This Advent Series, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, helps us to imagine the longing the Israelites must have felt as they waited for Jesus the Messiah to come, and it helps us to grapple with the longing we feel now as we wait for His return.
Two metaphors are used to express the hope for salvation of which Zechariah sings. One is in the form of the child over whom he sings. A child bears all the hopes and desires of those who nurture it in its infancy. As the parents celebrate the child’s birth, they celebrate all that they envision for that child in the future. The second is the coming of dawn. As one sits in darkness the light of the sun begins to spread across the landscape even before the sun rises and is visible. So in Advent we look forward to what is promised, the coming of the Lord in the birth of Jesus. We prepare ourselves for that even as John was to prepare the way of the one to come.
Prophecy makes the past present, and the present future. It shows the consistency of God’s work throughout time. It shows us that God has the power to bring about what he says he is going to, that he has the power to fulfill his promises. Leave the worries of the future to God. Look for what he is doing here and now.