Wednesday of Ember Week in Advent
Posted on December 14, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 1:67-80 (NKJV)
1:67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David,
70 as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
72 to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
73 the oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins,
78 through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
Devotion
When the angel Gabriel announced the fulfillment of their prayer for a child, Zacharias did not believe it. Then he remained silent from that moment until eight days after the birth of their son John. When he proclaimed in writing that his son’s name was John, his tongue was loosed, he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and he prophesied concerning his son John.
He who was silent for over nine months proclaimed that this child would be the Voice that goes before the Lord. The prophets had long since ceased to be sent by the Lord God to proclaim the coming of His Messiah. The world was filled with silence. And with no voice to proclaim the coming of the Christ, the world was filled with darkness. This child would go before the Christ to prepare His way. The Voice would once more proclaim that not only was the Lamb of God on His way, but He was indeed standing among us, as one of us. The Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, came to us bearing our flesh, so that He might dispel the darkness once and for all by defeating death and darkness on the tree of the cross.
He now sends to us more forerunners of His second coming, who prepare the way for His return by preaching into our ears that salvation is found in Him. Through faith in this promise, we are filled with His light and look forward to eternal life.
Prayer: Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that with the coming solemnity of our Lord’s birth to accomplish our redemption, through Thy holy Word and Sacraments Thou wouldst strengthen our faith in Christ Jesus, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Gaudete
Lord, we beseech Thee, give ear to our prayers, and lighten the darkness of our hearts, by Thy gracious visitation; Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
