Sermon Tone Analysis

Writer Charles Swindoll once found himself with too many commitments in too few days.

He got nervous and tense about it.

Writer Charles Swindoll once found himself with too many commitments in too few days.

He got nervous and tense about it.

“I was snapping at my wife and our children, choking down my food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through the day,” he recalled in his book Stress Fractures.

“Before long, things around our home started reflecting the pattern of my hurry-up style.

It was becoming unbearable.

“I distinctly remember after supper one evening, the words of our younger daughter, Colleen.

She wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day.

She began hurriedly, ‘Daddy, I wanna tell you somethin’ and I’ll tell you really fast.’

“Suddenly realizing her frustration, I answered, ‘Honey, you can tell me—and you don’t have to tell me really fast.

Say it slowly.”

“I’ll never forget her answer: ‘Then listen slowly.’”

***PRAY***

Recap

Now if you were with us last time, not our Resurrection day celebration, but the last time we were in our study of Luke, you might recall that I drew our attention to Zacharias’ response, or lack there of, to the lots falling on him to serve in the temple.

If you recall we determined that Zacharias is most likely between 70-80 years old.

And that meant that Zacharias has served faithfully for 50-60 years without experiencing the fruit of his labor namely the privilege of serving in the temple.

We learned that he and Elizabeth had served faithfully for 50-60 years with the stigma of childlessness, never experiencing the fruit of their labor and faithfulness…a son to carry on the priestly line.

I said that Luke, the great historian, the exacter of details, the highly educated Gentile, the one that writes with the precision of a surgeon, describes Zacharias’ Day of Days, this day he was FINALLY chosen to serve in the temple…he describes this with no hint of any emotional response from Zacharias.

And because of that I said it could be inferred that

Zacharias was suffering from spiritual apathy.

And then I shared 4 ways to overcome or avoid spiritual apathy.

1. Regular Rest Time

2. Regular Bible Time

3. Regular Prayer Time

4. Regular Accountability Time

As we continue with our text today we are going to witness yet ANOTHER response by Zacharias that will make us raise our eyebrows yet again.

We’re not going to have time to get too deep into his response…it’s implications and consequences, because I think its really really important for us to take a very close look at what’s being announced to him.

I want to unpack this announcement so that you can see the MAGNITUDE of what is being said and WHO is saying it…so that you can really grasp the DEPTH of Zacharias’ doubt in his response.

Let me read the text out loud while you read along in your Bibles:

10And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

11And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

12Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.

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13But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.

14“You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

SLIDE

15“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.

16“And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.

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17“It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

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18 Zacharias said to the angel, How will I know this for certain?

For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.

Let’s start with verse 10

And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

It was not unusual for a crowd of spectators to be outside the sanctuary during the daily sacrifices and burning of incense.

And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

It was not unusual for a crowd of spectators to be outside the sanctuary during the daily sacrifices and burning of incense.

The people gathered outside to see the priest when he came out after offering the prayers for the people, because they wanted to know if there was any sign that God had heard his prayers.

At this point in history, nobody has heard from God in 400 years.

Not one single word.

Not one single prophet.

Not one single sign or miracle.

But, people continued to come every morning and every evening to pray as the smoke of the incense rose to God…to wait for the Priest to come out so they could see if he received a sign.

What sign could they possibly be waiting for?

What was it that drove the people to continue to come and look for a sign even after 400 years of silence.

Well look down or over in your Bibles to verse 78 to get some context.

Here we find Zacharias singing a song of praise for the birth of JTB and the coming salvation found in the coming Messiah.

In verse 78 & 79 he sings:

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78Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,

79To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

This Sunrise from on high is a reference to the Messiah.

John MacArthur says:

…borrowing those words, “the sunrise from on High,” which refers to the birth of Christ, we could conclude then that the account of chapter 1 covers the final hours of darkness before that sunrise arrives, before Messiah comes.

Remember when I said that sometimes we tend to disconnect the Real People in the story from the Real feelings they’re experiencing?

Well, let’s consider this time in history for the people of Israel.

Verse 78 and 79 say that the Sunrise from on high will visit us and shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

Could there be a darker time for Israel?

How long have they been waiting, or the whole world for that matter, for this Sunshine to rise?

For the savior to come?

Just look at Israel’s history

It begins with Abraham.

Then a history of 400 years of exile in Egypt.

40 years of wandering in the wilderness

Their conquest of the land of Canaan, of their occupation of the land of Canaan.

Then their captivity,

the northern kingdom taken captive in 722 B.C.,

the southern kingdom taken into Babylon in 586 B.C.,

the northern kingdom never returning,

the southern kingdom returning 70 years later.

Beginning Israel's long history of coming back out of captivity and trying to rebuild.

ONLY to be oppressed as Greeks invaded and controlled the land,

Then Romans came and further oppressed them;

MacArthur again says this was:

This was the long night of Israel's history of blessing and cursing mixed, the long night of

Israel's history of faithfulness and apostasy.

And WHAT sustained those who really looked toward God through all those long, long years of darkness???

…The hope that the sunrise would break.

Put your finger there in Luke 1.

Turn back with me to the last chapter of the Old Testament.

Malachi 4.

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What God is saying through the prophet Malachi is:

1For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”

2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.

What God is saying through the prophet Malachi is:

Yes, I know you’re living in bad times.