Christmas week reflections - The prayer of Zechariah

Luke Chapter 1:

⁵In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.  ⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.  ⁷But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

⁸Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,  ⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.  ¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.  ¹¹And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.  ¹²And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.  ¹³But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. ¹⁴And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,  ¹⁵for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,  ¹⁷and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."

¹⁸And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."  ¹⁹And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." ²¹And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.  ²²And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

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⁵⁷Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.  ⁵⁸And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.  ⁵⁹And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,  ⁶⁰but his mother answered, "No; he shall be called John."  ⁶¹And they said to her, "None of your relatives is called by this name."  ⁶²And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.  ⁶³And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And they all wondered.  ⁶⁴And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.  ⁶⁵And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,  ⁶⁶and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,   

⁶⁸"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
   for he has visited and redeemed his people 
⁶⁹and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
   in the house of his servant David, 
⁷⁰as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 
⁷¹that we should be saved from our enemies
   and from the hand of all who hate us; 
⁷²to show the mercy promised to our fathers
   and to remember his holy covenant, 
⁷³the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us 
⁷⁴that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, 
⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 
⁷⁶And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
   for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 
⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people
   in the forgiveness of their sins, 
⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God,
   whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 
⁷⁹to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
   to guide our feet into the way of peace."

⁸⁰And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.