The Benedictus of Promises Fulfilled

Scripture Introduction:

Galatians 4: 4-5, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

One translation says, “at just the right time”. Christmas is about many things. One of those things is that God keeps his promises. “When the fullness of time had come”. This was a promise a long time coming. Certainly as we will see in a moment there were promises made about 500 years before Christ through the prophet Zechariah. Promises that a rescuer was coming. But those promises go even further back. Such a promise was given to King David some about 1000 years before that fullness of time had come. And you can go even further back and see this same promise—a deliverer is coming given to Moses and Abraham. But it goes even further. This same promise—that a rescuer is coming—was given to our first couple. “He will crush the head of the serpent”.

There will be one who is born of a woman who is going to fix everything. That’s a big promise. And it was made so long ago. Now, I’m not sure what your history of promises is. Perhaps you don’t find trust a difficult thing. You had trustworthy parents, perhaps. Or you’ve just been given the gift of faith and the ability to just trust even in the darkest of circumstances. Or maybe you have a hard time trusting. Maybe you’ve been burned so many times. And so you’ve gotten jaded. And so it’s difficult also to trust God in His promises. Or maybe you’ve just used a microwave too many times. And it’s tricked you into thinking that stuff ought to be instant. When you put something in the microwave…you push those magic buttons…five minutes…and out comes piping hot delicious Bob Evans mashed potatoes. And so you assume life ought to work that way. And when it doesn’t you wonder if the One who has made all these promises is really trustworthy.

Recently, McDonald’s ran a campaign promising your meal through the drive-thru in 60-seconds or less or you got a free burger. McDonalds is not alone in their quest to help us save time and avoid any time waiting. Have you noticed that the increasing amount of products bought and consumed by Americans that are supposed to save us time and money? And at the same time there are scores of people that report being burnt out, depressed, and unable to sleep and rest? Most people would say that they are too busy. Apparently our “time-saving” products are not working.

Is it possible that what we lack is not time but true rest? Perhaps what we lack is what C.S. Lewis called the, “serious, yet gleeful, determination to rub one’s nose in the quiddity of each thing, to rejoice in its being (so magnificently) what it [is]”. Jared Wilson, expounds upon Lewis’ thought:

If I don’t believe the gospel, I will miss out on the joy of the it-ness of things. I will be looking to these things as drugs, as appetite-fillers, as fulfillers, as powers, as gods, as worshipers of the god of myself…If steak or wine or coffee or chocolate or anything else other than God is the highlight of my day or the ultimate joy of my heart, my joy is temporary, hollow, thin, But if I believe in the gospel, I can finally enjoy the chocolate-ness of chocolate and the coffee-ness of coffee. Only the gospel frees me to enjoy things as they truly now are and as they someday will be[1].

What we need is not a new time-saving gadget. What we really need is to find the rest that Jesus gives to us.

This morning I want to show you from the OT book of Zecharaiah a God who keeps his promises. These words were spoken about 500 years before Jesus. What we have in Zechariah 6:9-15 are a few prophecies which would tell of a future leader who would come to the people of Israel. And I want to show how we can see these promises fulfilled in the Christmas story and the life of Christ. A few big names in here, don’t get tripped up on them. I think we’ll be able to unpack this text pretty easily.

READ Zechariah 6:9-15

It was from places like this and Psalm 18, and 1 Samuel, and Isaiah the prophet, and many other places that caused Jewish Rabbi’s during the time of Jesus…and yes during the time of another Zechariah—the guy who will be the Father of John the Baptist…that we’ll hear from in just a moment.

Cause the shoot of David to shoot forth quickly, and raise up his horn by thy salvation. For we wait on thy salvation all the day. Blessed art thou, Lord, who causest the horn of salvation to shoot forth.[2]

So Z is in the temple praying. Sees an angel. Your prayer is being heard. Good news. Promises are happening. Z doesn’t exactly believe and ends up being mute (and some even believe deaf). But then Elizabeth gives birth...is he going to listen to the angel? Is he going to name this baby John? Will he repent? Does he now believe that God is going to fulfill those promises…

READ TEXT Luke 1:57-80

Sermon Introduction:

Z does believe. And here we have great news of repentance for us. When we blow it in believing God’s promises.

Side notes:

Might have been deaf. Would have been common to name him Z after his father. Calls him John. Immediately his tongue is loosed…and he praises God. (That’s something for us in that, isn’t there?)

But let’s look at this prayer today…called the benedictus. What we have here is really Z believing not only that God has fulfilled his promise of a baby…but more than anything his promise to Abraham and his promise to David. I want to show you that and again show you that we can trust God to fulfill. To accomplish His plans.

I actually want to read another passage to you. Because what we see here in Zechariah 6 actually flows out of this other promise. It’s all part of this great story that God is telling.

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 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.” (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)

This promise to Abram is huge. Here in this promise is a recasting of God’s creation. The strongest desires of your heart are found in this promise. For one, you and I long for “place”. We want a place to call home. We are all like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. We want to be home. God is saying here—I will give you place. A home. A land.

Secondly, we want peace. We want rest. We want the curse to be overturned and to find joy again. We want to be blessed. That is here in this promise to Abram. To be blessed means to live in the rest of God. To be happy. To be joyous.

Thirdly, a relationship with God is here in this text. To be known by Him. Or as it would say later to be a friend of God. You and I were created by God to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That is found in Genesis 12:1-3. And it was this promise that continued to motivate the people of God all the way through the time of Zechariah. But they often saw these offices as separate.

What I’m attempting to do here is combine those longings in your heart with the promises of God. He made those promises for a reason. You have those longings for a reason. The people in the Old Testament had these exact same longings. But they assumed there would be different leaders who would fulfill these things. They would need a prophet that Moses spoke of. They would need a priest like Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 3. And they would need a King. In fact we read in places like 2 Chronicles 26:16-21 that these roles aren’t to be combined. Somebody got in trouble for combining them. A king doesn’t make a sacrifice—that is the job of the priest. So that all of these things would find fulfillment in one man was kind of unheard of.

But that is what we have in this text. Joshua the high priest becomes a king. What we see is that this is looking to a future one. Not literally Joshua the high priest, he is just symbolizing the future Messiah. The rescuer. The one who was foretold. He would be all of these things. We would have a fulfillment of all these things in one person.

What are these promises? What will this one do?

1. He will branch out from this place

a. Descendant of David (Check out the genealogy Mt 1:1)

b. But also that he is not limited by the place of His birth. He is going to come in a lowly way.

c.

2 Samuel 7:11b–13 ESV

from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

2. He will build the temple of the Lord

a. Temple was already under way. Something else. No physical temple at all.

a. John 2:19-22, Ephesians 2:20, Matthew 12:6

b. Points to the rest/rule/relationship. God will be with his people. Immanuel. Mt 1:23

3. Clothed with majesty

a. A king. But more akin to Hebrews 2:9. But you see the way he is treated even as a king at his birth. The wise men came to find the one who was born King of the Jews.

4. Sit and rule on his throne

a. High priest don’t sit. No seat in tabernacle or temple. Their job is never done.

b. Luke 1:32-33

5. Priest on his throne. A completed job. A permanent priesthood. Relationship. Adopted as sons. A way that his made between us and God. Prince of peace. Making peace by the blood of his cross.

6. Far off coming—the Gentiles. The wise men coming from the East.

Jesus fulfilled all of this and so much more. You can trust God. Do you?

--

All of these promises Zechariah (John’s daddy) would have been heavily steeped in. You can see there in the beginning of his prophesy he says, “he has raised up a horn of salvation.”

That’s connecting it to the promises of David and it’s also a symbol of him being a king. One who is in authority. But notice how he uses his kingship.

—saved from enemies

---mercy

He saves us from our sin. Are you trusting his rule and his reign. Is he king? Or are you?

But Zechariah also points to his work him fulfilling the Abrahamic covenant that we looked at earlier. God has kept his promises. Giving you rest, rule, relationship. Restoring everything.

John the Baptist will be pointing to him…and that’s really all of us isn’t it.

Why does this matter?

God keeps his promises. His promise to deliver us from our enemies.

What are your enemies. Who are your enemies? You might have a list there from this year. Maybe COVID. Maybe politicians. Maybe a neighbor, family member, co-worker. I don’t know who fills that list for you but can I submit to you that our enemy is not flesh and blood. Our greatest enemy is sin and death, our greatest enemy is the devil.

"All have sinned and come short of God's glory" (Romans 3:23). "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). And there is a real and powerful enemy. "Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). "He is the god of this world and blinds the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:4). So there is a deadly disease and an awesome enemy. And every one of us will die from this disease and be devoured by that enemy if there is no horn of salvation for us.

This is why Zechariah was so excited. He saw that the rescuer was here. And all those promises from places like Psalm 18. That God is our refuge are coming true.

Refuge when we are Attacked. Afraid. Alone

2. Christ is light. v78-79

Luke, Vol. 1—That You May Know the Truth Praise for the Rising Sun (vv. 78–79)

Israel is portrayed here as a caravan that has lost its way and has been overtaken by night. They are stranded in utter darkness in a lonely, howling expanse of wilderness. The sky is lowering, and there is no starlight. They are (as the Greek literally says) “sitting in darkness.” This is a moving picture of lethargy—oppressive dark torpor—entropy—despair—hopelessness. They are helpless, just as Isaiah described it: “people walking in darkness … living in the land of the shadow of death” (9:2).

Darkness of death is gone.

Darkness of confusion and living for ourselves is gone.

Darkness of not being able to see the glory of Christ is gone.

Is it? Or are you still in darkness.

Jesus to come to our rescue.