Through the tender mercy of our God; by which the dawn from on high has visited us,
All Commentaries on Luke 1:78 Go To Luke 1
Cyril of Alexandria
AD 444
For those under the law and dwelling in Judea, John the Baptist was a lamp preceding Christ. God also spoke of him in a similar way: “I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.” And the law also typified him in the lamp. In the first tabernacle it was necessary for the lamp to always remain lit. But the Jews, after being pleased with him for a short time, flocking to his baptism and admiring his mode of life, quickly made him sleep in death, doing their best to extinguish the everburning lamp. Therefore the Savior also spoke of him as “a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” .
