The Eighth Person of Christmas is Zechariah

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 1:68-75

Zechariah's song, after nine months of silence, is one of joy and thanksgiving.  He praises God for the horn of salvation - a phrase symbolizing a strong king - and for mercy, righteousness and holiness.  This is prophecy - and Zechariah certainly knows who he is speaking about! 

Can you imagine his true joy and excitement, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesy about the coming Messiah?  The soon coming baby - his relative - who was the soon coming king?

Then he speaks about John:

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God...

The Holy Spirit has come upon Zechariah in such a tender way.  His praise for God, turns into joy for his son, and the role John will play in God's mighty - yet strikingly simple - plan.

I wonder if he understood the plan. I wonder if he understood the prophecies. Could he foresee the humble life his son would lead? Could he foresee the horrific death he would suffer? Could he even begin to see the way Christ would lay down his life, for all man, for all eternity?

When the angel Gabriel came to Zechariah in the temple, to tell him his prayers had been answered, and his wife would have a son, Gabriel's message was so clear:  "He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." 

That's quite an angelic message!  Not just the promise of a child - but a joy.  Not just an answer to prayer - but an anointing of God's power and purpose in his life.

John was clearly to be a special child, a special man. 

So were his parents.

Zechariah is important to the Christmas story because his song of praise and thanksgiving points us to the role of John the Baptist.  John was created - it was even foretold - to prepare the way for the Christ. It was his mission in life, the purpose of his life.

Don't we all share in that message - to tell the world about the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God?