Today is Day 5 of our current series, blogging through the season of Advent. The guide I'm following for this Advent study is Meet Him at the Manger, by Jill & Stuart Briscoe.
In today’s Scripture reading, we're looking at Luke 1: 76 - 79 again ...
And child, you will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give His people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. Because of our God’s merciful compassion, the Dawn from on high will visit us to shine on those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
In the Briscoe's devotional today, they highlighted the word "visit", found in verse 78.
If you just glance at today’s verses, the word "visit" doesn't seem terribly significant, but interestingly, Jill Briscoe takes us through the original meaning of the word, and suddenly it stands out as adding great meaning to this Bible verse.
In modern culture, if we "visit" someone, it generally means that we go to see them and possibly have a cup of tea with them. We could also calling "popping in", or "going to see someone".
But if we look back at the original meaning of the word, we see that it meant much more! To "visit" in ancient times meant to "come and stay, probably for several successive nights" (Jill Briscoe).
And this is what Jesus came to earth to do for His people ... not to drop in for a quick chat, but to come and stay with us, to get to know us, to know the condition of our hearts and our lives.
It's the type of visiting Jesus promises in Revelation 3: 20, to all who believe in Him ... He says that He will stand and knock, and that when we let Him into our lives, He will come in and "dine with us" - a lengthy, leisurely affair in Ancient Middle Eastern culture.
This is how our God is. This is why Jesus is called "Immanuel - God with us!"
Even when we are in the darkness of sin, He chooses, in His great mercy, to come into our world, and to lead us out into His glorious Light. Psalm 103: 8 tells us: "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love."
God didn't just pity us from a distance, but He chose to enter into our life, on our level. The Creator lowered Himself from His place of purity, assumed our nature, was tempted in all things like us, took our sicknesses, and bore our infirmities for the express purpose of being a merciful and faithful High Priest, in order to give is "the knowledge of salvation." Christ didn’t enter into our world but continue to maintain His superior status over us. He truly walked in our shoes, in order to "shine on those who live in darkness".
That's what it means for Jesus to "visit" His people!!