<p>On that first Christmas night, the skies above the shepherds’ field were filled with hosts of choiring angels. But even before Jesus lay in the manger, his miraculous story was being told in song. Mary sang about him in the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-51) and Zechariah sang about him in the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79). </p><p>Throughout the Bible, singing was used to declare the goodness of God. And there are at least 50 commands from God to sing his message of grace and truth together. We have been created, compelled, and commanded to sing. And Christmas is a wonderful time for us as Christians to sing traditional Christmas carols; songs that plumb the richest doctrinal depths, songs that help us to absorb and reflect on the deep and transformative truth of Emmanuel, God with us. But it’s also a wonderful opportunity to express this truth to those around us.</p><p>Christmas can be the biggest evangelistic event of the year. The ver
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In this installment, we shall consider the second of Luke’s canticles, the
Benedictus. However, like St. Luke himself, we must set the stage. Luke, a very precise historian, informs us of the exact time and place of the events we are about to read,
1 in the Temple during the reign of King Herod, when the priest Zechariah – from the family of Abijah – was on duty. Further, not only was Zechariah a priest but his wife Elizabeth likewise came from a priestly family.
We learn that the two spouses were “righteous,”
3 observing all the precepts of the Law. In spite of that, they were childless, then commonly seen as divine disfavor for infidelity to the Law. St. John Chrysostom offers an Old Testament context and a New Testament application: “Not only Elisabeth, but the wives of the Patriarchs also, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, were barren, which was counted a disgrace among the ancients. Not that their barrenness was the effect of sin, since all were just and virtuous, but ord