We started a new message series last week. Please grab a Bible and open it to the Gospel of Luke.
Before looking at v5-10 today, read again with me Luke 1:3-4…..
Luke as led by God the Holy Spirit carefully investigated not only the writings that were already available about Christ but he also interviewed those who personally experienced Jesus Christ while He was here on earth. And the purpose of Luke’s writings was to provide sure proof about who Jesus Christ is!
Let us also note some relevant information for our passage today.
A. Bible passages must be understood based on God’s schedule.
Bible scholars call the time frames of God’s schedule as dispensations. For simplicity, Bible Scholars either have a 3 or a 7 Dispensation Schedule. Personally, I think there are more.
Anyway, let me keep it simple for our discussions: God of course is beyond time and is forever! God started time for us when He created the universe that we see. The Bible starts with Genesis 1:1 which states, “In the beginning, God created….” After God created the universe and the first man and woman, there was a time of perfection here on earth. God walked with man and woman. That time is called the “Edenic or Innocence Age”. That age of course ended with man sinning against God.
For our discussion we will just note that the next age to the “Edenic Age” is the “Mosaic or Age of Law”, a time in which people were to live based on God’s laws.
But because man can not totally meet all of God’s Law, God sent Jesus Christ to earth. Jesus of course had to die for man’s sins but He rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven. We are now living that age, which is the “Church Age”. There will then be the “Millennial Kingdom Age” then the “Eternal Kingdom Age”.
And so again, Bible passages must be interpreted based on what time it is on God’s schedule. Our passage today will mention King Herod and priests before the Church Age; let’s talk about them briefly. Even though Israel was conquered by Rome in the year 66 BC, kings were allowed to rule the country. B. King Herod was the King of Israel when Jesus Christ was born on earth. King Herod died when Jesus was about 4 years old.
Now, under the Mosaic or Age of Law, God called King Solomon in 957BC to build a Temple in Jerusalem. As we had noted during our study of Daniel, that first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. In 538BC, the rebuilding of the Temple was started and that Temple was renovated by King Herod in 20BC (show picture). The Temple of course was built for worship of God and for sacrifices for the sins of Israel. C. God called priests to perform the duties required in the Temple in Jerusalem. If you remember, (Moses’ brother Aaron was the first priest called by God).
Before reading our passage, let us pray together our commitment to God’s Word…..
Read along with me now, Luke 1:5-10…..
What can we note from this passage?
1. It was the time of King Herod before Jesus Christ was born.
2. There was an elderly couple Zechariah and Elizabeth, both from the family lineage of Aaron the first priest of Israel.
3. Elizabeth was barren (could not have a child).
Now, will you agree with me that Zechariah and Elizabeth will be in heaven? Why will they be in heaven?
4. Zechariah and Elizabeth were found righteous by God!
Now, does this mean that Zechariah and Elizabeth never sinned against God? Although they were found righteous in the sight of God, what are 2 reasons why we can not say that Zechariah and Elizabeth never sinned??
1. Jesus didn’t have to die then!
If Zechariah and Elizabeth didn’t sin then there would have been no need for God to become a man to die for them; but Jesus did die for them.
The Apostle Paul stated in Galatians 2:21, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
2. Romans 3:23…..
And so, according to God’s Word, every person in the world has sinned against God, including Zechariah and Elizabeth.
And so, how can we say that Zechariah and Elizabeth are going to heaven when Jesus Christ hasn’t even been born yet? Yes, it is possible that Zechariah and Elizabeth could still be alive when Jesus died on the cross. But this is highly unlikely for the Word of God tells us that Zechariah and Elizabeth were already very old and we don’t read about them when Jesus walked the earth.
But even if Zechariah and Elizabeth lived till Jesus went to the cross, there is still the question how people are saved from their sins before Jesus was born on earth.
As we noted from Galatians 2:21, righteousness is gained by God’s grace realized through Jesus Christ. And we read in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.” No matter when people lived and died on earth, people are only saved by God’s grace! And did you notice what Luke 1:6 specifically stated? Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous as seen by God. People are saved when God sees them right with Him through His grace. Being right with God is not about how we see ourselves or how others see us. It is only God who can truly evaluate how right we are with Him!
And so, how are people saved, become right with God, before Jesus Christ? God always looks at the heart. God gives grace to those who truly believe in Him and God knew that Jesus Christ will eventually pay for all sins. All debts to God were paid by Jesus Christ. A good example is King David. King David will be in heaven because he was a man after God’s own heart but also because Jesus Christ died for David’s adulterous sins. There is salvation for people who lived and died during the Mosaic, Age of The Law, through God’s grace but only realized through Jesus Christ. Another way of saying this is, the saved people of the Old Testament were seen righteous by God through a “loan” and Jesus Christ “paid cash” for them when He died on the cross!
And again, we today are living after Jesus Christ lived on earth, suffered and died, was buried, raised from the dead, and ascended to heaven. We are living today in the “Church Age”. How do we become right with God and go to heaven? Just like those before Jesus Christ, we become right with God by the grace of God. God gave us Jesus Christ; a gift to be believed and received. You and I don’t have to work for this gift from God; this is why it is grace. If you have believed and received Jesus Christ as God and the only one who died for your sins (this is God’s Grace), then you are right with God!
But I need to give a warning here: Many today think they are Christians and saved when there is no evidence of their belief! God looks at the heart but did you notice how Zechariah and Elizabeth were described? Look again at Luke 1:6……
Zechariah and Elizabeth took action based on their belief! If you have no desire to follow the instructions of God through His Word, you need to evaluate your heart for Jesus Christ. Do you really believe that Jesus Christ is your only Savior and only God? Are you then following Him?
Lets us close by looking at verses 8-10. Zechariah was a priest for God. It was Zechariah’s turn to burn incense in the temple of the Lord. As a priest, Zechariah interceded for the people of Israel as instructed by God. Turn with me to the Book of Exodus Chapter 28; look at v1….v29-30….
Godly Priests are to bring up people to God and seek God’s will for them!
Now, keep your finger on Exodus, but look again with me at Luke 1:10……
Why was there much prayer?
Turn back again with me to Exodus 28….v31-35….
You see, priests must have the right hearts before the Lord. God can easily take the life of a priest if he is not right with God. Did you notice the priest’s garment had to have bells? Legend has it that priests actually had a rope tied to their leg; so that if the bells stop ringing, meaning they died because of their foolishness, the priest would have to be pulled out of the Holy Room.
And so, priests are to go to God for people and people are to pray for the priest to do the right things!
No I did not forget that it is Father’s Day today. Dads, we are called by God to be priests to our wives and children. A simple reminder to us fathers is that we are pray to God often for our wives and children. And because being a godly father is serious work, dads need encouragement and prayers from our families and from the church.
