Title: Zechariah’s Song
Text: Luke 1:67-79
Truth: Christmas is about praising God and proclaiming that the Savior has come at last.
Aim: To follow John’s example to use Christmas to point people to Jesus.
Life ?: How does John’s example point people to Jesus?
INTRODUCTION
Isaac Watts was a genius. At 4 years of age, he had learned Latin, at 9 Greek, at 11 French, and at 13 years old Hebrew. His poetic re-working of the Psalms was magnificent. Unfortunately for poor Isaac, he was not a looker. His one chance at love came and went with a young lady named Elizabeth Singer, who actually fell in love with Watts sight-unseen through his published poems. Elizabeth was so taken with this man, who could write so deeply and passionately, that she threw caution to the wind and in a letter asked him to marry her.
But when they finally met, she retracted her offer. She later wrote that Isaac Watts was “only five feet tall, with a shallow face, hooked nose, prominent cheek bones, small eyes, and deathlike color…I admired the jewel but not the casket that contained it.”
Isaac never married, but he spent his single life focused on the glory of God. In 1719, Watts published his poetic work based on Psalm 98 that would go on to become what many consider the greatest Christmas hymn of all time: “Joy to the World.” (Lloyd Stilley, Lifeway)
Great music has always been associated with Christmas. We’re familiar with the story of Christmas: the angels, the shepherds, the virgin and the baby. But are we familiar with the biblical songs of Christmas? The events of Christmas are so stupendous that it results in an outburst of singing that describes the impact this child will have on the world of sinners.
Songs come and go; but there are four songs of Christmas that have endured for 2,000 years. Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, composed the first song on our Christmas play list. In Latin the song is named “Benedictus” after the first word in the song. The text is found in Luke 1:67-80.
The setting of this jewel will cause us to marvel at its beauty. In v. 5, we are told that Zechariah was a priest who married a daughter of a priest. This was considered a rare and wonderful circumstance for a priest. They were both exceptionally devoted to God. You can imagine the wonderful future many anticipated for this good and godly couple. I’m sure the wedding toast included a blessing for them to have many children, and may one of those sons be the promised Messiah sent to set God’s people free.
That was the dream of all newlyweds in Israel. Every Jewish bride was taught to have a large family because the next son might be Messiah, the heaven-sent Deliverer of Israel. If there was any couple that seemed qualified to be human instruments of that promise, it was Zechariah and Elizabeth.
Verse seven states the facts plain and without emotion, but make no mistake it is filled with pain. They had no children because Elizabeth was barren. If you can think of a cultural and family issue that our society interprets as God having forgotten you or even punishing you, then you will know something of how Zechariah and Elizabeth felt. If you’ve ever longed for something but had your desire become despair and your despair become hopelessness and your hopelessness become reluctant acceptance, then you know what went on in this couples heart.
A great privilege comes to this card-carrying member of the AARP. He is selected for temple duty. There were so many priests that they drew lots to determine who got to serve on temple duty. Zechariah not only got temple duty, but he was assigned to offer incense, which was an once-in-a-lifetime privilege. If you were selected then your name was removed from future contention so that others would have the privilege. He offered this incense in front of the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies, and that was just once a year. The Jewish tradition described the priest who gets to offer this incense as “rich and holy” for the rest of his life.
It is here that Zechariah encounters the angel and the news that his old wife will conceive. She will give birth to the forerunner of the Messiah. Even though the angel has come directly from the presence of God, and there are several biblical precedents for aged women giving birth to son’s, Zechariah doubts God can do this. The angel assures him it will happen and as a sign to prove this miracle, Zechariah will not be able to speak until the boy is born. It would be better for Zechariah to say nothing than to give a false message about God’s plan of salvation.
After hearing this story, one man said to his pastor as he left the service that his wife must be pregnant. The pastor looked confused. He explained that she hadn’t heard a word he’d spoken in a long time.
The next time Zechariah speaks it is to name his son John just as the angel had instructed. As he held that little baby boy in his arms, he broke forth in a song of praise to God. The hymn can be divided into two parts. The first part is praise to God (v. 68-75). The second part is the prophet of God (v. 76-79). Each line of this magnificent song celebrates that God has at long last come to redeem his people. Christmas is about praising God and proclaiming the Savior has come at last.
If Christmas is about praising God and proclaiming the Savior has come, then how did John the Baptist to do this? Is there anything about his example that is instructive? How did John praise God and proclaim Jesus as the long expected Savior?
I. WE ARE TO BE RULED BY THE WORD OF GOD.
John is called a prophet in v. 76. What is a prophet? A prophet has been described as a forthteller and a foreteller. A foreteller is someone who predicts future events. The prophet’s message often involved describing future events that God was going to bring to pass. In fact, according to Deuteronomy 13, a future event coming true determined whether the prophet was from God or not. This foretelling is seen in verses 67-75. Prophets foretold another Redeemer like Moses would come and lead the people in an exodus out of bondage into freedom. He would be a very powerful descendent of David that would defeat our enemies and show mercy to believers.
But the prophet was mostly known for being one who plainly, clearly told the people God’s message. He was a forthteller. This would be John’s role. He would plainly tell the people that God’s Deliverer had arrived, and they were to prepare their hearts to receive him by repenting of sin. He will teach them about salvation and the way to peace with God.
One cause for Zechariah’s praise is that finally, after 400 years of silence, a prophet of God is heard speaking the Word of God. In Luke 7 Jesus said that forthtelling was the outstanding characteristic of John. He asked the people why they went out into the desert to hear John? Did they go because they thought he was a reed? A reed sways back and forth depending on which way the wind was blowing. Is that the way they thought of John? Did they think he had no backbone? Did they think he preached whatever was popular with the people? No, he preached God’s Word.
Did they go thinking that he would be dressed in the robes of royalty and privilege? Did they think he was a dandy, someone who was soft and gives in to his own selfish desires? No. They went because he was a prophet who lived God’s Word. He was a man who was dominated neither by popular opinion or his own selfish desires, but whose mind and conscience the Word of God ruled.
Suppose you have trouble at night with acid reflux, and you can’t climb a flight of stairs without being short of breath. You get concerned and make an appointment with a cardiologist. He does extensive tests and a three-minute treadmill test that is a torture method used on Muslim terrorist. A week later you’re in the doctor’s office and he has a grim look on his face.
The doctor says, “On a scale of one to ten, ten being a worst-case scenario, you are at a seven. You don’t need surgery at this time, but you have to make some lifestyle changes or you will.”
“Like what?” you ask.
The doctor pulls from the file one page and hands it to you. “You must exercise three days a week. After your body is adjusted to that we will increase your exercise demands.”
“But doctor you don’t understand,” you complain. “I’ve got a bad heart. You’re test prove it. Once I get a stronger heart, then I can start to exercise. You can’t expect me to do all this stuff in my condition.”
The doctor looks confused, so you continue, “You say you want me to exercise thirty minutes a day, three times a week. I’ll be huffing like a freight train and sweating like a pig. I’ll be sore for days. I can’t do this stuff. Look, fix my heart, and then I’ll seriously consider do these exercises.”
The doctor says, “I am trying to fix your heart. This is how you fix it: by exercising it. The discomfort is part of the cure. By taxing the heart and then letting it rest, it grows stronger and healthier.”
“Doc,” you say, “let me level with you. My wife has been trying to get me to exercise for years. We bought a treadmill, and it nearly killed me. Besides, spandex and me looks like a hippo in panty hose. It’s just plain embarrassing. Fix my heart, and then I’ll follow your advice on exercise. Besides, you’re the expert.”
At this point the doctor opens his office door and says, “Leave, you’re an idiot.” (Andy Stanley, It Came From Within adapted, p. 99.)
What’s true of your physical heart is true of your spiritual heart. We sing occasionally, “Change my heart, oh God, make it ever true. Change my heart, oh God, may I be like You.” It takes more than singing a song. It requires the hard work of challenging our bad habits and false attitudes and supplementing them with holy behavior and truthful thinking. It takes some new habits.
John the Baptist was a man whose mind and conscious and lifestyle were dominated by the Word of God. It explains why his message and life was so different than most of his generation. Our thoughts and values are so permeated by our culture that we are blind to how powerfully it molds us into its image. If we have any hope of living in a way that’s pleasing to God, we have to have some thing outside of our culture that speaks to us the truth. That objective truth is the Word of God.
We tend to be selfish. It is the Word of God that rattles our cage and challenges us to be generous. We tend to be fleshly and carnal. It is the Word of God that calls us to holiness and righteousness toward God and man. We tend to only think of temporal matters, but it is the Word of God that causes us to live with eternity in view.
When you tell the life story of John the Baptist, it is the story of a man in whom God’s opinion dominated his life. If we were to tell your story, and one day people will tell your story, what will they say was the opinion that ruled your life?
If Christmas is about praising God and proclaiming the Savior has come, then how did John the Baptist to do this? He praised God and proclaimed Jesus as the long expected Savior by being ruled by the Word of God.
II. WE ARE TO REVEAL THE SON OF GOD.
In v. 76b it says…
John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1. Those verses describe the forerunner who will announce the coming of the Messiah. Malachi 4:5 said he would be an Elijah-like prophet. Elijah was the powerful prophet that called his generation to repent and turn to God. The role of the forerunner was to prepare the people for the Messiah. This is the way John viewed himself.
In John 3:27-30, John the Baptist is responding to his disciples who inform him that everyone is going to Jesus to be baptized instead of John. John says that’s what is supposed to happen. He compares himself to the best man at a wedding, and Jesus is the groomsman. The best man’s job is to see that the groom and bride are married and then get out of the way as they go on their honeymoon. John said this was his job. He closes that paragraph by saying that Jesus must increase and he must decrease. That is exactly what John did. He faded out of the picture and Jesus was left standing at the center of the stage. John’s life was all about Jesus.
Ravi Zacharias tells this story. When it comes to Christmas and family you will be able to identify with what he says:
Some years ago, we were spending Christmas in the home of my wife’s parents. It was not a happy day in the household. Much had gone wrong during the preceding weeks, and a weight of sadness hung over the home. Yet, in the midst of all that, my mother-in-law kept her routine habit of asking people who would likely have no place to go at Christmas to share Christmas dinner with us.
That year she invited a man who was, by everyone’s estimate, somewhat of an odd person, quite eccentric in his demeanor. Not much was known about him at the church except that he came regularly, sat alone, and left without much conversation. He obviously lived alone and was quite a sorry-looking, solitary figure. He was our Christmas guest.
Because of other happenings in the house, not the least of which was that one daughter was taken to the hospital for the birth of her first child, everything was in confusion. All of our emotions were on edge. It fell upon me, in turn, to entertain this gentleman. I must confess that I did not appreciate it. Owing to a heavy life of travel year-round, I have jealously guarded my Christmases as time to be with my family. This was not going to be such a privilege, and I was not happy. As I sat in the living room, entertaining him while others were busy, I thought to myself, "This is going to go down as one of the most miserable Christmases of my life."
But somehow we got through the evening. He evidently loved the meal, the fire crackling in the background, the snow outside, the Christmas carols playing, and a rather weighty theological discussion in which he and I were engaged--at his instigation, I might add. He was a very well-read man and, as I found out, loved to grapple with heavy theological themes. I do too, but frankly, not during an evening that has been set aside to enjoy life’s quiet moments.
At the end of the night when he bade us all good-bye, he reached out and took the hand of each of us, one by one, and said, "Thank you for the best Christmas of my life. I will never forget it." He walked out into the dark, snowy night, back into his solitary existence.
My heart sank in self-indictment at those tender words of his. I had to draw on every nerve in my being to keep from breaking down with tears. Just a few short years later, relatively young, and therefore to our surprise, he passed away. I have relived that Christmas many times in my memory.
That year the Lord taught me a lesson. The primary purpose of a home is to reflect and to distribute the love of Christ. Anything that usurps that is idolatrous. Having been lifted beyond the prejudice of culture, Jesus repositioned the place of wealth for his disciples. So staggering was the impact that many of them in the years to come would leave their own homes to go to distant parts of the world in order to proclaim the heaven-sent message that redefined their earthly homes. Eleven of them paid for that message with their lives.
Rick Warren’s famous first line in his book The Purpose Driven Life applies here. It’s not about you. It’s about Him.
If Christmas is about praising God and proclaiming the Savior has come, then how did John the Baptist to do this? He praised God and proclaimed Jesus as the long expected Savior by being ruled by the Word of God and by revealing the Son of God.
III. WE ARE TO RETELL THE STORY OF SALVATION.
This song is retelling the story of salvation. The picture of the Exodus is found in the words of v. 68. We are told in v. 69 that the one who saves us is powerful enough to accomplish the task. This salvation will rescue us from our enemies. This has a spiritual application as well as physical. The God who saves us is full of mercy. This explains why He wants to save us (v. 72). His salvation changes us. We become holy and righteous toward God and people (v. 75). We are to give people this message (v. 77). This heavenly being has arrived and reveals to us the pathway that leads to peace with God (v. 78b-79). John is called to tell the story of salvation. John is to be a herald of salvation.
There are two words that summarize Christmas. First, sin. We are sinners. We are fundamentally self-centered people. We regularly dethrone God and enthrone ourselves. This self-assertion against the eternal God who fills the universe earns His wrath, indignation, and judgment. It is the greatest act of arrogance in the universe.
The second word is salvation. The word means freedom from God’s wrath and judgment. Christmas is the story of Him remembering his plan to free us from our just damnation. He achieves this by entering our world, taking our place, and dying our death. This is the most needed message of mankind on the earth today.
As I thought about one more time preaching a series of Christmas messages, I looked for something that would be different and new. We’re so familiar with these events that we’re tempted to be ho-hum about them. But it occurred to me that Christmas is really a time of year for retelling old and familiar stories. For example, at some point I will find time to watch It’s a Wonderful Life. You’ll have your children watch the Charlie Brown special about that pathetic little Christmas tree and Linus will quote Luke 2. TV will rerun Dickens A Christmas Tale, Miracle on 34th Street, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Christmas Story and the caution to not shoot your eye out with BB gun. Even many sub par movies will be shown again because they all have a Christmas theme. Why do we do this?
I suggest they carry the seed of salvation. Whether it’s Scrooge being rescued from his shriveled, greedy life or George Bailey being shown the abundance of his blessings or a little Natalie Wood having her faith in Santa Claus restored, we all desire to be set free from that which binds us.
Even the retailers that require “Christmas” to be substituted with “holiday” can’t keep from telling the good news of Jesus Christ’s coming; for what is “holiday” but “holy day!” Why do we need a holy day? We are sinners. What makes it a holy day? We have a Savior.
This season ask God to show you the dozens and dozens of ways you can tell the story of salvation. This is the way we can praise God and proclaim the Savior has come. John the Baptist did this by being ruled by the Word of God, revealing the Son of God, and retelling the story of salvation.
PRAYER
INVITATION
An Australian mining town will always remember the year of the dramatic rescue. An earthquake killed one miner and trapped two others 3,000 feet under the ground. Days turned into weeks as miners bore through tons of rock; rescuers could only work one at a time on their backs in a cramped rescue tunnel, using hand-held tools to avoid caving. They dug through rock five times harder than cement. Five days after the accident the two trapped miners heard the sounds of the rescuers. Six days later a small crack was made and food and hope was passed to trapped men. Fourteen days after the accident, over 300 hours of waiting for rescue, the two miners were freed. Bill Shorten, national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, said, “This is the biggest escape from the biggest prison.”
Four hundred years people waited to hear from God. Now he has spoken. A rescue plan has been implemented and successfully rescued people in the most binding of prisons, their sin. Do you hear the Lord knocking? That’s the sound of deliverance. Come to Christ right now.
