Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

A few weeks ago, my wife and I had an annual Christmas dinner with the Tampa Bay area PCA pastors and their wives.

It was a lovely time with about a dozen couples.

At one point during the evening, one of the pastors asked me, “What are you preaching for Advent?”

I said that for Advent I was preaching on the characters of Christmas.

He responded, “Oh, so you are preaching about Santa Claus, Rudolph the red-nose reindeer, the Grinch, Charlie Brown, George Bailey, and so on?”

So, to make sure that people don’t misunderstand our Advent series, I have titled it, “The Characters of Christ’s Birth.”

Last week, Rev. Scott Simmons preached about Joseph.

Today, I would like to preach about Zechariah and Elizabeth.

In the upcoming weeks, I would like to preach about the Wise Men, Mary, and finally conclude with Jesus on December 25.

Scripture

Let us read Luke 1:5-25:

Lesson

Luke 1:5-25 shows us God’s promise of a son to a childless couple.

Let’s the following outline:

1.

The Childless Couple (1:5-7)

2. The Angelic Visitor (1:8-12)

3. The Promised Son (1:13-17)

4. The Unbelieving Father (1:18-23)

5.

The Believing Mother (1:24-25)

I.

The Childless Couple (1:5-7)

First, let’s begin by looking at the childless couple.

As a good historian, Luke began by noting that the account he was about to narrate took place in the days of Herod, king of Judea(1:5a).

He reigned from 37 to 4 BC, and it was a time of oppression for the people of God.

During these difficult times, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah (1:5b).

King David organized the priesthood into twenty-four divisions (1 Chronicles 24:4-19), the eighth of which was that of Abijah (v.

10).

But, after the Babylonian Captivity, only four of the twenty-four divisions returned to Judah (Ezra 2:36-38).

The Jews, however, still wanted twenty-four divisions.

So the leaders divided the remaining four divisions back into twenty-four divisions, and restored their former names to them.

So, Zechariah, while he was a descendant of Aaron, was probably not in the family line of Abijah (since Abijah was one of the divisions that did not return after the exile); nevertheless, he served in the division that bore the name of Abijah.

Priests were expected to marry an Israelite woman who was a virgin (cf.

Leviticus 21:7, 14; Ezekiel 44:22).

Zechariah was doubly blessed, however, because he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth (1:5c).

In a very difficult time in the history of God’s people we learn that “they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (1:6).

This godly couple was a shining example of godliness in the midst of an unfaithful people.

They were declared righteousby virtue of their trust in God and his word, and they walked in obedience to the Lord.

There was only one cloud that cast a shadow on their happiness.

Luke succinctly stated their problem, “But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years” (1:7).

One can imagine Elizabeth’s heartache.

Any woman who has ever wanted a child knows what Elizabeth must have endured: the prying questions, the thoughtless comments, and the accusatory suggestions that she must be at fault.

In that ancient culture barrenness was considered a disgrace, even a punishment.

God had told Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 2:28).

And Solomon noted, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Psalm 127:3).

But Elizabeth was not at fault.

God was not punishing her with barrenness because of some sin.

Luke had just noted that she was not only righteous before God, but that she walked blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

You see, our sins are not always the cause of our suffering.

Sometimes they are, but not always.

Sometimes God allows the consequences of our sins to run their course.

But he does so to discipline us as an act of his love.

Sometimes God does discipline us for our sin, as he did in the case of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).

But not all suffering is the consequence of our sin.

Suffering is at least the consequence of living in a fallen world.

The results of Adam’s sin have had and will continue to have a ripple effect until the return of Jesus.

The fact is that we don’t always know why God permits suffering.

We must therefore be very careful not to reach the wrong conclusion about why someone is suffering.

In the case of Elizabeth, she was barren for the glory of God.

God was not punishing her because of something that she had done.

No. God was planning a wonderful miracle that would get his people ready for the arrival of the Savior.

And one of the amazing ways that God would show his sovereign power was to enable a woman advanced in years, well beyond menopause, to conceive and bear a child.

As a young married woman, Elizabeth did not understand why she was not able to conceive a child.

As the months turned into years, and the years turned into decades, she was undoubtedly disappointed.

But she did not let her life revolve around her disappointment.

Instead, she busied herself in faithful service to the Lord, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

Rather than focusing on her disappointment, she focused on glorifying God in her life.

So, when trial or difficulty or suffering comes our way, let us live in such a way that we continue to glorify God.

II.

The Angelic Visitor (1:8-12)

Second, notice the angelic visitor.

Luke said in verse 8, “Now while he [that is, Zechariah] was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty.”

Five times a year Zechariah left home to serve for a week at the temple in Jerusalem.

Three of those weeks were for the three major Jewish Festivals of Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles, when all priestly divisions served at the temple as religious visitors swelled Jerusalem’s population by several hundred thousand people.

In addition, each priestly division also served two one-week long periods a year when they carried out the daily temple sacrifices and services.

Now, we don’t know exactly when Zechariah was serving at the temple in Jerusalem, but it was probably not during one of the major Festivals.

Luke noted that “according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense”(1:9).

Special services were assigned by lot.

This was to ensure that a priest had at least one opportunity in his lifetime to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

Once a priest had been chosen to perform the special service, he was no longer eligible to do so again.

With approximately 18,000 priests living in Judea at the time, and with special services being performed twice a day (in the morning and in the evening), it would take almost 25 years for each priest to get a turn.

And since priests served only for 20 years, from the age of thirty to fifty (Numbers 4:3), there was a good chance that some priests would never perform a special service.

So, being chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense was a once-in-a-lifetime highlight in the career of every priest.

Picture the scene.

Zechariah was rehearsing in his mind what he needed to do when he got into the Holy Place.

With sweaty palms and a racing heart, he went into the vestment room.

He put on the robes that priests wore when they went into the Holy Place in the temple.

Then he walked through the temple courtyards, passing through the growing crowd of people who were gathering for the evening prayer.

Then he slowly walked up the stairs that led into the Holy Place where God was.

As he opened the door and went into the Holy Place, he saw the sacred furniture that God’s people had made according to the instructions that God gave Moses centuries earlier.

On his left was the golden lampstand, candles lighting the cavernous room.

On his right was the table for the bread.

And ahead of him, right in front of the curtain that guarded the entrance to the Holy of Holies (which the High Priest entered only once a year, on the Day of Atonement), was the golden altar of incense.

Zechariah walked slowly to the altar of incense.

His heart was pounding, as he was acutely aware that he was in the very presence of almighty God.

He poured the incense from his flask onto altar of incense.

The incense wafted up afresh as he offered up his prayer to God. “And,”Luke wrote, “the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense” (1:10).

Zechariah was deeply engaged in a ministry that was granted to very few people.

It is hard to know exactly what Zechariah prayed.

Undoubtedly, he prayed for the salvation of the people of God.

His people, who were under the brutal yoke of Roman oppression, were waiting for God’s ancient promise to send a deliverer to be fulfilled, and for God to come and save his people.