A song of the Bible
The Benedictus, Zechariah's Song
The song of an old priest whose tongue was loosed after months of silence, at the naming of the son he had been promised. Zechariah blesses God for visiting and redeeming His people, then turns to the cradle and tells his newborn what he will become, a prophet to prepare the way of the Lord.
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,”Luke 1:68
The song
Zechariah's song falls into two movements. The first blesses the Lord God of Israel for visiting and redeeming His people, raising up a horn of salvation in the house of David, keeping the oath sworn to Abraham, and fulfilling every prophet's promise that His people would be delivered to serve Him without fear in holiness. It is a priest's summary of the whole covenant hope, spoken as though the deliverance has already arrived. The second movement bends down to the infant in his arms, addressing the child as the prophet of the Most High who will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, giving His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins. It closes with the tender image of a dawn breaking on those who sit in darkness, guiding their feet into the way of peace.
Its occasion
It was sung eight days after the birth of John the Baptist, at the boy's circumcision and naming. Zechariah, a priest, had doubted the angel's promise that his aged wife Elizabeth would bear a son, and he had been struck silent until the promise came true. When the neighbors assumed the child would carry his father's name, Zechariah wrote that he should be called John, and instantly his mouth was opened. His first words after months of enforced silence were not complaint but this prophecy, filled with the Holy Spirit. The wonder of the moment rippled through the hill country, and people asked what this child would become. The song is Zechariah's Spirit-given answer.
How it rises to Christ
This is a New Testament canticle that sings of Christ directly, even as it honors John. The horn of salvation raised up in David's house is Jesus, and Zechariah announces His redemption in the past tense because in the coming of the Messiah it is already accomplished. The old priest names his own son only in relation to the greater One, a prophet who goes before the Lord to prepare His ways, the forerunner pointing beyond himself. The dawn from on high that visits the people is the Messiah dawning on a world in darkness and the shadow of death. Zechariah gathers Abraham, David, and the prophets into one breath and lays them at the feet of the child soon to be born in Bethlehem.
Questions people ask
What is the Benedictus and who spoke it?
The Benedictus is the song of Zechariah, a priest and the father of John the Baptist, named from its opening word in Latin, blessed. He spoke it at John's circumcision when his months of silence ended. It blesses God for redeeming His people and foretells that his son will prepare the way of the Lord.
Why was Zechariah unable to speak before the Benedictus?
Zechariah was struck silent because he doubted the angel Gabriel's promise that his elderly wife Elizabeth would bear a son. He remained mute through her whole pregnancy. When the child was born, and the neighbors expected the father's name, Zechariah wrote instead that he should be called John as the angel had commanded, and at once his tongue was loosed and he sang this prophecy.