And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Luke 1 76-79
The above verse is a portion of Zechariah's song, a prophesy sung over his newborn son John (the baptist) In this verse Zechariah is using the sunrise as a metaphor for Jesus. I love the way God uses creation to show us Himself. He has put evidence of his character and goodness in all that he has made.
The sun, emphasizes who He is in so many ways. Even as science expands in knowledge, we see that God's truth has been there all along. Up until relatively recent centuries (in terms of history) man believed that the earth was at the center of the universe but later astronomers discovered that the sun doesn't orbit around the earth as it once seemed from our human limited vantage point. It is the earth that orbits that sun as it's center.
The picture of humanity in darkness awaiting sunrise is a picture of hope for us all. No matter how dark things may seem if we are in a midst of night, or perhaps the clouds are thick and we cannot see the sun, it doesn't mean that the sun is not there. The sun is constant, reliable, it does what we know it will do. We can depend on it. It gives us light and warmth and life. And if that is a picture of God, the center of our universe, utterly reliable, gloriously life giving, we have hope unspeakable, even if we can't see Him or feel His presence right now, it says more about our own position than His.
And the field of developmental psychology teaches us what we need in terms of consistancy and reliability. We humans depend on a reliable caregiver from birth in order to have healthy relational attachments in life. Even if this is not our story, all is not lost. Again we can see by the constant, unmovable, unchangable, totally reliable sun that touches us with it's light and heat, that if this is a picture of our God....then we have the most reliable, life giving caregiver anyone could imagine. A healing relationship can develop with the living God, when you know His character not because He is the sun, but because He uses the sun to show His character and His qualities.
The Sun; a part of creation that shows us something of the Creator. dangerous with power but good, always present, even when we can't see it, sustainer of life, there from the beginning and there til the end, available to all and all are dependent upon it. We can't reach out and touch it, but it touches us with with warmth, healing and hope. Zechariah knew that the Sunrise was about to occur in the birth of Jesus and He knew His son was a part of the story and He wrote a song about it.
THis post has been written according to the guidelines of FMF a group of writers who write for five minutes on a given prompt each week. This week was sunrise. Join us here
Full disclosure...usually I take more than 5 minutes to write it ...but it always takes less than 5 minutes to read it, it that counts. Thank you for taking the time to read it regardless....I appreciate you all!
Here is a question- I know I covered only a few of the qualities of the sun that show us a bit of who God is. What similarities do you see?