Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 1:78-79 (New Living Translation)

78 Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.

Words of poetry and promise too grand to be written by man alone.

These are the words of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. He is prophesying about his son John and the coming of Jesus the Messiah. The light of salvation is about to extinguish the darkness from the shadow of death. The path of peace is to be revealed.

I guess it would be easy to pooh-pooh this. What peace? What light?

Imagine the world today with this peace and light. Go to a disaster-hit area (flood, earthquake, etc.). See the light brought by Christians. Remove that light and imagine how much worse the human suffering would be.

Thank you God for the morning light from heaven.