The Dayspring from on High

                                       Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby
                                      the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give
                                      light to them that sit in darkness  and in the shadow
                                      of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
                                                                   Luke 1: 78-9

The other day, as I began reading the gospel of Luke again, I came across the words of Zacharias after his tongue was loosened again after the birth of his son, John the Baptist. He prophesied of
Jesus, calling Him the Dayspring from on high.What a beautiful name for Jesus, a combination of
two lovely words together which inspire our hearts to look ahead to the blessings and promises He '
gave us through His sacrificial death on Calvary's cross around 2,000 years ago. Think of it, two simple words joined together, day and spring. What lovely, choice combination words for the lover of men's souls.

Jesus represents "day" and all that entails. No one I know willingly prefers the darkness of night
over daytime. Just today it was gloomy and cold after several warm days and the house seemed so dark.  A couple of days like that, and I am feeling frumpy. I need light! Not only is Jesus the Light of the World, but the very fact that He is shows that goodness comes to us via light, not darkness. Have you ever been in pitch black darkness? Richard Wurmbrand was once left in solitary confinement underneath a dark prison in Romania for a number of years. Could you imagine how bright the light was after coming from the depths of the earth? The Bible says God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all, "No, not in any way," explains the Amplified Version in I John 1:5. Here are some other verses that refer to Jesus representing Day:

II Peter 2:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.

I Thessalonians 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of the darkness.

John 9:14 I must work the works of Him while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

Song of Solomon 4:6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.

Then the second word is spring. I think of spring in two ways here. One is that Jesus is an everlasting fountain of water, a flowing stream which will never run dry. Verses that refer to the Lord being a life giving spring include:

Deuteronomy 8:7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land full of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills.

II Kings 2:21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.

Psalm 85:11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Isaiah 43:19  Behold, I will do a new thing: now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 45:8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth pour open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

Isaiah 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Isaiah 61:11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

And  here are two verses  from Jesus about Him being the source of life giving water.

John 4 :10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

John 7:37-8 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst let him come to me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

The other thought is that Jesus is like the springtime, when the miracle of the plants and trees come alive again, just as Jesus did when God raised Him from the dead on the third day after lying dead for our sins and trespasses in the cold hard ground of earth.

This is what Easter is about. It is not about bunnies and eggs. It is every day, really, a finished work celebration. Jesus rose from the dead, and I can celebrate that 366 days this year. How about you?