[Zechariah said:] “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:76-79)
I love that image of the sunrise giving us light so that we can find the way of peace and walk in it. But surely that’s going a bit far? I mean, there’s no need for the sunrise to actually leave heaven and come down to earth to help us find our way. It can sit up there in the sky far away and shed its light on us. That would be good enough, right?
Apparently God doesn’t think so. Because this sunrise is Jesus Himself. And He’s not happy to stay in heaven far away from us and give us salvation from a distance. No, He’s going to come down from heaven, down to the human race—down to a manger bed filled with straw. And He will come down even further than that—from life to death on a cross, and three days in the grave.
But He won’t stay there! Like all good sunrises, Jesus will indeed rise—and He will become our light and salvation forever.
WE PRAY: Lord, thank You for going above and beyond for my sake. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
Think of the last person who helped you. Did they go above and beyond, or did they do just enough?
