His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,     because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us     in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies     and from the hand of all who hate us— to show mercy to our ancestors     and to remember his holy covenant,     the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,     and to enable us to serve him without fear     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:67-75) For three months, Mary had stayed with Zechariah and Elizabeth as Elizabeth entered the late stages of her pregnancy.  Was Mary still there when John was born?  Was she still there when Zechariah sang?  Maybe.  I'd like to think so.  Luke doesn't say for sure, but the timelines he gives us certainly leave the question open! (see 1:36,56) Even if Mary wasn't there anymore: Zechariah was still full of quiet ponderings from when she was.  He had had nine months to ponder the meaning of John's coming birth.  He'd had three months to ponder the meaning of Mary's news of her child to be named Jesus.   Zechariah the priest knew his scriptures.  And now he had a window into the secret, silent workings of God through these parallel pregnancies changing the world within his own house.  He of course heard what Mary and Elizabeth thought of it as they talked and prayed it through.  I'm sure he interacted with them too through his raised eyebrows, smiles, and nods.  But Zechariah himself could only talk it over with God in the silence of his own heart and mind.   In that silence, a lifetime of scriptures prayed, lived, and lodged in his bones collided with this new, life-giving work of God in the wee humble community of his home.  What did it all mean?  A grace of God named John to prepare the way of the Lord, followed by an heir to the throne of David to be called by a name meaning "The Lord Saves."   In the silence, Zechariah's world and theology were transformed by this new work of God.  It was objectively the same scriptures he had always known, but given this new work of God that he now subjectively experienced: those same scriptures resonated with a different tune, but admittedly one that rang with a truer harmony.   Zechariah erupts into Spirit-breathed, scripture-bathed prophecy that could easily be mistaken for any number of Psalms.  And it is a prophecy not so much about his own son John, as it is about Mary's son Jesus—the one who would be the salvation of Israel, the end of all fear, the redemption of relationship, the fulfillment of prophecy, and the long promises of God, kept.   God is sovereign.  He does new things.  Good things.  With Zechariah, will we be silent enough and humble enough for long enough to listen, learn, and have our worlds transformed in light of the work of God?  If so: songs of joy like these, are ours.  

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