A Joyful Expectation Realized

Introduction

Good morning please open in your Bibles to Luke 1:67-80 that is Luke 1:67-80 that is will be on page 804 if you are using a Bible scattered throughout the chairs that is page 804.

Have you had to wait for something you really want? Your husband tells you he has a special surprise for your anniversary to ensure you keep the weekend clear, but it is still a month away. You filled out those college applications, but now you are waiting for that acceptance letter. You just finished planning the family’s summer vacation, but it is still only Easter. You asked your grandparents for new lego set for Christmas, but we just celebrated Thanksgiving. You have a joyful expectation for a future pay off and you are just so ready for it be here already.

Yet, in this world these kinds of expectations often fall short of the glory we hope for. Your husband told you to block off the weekend, but it turns out he only made dinner plans. The college you really wanted to go to waitlisted you. Vacation time gets here and your kids just fight the whole time. You open the gift come Christmas and grandma didn’t get the right lego set. You see in this world our hope in future temporal glories always run the risk of not living up to the hype. Promises are made or implied, and we are crushed when they aren’t quite good as we imagined the would be.

This morning I want us to cast our gaze to a future hope, a joyful expectation that will not disappoint us. The promises of Jesus will all come true, and he will not disappoint. He came to save us from our enemies, he came to save us from our sin. As will listen to the words of Zechariah this morning we hear from a man filled with the Holy Spirit who is celebrating the fulfillment of a long awaited promise. A promise that extends lifetimes into the past, a promise made to him as a child of God, a promise which will be fulfilled after he newborn grows up and fulfills his calling of preparing the way of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This morning we get an inside look at the joy of Christmas in the life of Zechariah. The joy of a joyful expectation realized at the birth of his son, John. You and your kids will get a small picture of this when on Christmas morning they open those gifts and say, “It’s exactly what I wanted!” And you and some of your kids will be reminded that our gift giving is an incomplete picture of the joy of Christmas when you open the gift and say, “oh…. it’s just what I wanted… and you think, praise God there’s a receipt.”

When it comes to fulfillment of God’s promises, and the joyful expectation that fills us because of those promises… praise there is no need for a receipt. He does not disappoint, all of his promises come true. Let’s read Luke 1:67-80 together.

A Joyful Deliverance from Enemies v. 68-75

Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth have just had a son in their old age after a lifetime of infertility. Zechariah in the previous passages was visited by the angel Gabriel and promised this child. However, Zechariah being old didn’t believe the words of the angel and asked how this would happen. The angel responds and tells Zechariah that he will be struck mute until these things happen, which includes the naming of the boy. He is commanded to name the child John, which means God is gracious. All of these events come to pass, and when the boy is named Zechariah is able to speak. He blesses with is first words after 9 months of silence and in the text we just read we get to experience the words spoken by Zechariah as he was filled with the Holy Spirit. This is a prophecy, these are Zechariah’s words, but they are more. They are the words of God himself, and they recount the deliverance of God’s people Israel from their enemies and sin.

The first section, verses 68-75 discuss the nations deliverance from their enemies and the second section verses 76-79 tell of the knowledge that Zechariah’s son will give to the people, the knowledge of the forgiveness for sin.

So, Zechariah begins and declares, Luke 1:68 ““Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people” Now, he is referring to the coming visitation of Jesus, who is still in the womb of Mary at the time of this prophecy, but he is also tying in the past visitation of God to the people of God. A man named Joesph, not to be confused with Joesph the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus, but rather a man named Joesph in the book of Genesis prophesies about a visitation from God as well. The Joesph in Genesis, was one of the twelve sons of a man named Jacob, who was also called Israel. Joesph is used by God to save his family from a famine as he rises to the upper ranks of the Egyptian government. At the end of his life, Joesph says these words to his brothers who are living in Egypt with their families, Genesis 50:24–25 “And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”” 400 hundred years pass by and the new king of Egypt forgets about Joesph. Joesphy’s family greatly increases into the size of a nation and so the Egyptians enslave the people of Israel.

But then in the book of Exodus God raises up a deliverer, a man named Moses who leads the people of Israel out the land of Egypt, the land of their slavery, but only after the Lord performs great signs and wonder. When Moses shows up to first speak to the people of Israel in the land of Egypt we read this Exodus 4:31 “And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.” This is significant. Zechariah is using language reminiscent a prophecy in Genesis 50 which was fulfilled in Exodus 4 to show his readers that God was about to do something similar in their midst. God would visit the people and purchase them or redeem them out of their slavery.

And how will God do this thing? Luke 1:69–70 “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,” He will visit and redeem his people by raising up a horn of salvation, a Hebrew idiom that means a powerful figure. This powerful figure will come from the house of David, and this was foretold by the prophets of old. David was a great king in Israel’s history who ruled about 500 years after the events of Exodus. So, a powerful man would be raised up from a royal line, that is David’s line and this is foretold by the prophets of Israel throughout the Old Testament. The prophet Jeremiah was one of these prophets who said this in Jeremiah 33:14–16 ““Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” Now, Jeremiah’s prophecy happens about 400 years after the life of David. Jeremiah prophesies in a time period in which God’s people have been conquered by Babylon and are functionally slaves again, who are forced to leave their homeland and be scattered throughout the Babylonian empire. But he references a promise made to Israel that he will fulfill through a righteous branch from David’s lineage.

Zechariah references this same promise in Luke 1:73–74 “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,” Abraham was the first of the patriarchs the man who God called out of Babylon 1500 years before the people were recaptured by Babylon during Jeremiah’s day. God makes this promise to Abraham Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”” Now I made a simple timeline that is in the slides to help you keep this all straight.

So what is Zechariah doing by poetically recounting the promise made to Abraham, the prophecy of Joesph and the Exodus, the promise to David, and the prophecy of Jeremiah? Is it just to give us a brief Israelite history lesson? No. It is to show us that God is a promise keeping God. He has kept his promises in the past, Joesph’s prophecy fulfilled through Moses the Exodus, and he will keep his promises now. And it shows us that all of these promises are interconnected. The people of God are captured by the enemies of God and enslaved, and God continually rescues his people from their enemies.

It’s like watching a superhero movie. In a superhero movie there will a series are action packed fight scenes and heroic feats of our main hero. Early in the movie he will save a child from a falling rubble, a crowd of people from a car thrown by a villain, a train load of people, a city or neighborhood, until finally at the climax of the movie our hero saves the entire world or universe. Each heroic act puts on the display the heroes growth in power and know how until finally the hero fulfills their destiny. The earth is saved, the people cheer, and the movie ends with evil vanquished.

Redemptive history, real history in God’s real world has a similar plot line. God’s people are in danger so he sends deliverers like Joesph, Moses, David, and Jeremiah and through these men God delivers his people from their enemies over and over again. But each of these true stories is pointing to an ultimate salvation and grand cosmological deliverance. And this grand deliverance this salvation is what Zechariah is telling us about. The final defeat over the enemies of God through the great deliverer Jesus Christ.

(v. 74-75) Jesus has come, he is the horn of salvation who will deliver us from our enemies so that we can serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness all of our days! Now, who are our enemies? Paul writes this in Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Romans 6:17–18 “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 10:3–6 “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” In short, our enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil. We don’t wage war against Egypt or Babylon like the Israelites did. In fact, through faith Christ even those from Egypt and Babylon are able to be delivered. They have just as much right to the kingdom of God as you and I and you and I have the same right to become children of God as those from Israel. God sent his son to this earth to vanquish evil and through him all peoples can be saved from humanity’s great enemy. Satan, our sin, and the corruption of this world.

This is the joyful expectation of Zechariah. Salvation from our greatest enemy, our sin. A salvation that puts on display the mercy of God who promised to deliver his people from their enemies and in his deliverance we are free to serve Him without fear, free to be holy and righteous before Him all our days. Eternally saved and eternally free. In Christ Jesus you and I are no longer slaves to our enemies.

T/S- What is interesting in this text is that God promises deliverance from enemies, but he does it through the most unlikely source. He does not send and army to vanquish our foe, but instead he sends a child. A child who prepare the way for another child who will save his people from their sins.

A Joyful Deliverance From Sin v. 76-80

The book of Luke so far has been about the births of two babies. John, the son of Zecheraiah who would prepare the way of the Lord, and of the Lord himself, Jesus. God’s grand plan to save all of humanity begins with the births of two children. One is a mere mortal who will live in the wilderness. He will never command an army, hold political office, or be rich. Instead, he will live a simple life and he will preach and baptize. And through this he will prepare the way for the greatest man to ever live. And the other man, the other child, though the rightful King of all kings will wear no one, save for a crown of thorns at his death.

v. 76 -77 They will not make war against the evil in this world with weapons of any physical nature. Instead, he will be a prophet of the most high, and through preaching and proclamation of the truth he will prepare the way for Jesus. And his preaching is not just about zeal or presentation. He would not grow up to simply put on a show, rather he will provide people with knowledge. His preaching, his prophesy, would be rational and sensible. He would give the people the knowledge of salvation in the forgivness of their sins. He would be used to help people learn how to think in order to receive the kingdom of God. And what is this way of thinking? What has Luke been trying to help us understand about Jesus, and what it means to be a child of God, or a part of the kingdom of God, to be a Christ follower. It is the understanding, the knowledge, that we are sinners. That we must humble ourselves and trust not in our own ability, but rather believe the Word of God. This is the knowledge of the forgivness of sins.

John will grow up and preach a baptism of repentance. He will say, Luke 3:7 “…. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Imagine if we greeted visitors like that at RHC… Welcome to our church you snake. Who told you needed to change your life before God judges you in His wrath? I wouldn’t greet anyone that way at our church, but if you are here today and you do not know Jesus I want to tell you plainly. I love you, I want you to repent. God wants you to repent. You need to repent. You need to come to the realization the God is God. He will judge the sins or sinners, and that includes anyone who has not put their faith in Jesus. I want you to be forgiven of your sin, but the way to heaven is narrow. It requires that you give up your sin before a holy God. It requires that you humble yourself and admit that your way is wrong. This can be a hard truth to hear, but it must be heard.

And while this is a hard thing to hear, this knowledge is being shared with you because of the rich and kind mercy of God. Why does God have John grow up to give the knowledge of salvation? Luke 1:78 “because of the tender mercy of our God, …. The literal translation is because of the bowels of God’s unfailing mercy. It is metaphor to help us see the God deeply from his metaphorical gut longs for us to be saved. He longs for you to turn from your sin and put your faith in Jesus and if you do this, then this is His promise. Luke 1:78–79 “…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.”” Jesus is like the sun that rises to disperse the gloomy clouds of night. If you are apart from Christ then you are living in darkness. You are on a dangerous path toward Hell, and you need to see what lies ahead of you. If you do not look up and see the truth, if your path is not illuminated by Christ you will not be able to see the danger coming. You are living in the shadow of death will either no joyful expectation or a false joyful expectation. If you do not live enlightened by the light of Christ you will either live despairing or be greatly disappointed at the end of your days. Hell is no party with your friends it is a eternity of gloom, darkness, and torment.

But Zechariah’s words are crying out to you today telling you that you do not have to live this way. You do not have to live in darkness, but instead you can live in the light. You can walk on the pathway of peace with your steps guided by the light of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” This light is the knowledge of salvation, the forgiveness of sins. So, what is required of you?

Conclusion

If you want to walk in the light, it requires that you come to the knowledge that you are like Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah the three main characters of the first chapter of Luke. Mary was unqualified to have God to dwell in her womb, but God showed her favor, that is grace and chose her for the task. She was blessed because she believed the Word of the Lord. You are not qualified to have God dwell in your heart by His spirit, and yet if you like Mary trust in the Word of God then God will show you grace and favor and he will bless you and dwell within you. Elizabeth tried to live a righteous and blameless life, and yet in all her trying she was a woman reproached by the world because of her bareness. You who cling to your own works and self righteousness are barren in spirit unable to produce new life because this task in impossible for man. Yet, God has appeared to you through His word and declares the that all things are possible with Him, and if you trust His word you will be blessed with new and abundant life in Christ. Zechariah heard the word of the angel and at first he responded in disbelief. In his pride, he believed he knew better than the messenger from God, and so God humbled him and took away his ability to speak. And when God had had his way with Zechariah, God loosed his tongue and he spoke blessing the Lord. Perhaps you have heard of this before and you have rejected God and His word. Then I pray that God would humble you and you would respond like Zechariah. You would stop living your way and start living God’s way and bless the Lord.

If you are a Christian and you think everything I just said only applies to the non-Christian then think again… I was talking to you as well. Are you living in a joyful expectation of Christ’s promises? Or is your life characterized by stress, worry, fear, anger, sloth, or unholy acts? You read a passage like this and you know that you are walking in darkness rather than the light. Will you humble yourself and turn from your sin? Do you not know that Jesus has come and conquered sin and death, He is the horn of salvation raised up from the house of David, and just as he delivered Abraham, Joesph, Moses, David, and Jeremiah so he will deliver you! He has saved you from your enemies of this world, the devil, and the flesh. Sin, no longer has a hold on you and so you can serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him for all of your days. That is a the promise of Christmas! This joyful expectation is realized in Christ coming to earth to save his people from their sin, now and forever more. Bless the Lord! And I mean this we all sincerity Merry Christmas.

The joyful expectation of God’s activity to save sinners is what makes Christmas Merry. So Merry Christmas. Let’s pray.