Mary’s song, the Magnificat, was followed by the second Christmas song ever written—the Benedictus. The opening line in the Latin Vulgate reads, “Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel,” or, “Praise be to the God of Israel.” It was sung by an elderly priest named Zechariah, who had just regained his speech after nine long months of silence. When the angel Gabriel first announced that he and Elizabeth would have a son, Zechariah responded not with faith but with skepticism. Asking for a sign, he got one—though perhaps not the kind he expected. His voice was taken from him until the baby’s birth. When it finally returned, it came out in melody rather than conversation. Some scholars see Zechariah’s silence as symbolic of the four centuries of silence between the Old and New Testaments, a long pause before God’s symphony of salvation began again.
Those 400 years between Malachi and Matthew were often called “the silent years.” No prophets thundered, no visions blazed, no divine messengers knocked at temple doors. But as in every great story, the silence was not the end—it was the setup. When God first spoke creation into being, He said, “Let there be light,” and light shattered the darkness. John’s Gospel picks up that theme when he declares, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5) God was preparing the stage for a sunrise. The angelic announcements to Zechariah and Mary, the meeting of two expectant mothers, and the song of Mary herself were all like faint streaks of pink on the horizon before dawn. If you’ve ever sat in the dark waiting for the first glimmer of morning coffee—or light—you know the feeling: anticipation, tinged with hope, ready to burst into joy.
When John was finally born, the dawn broke. Zechariah’s tongue was loosed, and his song poured out like sunlight. In obedience to the angel’s instruction, he named his son “John,” though it broke with family tradition. His song, filled with over thirty echoes of Old Testament promises, ends with radiant prophecy: “Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness… and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79) The long night of silence was over. The Light of the world was rising.