THE VISITATION

 

DECEMBER 14, 2023

Luke 1:67-68

And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people."

 

It's a warm and appealing term, God has "visited" His people.  It's the same word you'd use for going to see a parent or a child or a relative you love,  a friend in the hospital. A phone call is just insufficient. You go there in person, to see them with your own eyes.

And Zechariah puts it in the past tense, too! That makes sense, because at this point, Jesus has been in Mary's womb for three months. God has in fact already come into the world as a human being, to visit and redeem His people. He didn't send a text or write an email or a letter. He came Himself. John’s Gospel says that God “pitched his tent” among us, one translation says, “moved into the neighborhood.” That’s a comforting picture isn’t it?

That is the kind of God we worship, a God who cares about us so much that He came down into our world to be with us, to be one of us, to live and to suffer and die for us so that we could have eternal life.  A God who rose from the dead to share that everlasting life with us, the people He visited, the people He loves.

 

God, thank You for visiting us, and for opening the way for us to have everlasting life.