Christmas Eve Message 2013

The big story or the grand narrative of the Bible is often been described as having four parts. And these four parts are creation, fall, redemption and restoration. God created the world for his own glory. He created man to worship and adore him forever. Yet man sinned against God or fell. and broke that relationship. And because of sin, death entered the world. Man is separated from God because our sin is an offense against a holy and just God. But God, in his mercy, sent his son to die for sinners on the cross and offers redemption. And this is the climax of the grand narrative. And one day God will restore all things as Christ will return to judge sin and usher in the eternal kingdom of peace and righteousness. I think this is a very helpful way to understand the Bible. But throughout the Bible and the beauty of the Bible is that we also meet individuals. We meet individuals that remind us that there is a merciful God. And tonight, in particular, I would like for us to look closely at the life of one individual, Zachariah. But while we look at his life, we also meet his wife, Elizabeth, his son, John, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text tonight is Luke chapter 1, verses 67 through 80, which can be found on pages 856 and 857 in the Pew Bibles in front of you. And for an outline tonight, it'd be helpful to think of this sermon as having four parts. The first part, we're going to just look at the context. That is, we have to understand what was happening in Zachariah's life that would move in to speak the words we're going to examine. And our context is going to come from the opening chapter of Luke. The second part of the sermon, we'll talk about the first part of Zachariah's blessing, which is found in verses 68 through 75, where Zachariah praises God. In our third part, we will look at the second part of the blessing, verses 76-79, where Zechariah places a blessing upon his son. Finally, we will conclude with just some final reflections. So our first part, the context. And again, before we look at verses 67-80, we need to understand the context of what was happening in Zechariah's life, which would cause him to sing the praises that Luke has recorded for us. So over 2,000 years ago, for the people of God, things were not going well. Israel, the political nation, was no longer. The Israelites were living under Roman rule, and it was a time of great persecution and distress. At this time, Herod the Great was ruling the region of Judea, which is where the city of Jerusalem was located. It is during these troubled times that Luke introduces us to a priest named Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth. Luke tells us in chapter 1, verse 6, that both Zachariah and Elizabeth were righteous before God. This does not mean that they were sinless. It just means that they were godly people who had been declared righteous because of their faith. They had a faith in the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. In other words, they had a faith that the Messiah would come. Luke also tells us that this godly couple was very old and had no children. Elizabeth was barren. And for any childless couple that has ever wanted a child, you can imagine the pain that Elizabeth and Zachariah were feeling. And at this time in history, Elizabeth's pain would have been almost unimaginable. She would have been ridiculed and condemned for her lack of children. Most outsiders would have believed that she must have committed some graven sin to be barren. And as one commentator noted, this was bad manners, but even worse theology. As we shall see in this case, Elizabeth was barren, so God's glory could be displayed. As mentioned earlier, Zachariah was a priest, and one day while his division is on duty, Zachariah was chosen by law to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. It's a tremendous honor for Zachariah. And in many ways, probably the highlight of his career, since there are so many priests serving the temple, many priests never had the opportunity that was given to Zechariah. So Zechariah would enter the temple and go up to the golden altar of incense, which was up against the curtain, which guarded the holy of holies. And he would offer incense to the most holy God. So you can imagine the scene. Zechariah is in the temple. offering his prayers before God. It's the pinnacle of his career. I'm sure he's nervous. I'm sure he's full of emotion. And then it happens. As he's offering the incense, an angel of the Lord appears on the right side of the altar of incense. As angels live in the presence of God, they reflect the glory of God. And Luke tells us that Zechariah becomes troubled and fear falls upon him. But the angel Gabriel says to Zachariah, Do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayers have been heard. And your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord, their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord, a people prepared. The text seems to imply that Zachariah was still praying that God would give him a child. And that's a beautiful scene, right? A man, old in age, still praying that God would answer his prayer and give him a child. And I wonder if any of you all have ever felt that way. I wonder if you've ever felt, does God hear my prayers? Is he still listening to me? Why hasn't he heard my prayers? Or maybe that the angel is telling Zachariah that his prayer from long ago had been heard. Either way, I think there's much encouragement to be found here. God hears our prayers. But beyond the personal prayer for a child, I'm quite certain that Zechariah was also praying that God would redeem Israel. And this is the more important point. As a faithful and righteous priest, Zechariah would have been praying that God would send the deliverer. And the angel is telling him that God has heard his prayers. Zechariah, the time is at hand. God will be sending the Messiah and Zechariah, your son, John, will prepare his way. We need to understand that the angels quoting from the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi. Malachi is written roughly 400 years before Zechariah's time. And I want you to think about that. God had not spoken, it seemed, to the people in over 400 years. Do you think they doubted? Do you think that their faith was wavering? Think about this. The colony of Jamestown was founded in 1607, a little over 400 years ago. That's a long time and much has changed. Now the angel Gabriel is telling Zechariah that the people have joy and gladness. Remember that these are dark times for Israel. They're lonely and trying times for God's people. The fact that there were still a people of God hoping for the Redeemer to come speaks to God's amazing grace. And I hope that many of you find strength here. There may be times when you feel alone. There may be times when persecution and trials arrive. There may be times when it appears that God is silent. but take comfort as God is always faithful to his promises. If you have your Bible in front of you, please turn to page 803 in the Pew Bible. And in beginning in verse five, I'll just read the very last words of the Old Testament that the angel quoted. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. There can be no doubt that Zechariah knew exactly what the angel was saying. He knew that the angel was saying that the time was at hand. Every promise that had been given by God would now be fulfilled. And Zechariah's son would be the one to announce and prepare the way of the Lord. And Zechariah, the man that Luke tells us was righteous before God, responds by saying, I do not believe you. How can this be, he says, since my wife and I are so advanced in years? The angel then says, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. Zachariah could not believe the good news. The word for good news in verse 19 is the same word we use for gospel. Gospel means good news. Zachariah couldn't believe the good news. So Zachariah comes out of the temple, the people are all waiting his arrival and wondering why it has taken him so long and he cannot speak. He tries to make signs, but is to no avail. He goes home and days later, his wife conceives a child. Nine months later, the time comes forth for Elizabeth to give birth. And as the angel said, she gives birth to a son. Eight days later, Zachariah and Elizabeth take the child to be circumcised. Many people are gathered as this would have been a time of great celebration. And they, the people, were going to name him Zachariah after his father. But Elizabeth says, no, his name shall be John. It surprises everyone, as none of his or her relatives had that name. So they asked Zachariah what his name shall be. Now I want us to remember that Zachariah has been silent for over nine months. He hasn't been able to speak a word. And can you imagine what he must have been thinking through those days? Can you imagine the doubt that must have plagued him? The embarrassment? The fear? So Zachariah writes on a tablet, he still can't speak, his name shall be John. And it may be helpful for us to know that John means the Lord is gracious. Zachariah is saying his name shall be the Lord is gracious. And here we see Zachariah's faith. Here we see how God has pruned and disciplined him. We see that Zachariah has been humbled and wants to express his love for his great God. And this is what it looks like to be a Christian believer. One is humbled and confesses that he needs a savior. His name shall be John. The Lord is gracious. And as soon as John writes these words, Luke tells us that immediately his mouth was open and his tongue was loosed. and he spoke, blessing God. The people become fearful and talk about what has happened, spread throughout Judea because people can see that the Lord was with the child. So this is the context for our scripture reading tonight. So again, if you will turn with me as I read from our text, Luke 1, verses 67 through 80, and keep everything that we've read and talked about in mind as Zachariah begins to say these words. And his father, Zachariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father, Abraham, to grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the most high. For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins. Because of the tender mercy of our God. Whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew and became strong in spirit. And he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. Some of you know, these words of praise found in verses 68 through 79 are sometimes referred to as Zacharias Benedictus, which just means blessed, because this is the song's first word in Latin. It's where we get the word benediction. As I stated earlier, I want to look at this benediction in two parts. The first part is a blessing for God, found in verses 68-75, and the second part, a blessing for his son, found in verses 76-79. So now to our second part, Zechariah praises God. Zechariah begins by praising God, and it is remarkable that he begins here. We may expect him to begin by saying, forgive me, God. Or maybe even saying, thank you for my son. But he praises God because something bigger has happened. He says, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David. God is to be praised because he has visited and redeemed his people. And I think the first thing we should notice is that Zechariah is speaking in the past tense. God has visited and redeemed his people. Well, how could this be? The Messiah hasn't even been born yet. And what we see is a man that is so sure now of God's promises that he can speak to the fact that the time of salvation had come. I think we need to remember that God had to humble Zachariah. He gave him nine months of silence to remember that at one point he had doubted God's promises. And for the believers here tonight, I hope you find encouragement in this story. There will be times when we lose faith. There will be times when we doubt, but look and see how merciful God is here. For those he is called, you can be assured that he holds on to you. The second thing we should notice is that Zechariah tells us that God has raised up a horn of salvation in the house of his servant David. When Zechariah says in the house of his servant David, it is clear that Zechariah is not speaking of his own son, John. And we know this because Luke tells us that both Elizabeth and Zechariah were from the tribe of Levi. Zechariah is speaking of Jesus, who was in Mary's womb. Jesus came from the house and line of David. But how does Zechariah know Mary? Well, Luke tells us in chapter one that Zechariah spent months with Mary, so he knew about her child. Mary and Elizabeth were relatives. And in fact, you may recall where Luke tells us that when Elizabeth who was carrying John at the time, met Mary, who was carrying Jesus, that John leaped in the womb when he heard Mary's greeting. Even from the womb, John was declaring that Jesus was the Christ. When Zacharias speaks of salvation here, he's speaking of the gift that comes from God. And that's why he begins by praising God. Zachariah had faith that God was visiting his people to give them salvation. And listen again to verses 70 through 75. As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. the oath that he swore to our father, Abraham, to grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all our days. This savior, this redeemer, this messiah is the one that has been promised from the prophets of old. Zechariah has already mentioned David, and now he tells us that the child that Mary is carrying will fulfill the oath that was given to Abraham many years before. And although I am sure that Zechariah was thinking in political terms when speaking of deliverance from enemies, I do not think that this is his primary concern. The term salvation is primarily used when discussing an individual's relationship with a holy God. That is why Zacharias says that we should serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And have you ever wondered why Zacharias says fear? Why should we fear God? But we should fear God because we have sinned and fallen short of his glory. And because God is holy. And because he is just, he must punish sin. And that is why we should be afraid. And if we do not have a Savior, we are doomed. But Zachariah is exclaiming that the Savior has come. God has visited and redeemed his people. We now have the benefit of knowing fully what Zachariah is speaking of. He is speaking of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Savior. He is the promised Messiah. Jesus, God in flesh, left his heavenly abode so he could come and give life to those who were dead. And how did he do this? Jesus did this by willingly going to the cross. He went to the cross and died for sinners. He took the penalty that we deserve and he bore it on a cross. And he offers salvation. He calls on all to repent and believe in him. He says, come to me and I will give you rest. If you believe in the Lord Jesus, you will receive forgiveness of sins through his name. And God did this because he is rich in mercy. Our third part now, Zechariah's blessing upon his son. The last four verses of Zechariah's psalm, the second part of the blessing, are the blessing that Zechariah places upon his son. And many fathers here can probably recall the moment they held their child in their hands for the first time. Many of you may even recall your first thoughts are very words that you spoke. So imagine what Zachariah must have been thinking. Here he is, advanced in age, and God took mercy on him and heard his prayer. God had given him a son, John. The Lord is gracious, and his son would be the prophet of the Most High. So listen again to Zachariah's words. A new child will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins. Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high. To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. John, his first son, would go before the Lord to prepare his ways and to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins. John would give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins by pointing people to Jesus Christ, the only one who can take away sin. And I love what Zechariah says in verses 78 through 79. When explaining why God would give knowledge of salvation, look again to what he says. Because of the tender mercy of our God. Whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. God grants salvation because of his tender mercy. And if you leave here tonight remembering one thing, I hope it's this. Our God is a very loving and compassionate God. He has given us Christ, so we no longer have to sit in darkness. The sunrise of the Father's love has visited us from on high. We can have peace and be reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We come now just to our final part, I'd just like to offer some final reflections. First, I'd like to speak to those of you here tonight who may have a hard time believing this message. Maybe you're having a difficult time believing that there is a God who cares. Maybe you're feeling alone and feel as if you've lost your way. Maybe you've been hurt by family members and bitterness and resentment seem to consume you. Maybe you just do not have hope. Maybe you just do not believe. Or for many, it may be that you've been hurt by something a Christian said, wrote, or did. Maybe you do not see much humility or kindness in Christians. I'd like to ask for your forgiveness. Please know that human beings will fail you. Those who call themselves Christians will fail you. But for all that are here tonight, I pray that you see that there is one who will not fail. Our triune God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit will not fail you. Jesus Christ will not fail. We're here tonight and gathered to remember that over 2,000 years ago, God revealed himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The eternal God, Jesus Christ, took on flesh. And He took on flesh to give His Father glory and to die on the cross for sinners. This loving and merciful God will not fail you. And He tells us to repent and believe on Him. If you have questions, please stop me or someone here tonight. We'd love to talk to you about this wonderful Savior. We would also like to encourage you to please take a Bible home with you tonight. As mentioned earlier, there are Bibles in the pew. We have placed Bibles at the exits for you to take as well. We would love for you to take the Bibles home to see how this story that we studied tonight continues. And that takes me to my second reflection. The second thing I want us to ponder is verse 80 of our text tonight. Luke concludes our story by telling us And the child grew and became strong in spirit. And he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance in Israel. Many of you may be wondering what happens next in John's life. Well, about 30 years after Zechariah's blessing, the time would come for John to make his public appearance. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And upon seeing Jesus for the first time, he proclaimed, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And can you dare to think of what that must have looked like? From birth, John knew that he was to be a messenger. He was to announce that the Savior had come. And his time had come. I'd like to read you some of the very last words we have recorded from John. When speaking to some of his disciples, he said, You yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease. The story of Zachariah, Elizabeth, and John is amazing. John fulfilled every word that was spoken of him. But we do not worship John. because there is an even more amazing story. And that's the story of God taking on human flesh. And praise be to God, Jesus fulfilled every word that was spoken of him. Jesus is the Messiah. The grand narrative of the Bible revolves around the fact that God saves sinners. And it is the greatest story ever told. And woven within this grand narrative, we meet individuals with names. Tonight, we met Zachariah, which means God remembers. We met Elizabeth, which means God is faithful. We met John, which means God is gracious, or if you like, God is merciful. And we met the one with the sweetest name of all. Jesus, which means God saves. It's my prayer that everyone in this room knows this Jesus and can shout with joy the words that Zachariah spoke so emphatically over 2000 years ago. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. We pray with me. Almighty God, you are good. You are merciful and you are faithful. And we thank you. We thank you for the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray that hearts are moved to turn to him, to confess that he is the Christ. And we ask this in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of our Savior, Jesus. Amen.