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luke 1:5-25
luke 1:5-25
Luke 1:5-25 rough draft sermon
Opening of the service: 462 years ago, 2 theologians in Germany were commissioned to “write a teaching (catechism) that could be understood by the people; that would be free from human opinions and an alive and clear witness to true Christianity.” This teaching would be in the form of question and answer: and it became known as the Heidelberg Catechism.Question 1- is one of the most beautiful paragraphs written in Christian theology, and I want to share it with you:
What is my only comfort in life and death?
“That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”
Paid for. Set free. Watched over. assured. Owned!
Praise God!
Prayer: O Lord. We praise you because you have paid for us with the precious blood of your son. You have set us free from sin, so that we might serve you with joy.
We thank you for your protection. I pray that you would give us greater assurance of your love for us. I ask that you would give us the desire to live for you with our whole hearts. Amen!
If you have your bible, open to Luke chapter 1.
Last week we began a new teaching series on the gospel of Luke. We saw that Luke was a gentile, (non-jew) writing to another gentile, theophilus, so that he would “have certainty concerning the things” he had been taught.
Luke was a companion of the apostle Paul, and we saw that he investigated the life of Christ and all that God had “accomplished among us” and composed a two-volume work: the gospel of Luke & the Acts of the apostles.
Much of what Luke wrote is unique to him, including the story that we’re going to examine today: the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist.
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
My sermon today will highlight three foundational elements to the Christianity:
the requirement/necessity of faithThe grace of GodThe Sovereignty
A careful reader of the old testament, upon reading the first part of chapter 1 here would have a certain type of deja vu while watching this story unfold.
Havent’ we heard this story before?
One of The great patriarch and his wife: they’re super old, God tells them they will have a child in their old age.
We also have the recurring theme of barrenness.
The angel Gabriel. . (Daniel)
A prophecy about a coming messenger, preparing the way for the LORD.
This is the 2.0 version. And, if Luke were writing a movie script, this is clearly an action film, and he doesn’t waste any time. This is award-winning story-telling.
“Dear theophilus, I am writing so that you’re faith would grow strong: chapter 1. — a super old guy with no child goes into the temple, sees and angel, is promised a miracle baby who fulfills 400 year old prophecy, doesn’t believe and goes mute for 9 months!"
Wow! Tell me you’re not hooked!
Luke wants to communicate something to us: God is intervening in human history in a special way. An extraordinary way. And he starts off with a very ordinary couple.
Lets look at vs. 5-again.
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Zechariah- priest (one of 18,000 in Israel!) which he means he is from the tribe of Levi. . . .and so is his wife (daughter of Aaron).
This means that she is a daughter of a priest. Is she has brothers, they’re priests too. uncles. Grandfathers. etc.
This tells us that this couple is unique. They are pious. They are serious about God. Part of priestly families: v. 6
And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
Luke tells us that they are both righteous before God (not sinless) but in faith, obeying God and his commands.
They are not self-righteous; they’re not banking on themselves, but on God who is merciful.
Luke inserts this statement because the next thing we learn is that they are childless.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
Elizabeth is old and barren. This is not because of SIN it is because God has a plan. Barrenness is a common theme in scripture.
Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.
Every time a woman is described as barren, God ends up giving them a child, and that child is special.
Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
Is primary duty? Functionally, he is a butcher. Offering of the sacrifices of the people. This means that on any normal week of serving, he would have been covered from head to toe in blood.
But this is not going to be a normal week of serving.
He has been chosen by lot, his name is drawn, to offer up incense and pray for the nation.
It would be hard to overstate the importance of this moment in Zechariah’s life. This is the pinnacle of his priestly duties. The highpoint. Its a once in a life-time moment.
picture of the alter.
He would have taken some burning coals from the alter, put them in a golden bowl, walked into the holy place— a room that he had never actually been inside before!
Location: far side of the room, placed up against the veil in the holy place; on the other side of this curtain is the most holy place, which Zechariah would NEVER enter (only for the high priest).
According to exodus 30 - he would have poured out a mixture of spices on burning coals.
Smoke rises up; he offers up prayer: prayers for salvation. Confession of sin for himself and the people.
Perhaps asked God to send the Messiah!
Meanwhile, the people are outside actually doing what the incense symbolized.
So this is the scene: its a solemn moment. A pious moment. A fearful moment. The weight of it must have been incredible.
And then Gabriel shows up:
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
The angel knows his name!
— Zechariah’s name literally means “remembered by God”
I bet there were many times in his life where he felt mis-named. “I dont feel that he has remembered me at all.."
(!!) and undoubtably, Zechariah has prayed many times for God to open his wife’s womb. They are old now (advanced in years) and so I dont think that he was praying at that moment for a son, but nevertheless, this is a good reminder for us: every time we pray it is NOW for the LORD.
Isn’t it amazing that there is no explanation given? No drawn-out speech? Gabriel’s news is so matter-of-fact.
Dont be afraid. Your wife (I know her name too) Elizabeth is going to bear you a son. That’s it.
In verses 13-17 we get a lot more detail.
The angel names the baby before he is conceived.
John will bring them joy and gladness. (Supreme joy!)
He will be great.
He will be set apart for God’s purposes and filled with the holy spirit even from the womb! (Just like Jeremiah was, and Samson, and the apostle Paul!)
He’s going to have the ministry of evangelization! The greatest honor or pointing people to the Messiah.
And finally, and this may be the most stunning: this miracle child will grow up and
"Go before the LORD in the spirit and power of Elijah!”
Elijah was a prophet of God—and one of the heroes of the OT. He was a miracle worker. He defied evil kings…and according to 2 Kings chapter 2, he didn’t die: he was just taken up into heaven.
400 years before Jesus was born, God spoke through his prophet Malachi:
““Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. . . I will send you Elijah the prophet. . . And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. . .”” Malachi 3:1, 4:5–6
This is what the angel quotes to Zechariah. Messenger will do two things
He will prepare the way for the Christ. “Make straight in the desert a highway for our God!” (Is. 40:3) a reference the people’s exile— they are slaves in a foreign land when Malachi says these things;He will prepare the people for Christ.
how do you prepare people for Christ? Do you give them a checklist of things to do?
on Friday night we were watching episode 1 of the chosen, and in one scene the great “teacher of Israel” is instructing other up-and-coming Rabbi’s. Apparently there are some fishermen fishing on sabbath, which is against jewish law: he says its sin to eat fish caught on the LORD’s day. What goes into a man defiles him! “I assure you..the messiah will not come until this wickedness is purged from our midst”
In other words, Nicodemus teaches: you must follow rules in order to be prepared for the messiah.
30 years from this moment, John will come with his message: do you know what he will say?
REPENT OF YOUR SIN!
Dont trust in your law keeping.
Dont trust in your ancestry.
Dont trust in yourself!.
Turn to Christ!
But this message is GOOD NEWS.
So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people.
You cannot know Christ without repentance.