Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 1:67 - 1:75

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 1:67 - 1:75


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

A hymn of praise:

v. 67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying,

v. 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people

,

v. 69. and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David;

v. 70. as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

v. 71. that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

v. 72. to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant;

v. 73. the oath which He sware to our father Abraham

v. 74. that He would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,

v. 75. in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life.

We have here another wonderful hymn of praise and prophecy couched, for the most part, in terms of the Old Testament songs of praise. The Holy Ghost Himself, speaking through the mouth of Zacharias, was its author. Luther has written comments on many sections of it in various parts of his books. From the start, all praise, honor, and glory is given to God. The entire plan and work of salvation is a monument of His grace, to the praise of His glory. He is the God of Israel, originally of the Israel of the flesh; but since these children have rejected Him, the term now applies to spiritual Israel only, to His Church. Upon these He has looked with a view of helping them, of giving them the assistance which they needed above all, the redemption from sins. For this His people He has prepared a salvation, brought it about in the Messiah, the Redeemer. It was the redemption from a burden whose heaviness and damnableness they had not realized. "To visit is nothing else than to come to us, to lay before us and proclaim to us the wholesome Word, whereby we are saved. " In order to prepare this salvation for us, the Lord has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David, His servant. As in Psa_18:2, the word horn signifies a strong, firm, unwavering help. Our Lord is a strong, powerful Defender, the Redeemer out of the race of David that brought us full salvation. " 'Horn' in the Hebrew language means power, defiance, rule, whereon one may rely... But He adds: A horn of saving or salvation. Other kingdoms have their names and goods from which they are called. Some kingdoms are large, have much goods, many people, great honor, but only temporal goods; but this Kingdom is called a kingdom of salvation, a kingdom of grace, a kingdom of life, a kingdom of righteousness, a kingdom of truth, and whatever serves unto salvation... God has here established a principality and kingdom, in which there is nothing but welfare and salvation. " These great blessings are the result of the promises which the Lord made through the mouths of His holy prophets, from the beginning of the world. The culmination of all the prophecies is always the same theme, salvation through the Messiah, liberation from the enemies and from the hands of all those that are filled with hatred toward us, the believers in Him. The spiritual enemies have been unceasing in their plans and attacks against the children of God, but God has carried out the plans of His mercy toward us, as to the fathers of old that trusted in Him. For He remembered His holy covenant and the oath which He swore to Abraham, that in him and his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. As a result of these promises God has given to the believers to serve Him without fear, since they are torn out of the hands of all their enemies. Such service may now be performed in holiness, in personal cleanness and sinlessness, and in righteousness, in the right relationship toward God, a perfect description of a New Testament Christian, Eph_1:23. "That he says He would deliver us from all our enemies must again be understood that this Kingdom is in battle and in the midst of the enemies; but they shall not win, but lose; and this deliverance and salvation shall serve that we serve Him eternally without fear. The word 'without fear' includes that we are sure of the goods of this life and of that yonder. For a Christian is sure and certain that his sins are forgiven, though he still feels them; he is also sure that death cannot harm him, the devil cannot vanquish him, the world cannot prevail against him."