“…[T]he rising sun will come to us from heaven…”

Few things can inspire us like a spectacular sunrise.  Watching it occur from the dark of night—“it’s always darkest before the dawn”—can make an impressive memory.  Since I live about 5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, I know from practical experience.  Sometimes spotty gray clouds dot the skyline just above the ocean’s horizontal edge.  Pink and orange light slowly gives way to yellow until that bright fireball peaks over the horizon showing its incredibly brilliant majesty.

Despite the wonders and awe of such a routine, daily occurrence in South Florida, I am not a morning person.  Shame on me!  So I admit that my times experiencing such beauty and amazement are all too rare.  But no matter where we live, I’m sure the great majority of us can remember some time in their lives where a sunrise made a memorable impression.

It is that idea that helps us understand “the rising sun” found in Luke 1:78.  Zechariah was selected to officiate the high priest’s duties in the Temple the year Jesus was born.  He and Elizabeth had been unable to conceive, a tremendous burden for her.  But the angel Gabriel visited them promising a son (Luke 1:5-25).  Because of his unbelief, the angel took away Zechariah’s ability to speak.  Nine months later, after their son, John (“the Baptist”) was born, God restored his speech.  In 2:67-79 he bursts out with a number of statements concerning the Messiah (67-75) before doing the same about his own son, who would become the Messiah’s forerunning prophet (76-79).

It is in this latter section that Zechariah describes Christ as the “rising sun…from heaven.”  The comparison is to the dawn of a day.  As the sun begins to shine, formerly invisible things around you dimly…gradually…slowly…begin to take on shape, then distinction and finally color.  Those things didn’t change; they were there all along, only you couldn’t see them.  Darkness does that, even to perfectly working eyes with 20/20 vision.

The spiritual correlation isn’t hard to figure out.  “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.”  Peace is not a visible object for literal eyes, but the effects of peace are certainly visible to the eyes of the heart.  The darkness suggests a life lived without peace, which can include anything from war itself to alienation or a mere lack of harmony with anyone, even oneself.  Does this not describe the condition of the whole world?  Absolutely.  But Christ came as a sunrise to forever light our way, enabling us to see and experience the path of peace.  Clearly, the objects and pitfalls that would destroy our peace are now visible, thanks to the light of the Savior.

Years ago when I taught 3^rd grade we held an event we called “Blind Day.”  Forgive me for not using the politically correct term, visually challenged, but back then PC thinking had not yet come that far.  Blind Day gave students the experience of trying to function without working eyes, in essence trying to get through the day in darkness (all with parental permission, of course).  The rule was that they could keep the blindfolds on as long as they chose to, but as soon as it came off, it stayed off.  Blindfolded, they tried handwriting, going up and down stairs, crossing the street, recess on the playground, etc.  After several hours—for some, only minutes!—all the blindfolds were off, never to be put on again, not even for another minute.  They had had enough!

For us believers, this ought to be instructive.  We know what it was like to live in darkness, bumping into things we couldn’t see or anticipate, living without both vision and peace.  But for us the Sun/Son has risen, not only literally, but in our hearts as well, to give us that spiritual perception to see the pitfalls and roadblocks that threaten the peace he brought us.  Why would we ever go back and put on the blindfold, mimicking our old lives?  “God has called us to live in peace” (1 Cor. 7:15).

The higher the Son rises, the better our vision, the better our peace.  How is the peace in your own heart?  Is the blindfold nearby, or even in your hand?  Or is the rising Son increasing your vision?