechariah, a minor prophet often overlooked in the church today. Though Zechariah is a complex book, it is rich with messianic promise pointing us forward to Christ. Two particularly important passages are found in Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12:

“Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your colleagues sitting before you; indeed, these men are a sign that I am about to bring my servant, the Branch.”

(Zechariah 3:8, CSB)

“You are to tell him: This is what the Lord of Armies says: Here is a man whose name is Branch; he will branch out from his place and build the Lord’s temple.”

(Zechariah 6:12, CSB)

This repeated title—“the Branch”—is a well-known messianic designation, sometimes referred to as the “root” or “shoot of Jesse.” In the Hebrew text, the word translated “branch” is ṣemaḥ (צֶמַח), which means “to spring up” or “to sprout.” While it can refer literally to a plant emerging from the ground, it is often used figuratively to describe the springing up of righteousness. This is the word behind the “Branch” in our English translations of Zechariah.

By the time of Jesus, however, the Old Testament had been translated into Greek in what is commonly called the Septuagint. This was the Bible most widely used in the first century, and it is often the version quoted by New Testament authors. In the Septuagint, the Hebrew ṣemaḥ is translated with the Greek word anatolē (ἀνατολή)—a word that can mean rising, dawn, east, or sprouting.

Notably, this is the same word used in Luke 1:78, translated as “the dawn.” In other words, Christ is not only the Dawn from on high, but also the Branch from on high. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Luke preserves for us a rich moment of fulfillment in which God’s earlier promises are brought together in Christ.

By looking back at these fulfillments, we are reminded of God’s covenant faithfulness. Zechariah’s message is, in effect, a proclamation that the exile is over and a new day has begun. In the arrival of God’s Son, light has broken into darkness. Through Christ, we are reunited with the Father, and God’s mercy is put fully on display.

For the Kingdom,
 -Pastor Alex