Zecheriah's Prophecy: The Benedictus

Introduction

I want to recap on a few things before we look at the main text this morning and specifically, I want to draw some things out of Luke 1:5-25 that will set up for us everything that is basically happening right now in in 57-66.

An angel from God appeared to Zechariah while he was burning incense in the temple and the angel had some very big news for Zechariah. The angel told Zechariah that he was going to have a baby and the baby’s name was to be John. Now for most people, this would be a very happy moment for them, but for Zechariah, this confused him. His response to the angel was one of doubt and this was because him and his wife Elizabeth were how the Bible describes as them being “advanced in years”, basically these two were really old. Another issue Zechariah was having with this news was that Elizabeth has always been barren, or not able to have a child. So, for Zechariah to believe this would have been extremely hard, and he doubted the message from the angel. As a result of Zechariah’s faithlessness, he was made mute. His muteness would stay active all the way until the baby John was born. To put this into perspective, he would not be able to speak for 9 months. I don’t know about you, but I can’t even go 30 seconds without saying something to somebody, and Zechariah was a priest in the temple, which means most of the time he would have been communication something with somebody, but he was unable to speak.

Now, as the angel foretold, Elizabeth conceived a child and for five months, she stayed hidden away from people. In the sixth month of pregnancy for Elizabeth, she receives a visit from Mary. Both of these women were both in very unique situations. Mary who was young and a virgin was going to have a baby, and Elizabeth who was older than most, and was barren is going to have a baby. The significance of this is explained by the angel in verse 37 when the angel says, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Now, as soon as the two meet there is this amazing moment of worship that takes place and that is what we focused on last week was Mary’s song of praise to God “The Magnificat”. Which means Magnify and that is exactly what Mary did when she praised God for all the things he had done not only in that moment, but even took it as far back is recalling the promise God made to Abraham many years before this occurrence. Mary ends up staying with Elizabeth for 3 months and in the 3rd month Mary leaves. For 5 months, Elizabeth stayed hidden away, most likely praising the Lord and preparing for the birth of her son, in the 6th month Mary came and visited Elizabeth, and in the 9th month Mary left. We are in the 9th month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and it is time for Elizabeth to give birth to her son.

In this time, giving birth was a public event, so anytime someone would give birth it would be made known so people could come and visit with the family who had a child. One thing that is made evident is the fact that the neighbors and relatives knew that this was an act from God that Elizabeth was able to have a child given verse 58 that says, “And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.” Another thing to point out is the fact that a baby was not named until after the baby had been circumcised. If you remember circumcision was the covenant made by the Jews that all males would go through circumcision and this was a way of showing baby’s entering into the covenant with the Lord. Now according to customs, the firstborn male of the family would have been named after the father and this was to be expected and when Elizabeth announced that the name of the baby was going to be John, the crowd was pretty much shocked. They immediately turn to Zechariah and start asking him to pick out the baby’s name, but Zechariah cannot speak and so he asks the people to give him a stone tablet and on it he writes “His name is John.” You see, God had been preparing Zechariah’s heart this entire time he has been mute specifically for this moment. Zechariah being a Jewish priest, he was all for tradition and customs, and had he been able to speak his mind to Elizabeth who had been faithful from the get go, he might would have tried convincing her to steer away from the Lord and go for traditions and so the Lord teaches us a valuable lesson here and that is it is better to be quiet and let God be God and prepare your heart to abide in his will and not our own.

Immediately, we see in verse 64 “...his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.” In verse 67 it says, “And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,”. Read with me verses 68-80.

Body

(1) The Redemptive Prophecy

a. The Horn from David

i. Horn as a symbol for power.

(2 Samuel 22:3) ESV

3  my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation,

my stronghold and my refuge,

my savior; you save me from violence.

(Psalm 18:2) ESV

2  The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold

God has the power to save.

b. The Word from Prophets

(Jeremiah 23:5-6) ESV

5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’

(Psalm 106:10) ESV- The context is God delivering Israel out of Egypt

10  So he saved them from the hand of the foe

and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.

c. The Oath to Abraham

(Genesis 22:16-18) ESV

16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

God has promised to save.

Application:

Zechariah's silence can teach us a thing about being quiet for a while and listening to God.

Our faith is built on the reality that God’s Word is true. You must have informed faith. That does not mean faith without evidence. The evidence is the Scriptures, our faith is believing that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and since he has been faithful in the past, he will continue to be faithful to his promises in the present. This also means that we must be glued to the Word of God, for faith is rooted in the Word.

Notice also, that we are saved to serve him without fear.

(Ephesians 4:22-24) ESV

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

(2) The Redeemer’s Forerunner

a. Prophesying Advent

i. The Prophet of the Most High

ii. whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high.

b. Proclaiming Salvation

i. Preparing the poeple

i. Knowledge of Salvation

Application:

In the same way that John was a forerunner to Christ, I am convinced that the church is the forerunner to Christ for his return. We are to “prophecy” in a sense the coming of the Lord, and prepare the hearts of the people by giving knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of sins. This is our greatest calling.

*Me being a father but not a forerunner illustration*.

Conclusion