Luke 1:67

Luke 1:67. Was filled with the Holy Ghost. The song which follows is thus declared to have been inspired. The time seems to have been the circumcision of the child, and these were the words in which Zacharias was ‘blessing God' (Luke 1:64).

Prophesied. It was in the fullest sense a prophetic song, as well as a song of praise.

The BENEDICTUS presents, therefore, not only the faith of a pious Jewish priest, not only the result of the long months of silent reflection to which Zacharias had been subjected, but also these as guided, moved, and uttered under the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit. Without inspiration the pious priest would doubtless have adopted the same tone, the same Old Testament phraseology, but his words could not have been prophetic of the coming of the Messiah nor of the part to be taken by his own son. Such an entire absence of erroneous Messianic expectations was scarcely possible in the case of even a pious Jew at that time, without the influence of the Holy Spirit guarding from error. Alford: ‘That such a song should be inconsistent with dogmatic truth, is impossible; that it should unfold it minutely, is in the highest degree improbable. ' But it must not be limited in its meaning to temporal prosperity, or even to the temporal greatness of the Messiah's kingdom. Taking it as an expression of religious feeling, we discover the hopes of the human educator of John the Baptist, and thus obtain a hint of the real views of John himself and of the character of his ministry. The hymn may be divided into five stanzas (of three lines each, though some make more). As is natural, the song of Zacharias is more national in its character, the song of Mary more individual. The Benedictus is more priestly, the Magnificat more royal.