Text: Luke 1:68-79
Date: January 2, 2022
Event: The Second Sunday after Christmas, Year C
Luke 1:68–79 (EHV)
Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited us and prepared redemption for his people.
69He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
70just as he said long ago through the mouth of his holy prophets.
71He raised up salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
72in order to show mercy to our fathers by remembering his holy covenant,
73the oath which he swore to Abraham our father,
74to grant deliverance to us from the hand of our enemies,
so that we are able to serve him without fear,
75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
because you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77to give his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins,
78because of God’s tender mercies,
by which the Rising Sun from on high will visit us,
79to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Christmas Is Joy in God’s Promises Fulfilled
Have you seen those videos sometimes posted online of someone getting really great news? The video captures their immediate, raw reaction. Sometimes it’s laughter, sometimes it’s tears, sometimes the person doesn’t seem to know how to react. While often times these are heartwarming moments, there are times when I’ve watched something like that where it feels like I shouldn’t be able to see this private moment and I wonder why it was filmed and why then it was put online. But then I simply hope that the person who was the subject of the video approved of it being shared with many others.
This morning in our Gospel we have we have an intimidate moment of reaction recorded for us by the Holy Spirit, one intended for all Christians of all time to witness and benefit from. The verses that make up our Gospel were spoken by Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, at John’s birth. His Spirit-inspired words capture the joy that Zechariah had as a father, yes, but more so as a believer in what God was doing. So, despite the fact that we might have never been in the exact situation that Zechariah found himself in, this morning we might find the same joy as him for the same reasons.
This Gospel for the Second Sunday after Christmas actually takes us backwards from Christmas. The end of Luke chapter 1 took place about six months before Jesus was born. If you recall, Zechariah was a priest serving at the temple. While serving alone in that temple the angel Gabriel appeared to him to let him know that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a child. Despite being older than one would think they could still have children, they would have a son. It was a very similar situation to Abraham and Sarah before the birth of Isaac some 2,000 years before this.
Zechariah was caught off guard by this news. Rather than doing backflips for joy or humbly seeking an explanation to help with confusion like Mary would six months later, Zechariah approached it with doubt. And because he doubted, God took away his ability to speak; he was mute for nine months.
Gabriel had told him that the child’s name would be John. When the child was born and the family was gathered around, Elizabeth told them the child’s name would be named John. But everyone laughed at her because John was not a family name. Why name him John? That’s ridiculous! The child should be named after his father!
Zechariah was indignant. He had learned his lesson of doubt and clearly he and Elizabeth were on the same page in trusting God’s promises and directions. So with a writing tablet in hand he joins Elizabeth in doing what they knew was right. He simply writes, “His name is John” (Luke 1:63). We’re told that at that moment Zechariah’s mouth was opened, his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God (Luke 1:64). And it seems that what he spoke in that moment, the praise he offered to God, is what we have recorded for us in our Gospel for this morning.
What is fascinating about Zechariah’s words here, is that, much like Mary in her Magnificat spoken perhaps in Zechariah’s presence three months earlier, his primary focus is not really on thanking God for the child himself. I mean, certainly that is there. But there is something much bigger going on here. Both Mary and Zechariah recognize that these children are more than family treasures; they are the fulfillment of promises that God had made long before they were alive. Gabriel had been clear with him nine months prior that this child to be born, John, would be instrumental in preparing people’s hearts for the coming of the Savior. And so while a child is something Elizabeth and Zechariah had been hoping and praying for all the years of their life together, the greater promise was something that had been promised almost from the beginning of time. And that’s where Zechariah begins: Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited us and prepared redemption for his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, just as he said long ago through the mouth of his holy prophets.
John was not the Savior. During his ministry, John will spend a good amount of time testifying to that fact. But his birth signified that the Savior was very close at hand. And by the time John is born, Mary had been living with Zechariah and Elizabeth for about three months. Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary knew the promises made to each other and how they were all closely related. Elizabeth and Zechariah’s child would be the forerunner of the Savior and Mary’s child would be that Savior. Everything God had promised was coming together.
Zechariah focuses on God’s power to save. A horn was a symbol of might and strength, so when God is raising up the horn of salvation, he’s raising up the strength of his power to save. Several times in the Old Testament, God had to ask his people if they thought he was too weak to help them, if they thought his arm was too short to save them. Of course no matter what the people thought, God has never lacked the ability to save, and it save from sin; he was simply waiting for time to be right.
And now the time is right for God to act. And Zechariah continues to observe the purpose behind his actions: He raised up salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, in order to show mercy to our fathers by remembering his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, to grant deliverance to us from the hand of our enemies. Zechariah says that the purpose of God’s action is to deliver from enemies. And he’s not talking about Goliath and the Philistines from David’s time or Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians from the time of the exile, or Caesar and the Romans from their day. No, the enemies that God is rescuing from are sin and death.
That’s why the Christ would come, to rescue all people from their sin. Why? Because God loves us and it’s what he promised. Because while God is not too weak to save us, we are absolutely too weak to save ourselves. We can’t get rid of our sin, and because of that sin, we can’t get ourselves back into God’s good graces. God has to be the one to act; God has to be the one who saves.
It’s a refrain we hear a lot at Christmas, but it always bears repeating: Jesus is that strength of God to save his people from their sins. He would be born, live, and die to rescue us from all that we had done wrong. We heard on New Year’s Eve about the deep need we have purification from the stain of our sins. The enemies of Satan and hell are strong—so strong that we cannot overcome them.
But God can. And God has. Zechariah continues his poetic verses and shows us what the results of God’s actions are: We are able to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. That is not at all the state we are in naturally. We are not able to serve God on our own and certainty not without fear. In our natural state, we are at war with God because of our sin and the wrath of God is poured out on us because of what we have done against him. It’s quite the understatement to say that sin produces fear of God, terror of God, in our hearts!
But now? Because of God fulfilling his promises and actually sending the Messiah and his forerunner into the world? Now we serve God without fear because he took away that sin which divided us from him. Now we are before God in holiness and righteousness because Jesus gave us his holiness and that righteousness, a right relationship with our God. God’s saving actions have completely changed everything for us for time and for eternity.
At the end of his song, the proud papa addresses his dear child, but still with that eternal focus granted by the Holy Spirit guiding his thoughts and words: And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, because you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of God’s tender mercies, by which the Rising Sun from on high will visit us, to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
What was John’s work? To prepare the Lord’s way, to share with people the salvation of God which meant, not rescue from earthly troubles, but the forgiveness of sins. John would the people point to God’s gentle, tender love for them. He would point to the Rising Sun, Jesus, who shines in the darkness of sins and rescues from the shadowy valley of death, to bring us to his eternal home of light and peace.
The thing that gets me about Zechariah’s poetic words here is the confidence that he has. There is no doubt in his mind that John will do all the things that God promised he would do. And the first part of the our Gospel is all in the past tense speaking about things that had not yet happened. There is no doubt in his mind that what God had promised would happen. A striking change from the man who grilled Gabriel in a doubting way about the amazing promise that had been given to him nine months before. That time unable to speak but able to observe the promises of God take shape really allowed him to see God’s promises in a different light.
And so my prayer for you and me is that we share a part of Zechariah’s Spirit-given faith in God’s promises. Christmas is all about God’s promises fulfilled. You and I have so much more of the story filled in for us than Zechariah did. We know the birth in Bethlehem, the flight to Egypt, the twelve year old in the temple, the water into wine, the healings, the feedings, the driving out demons, the raising the dead, the betrayal, the trial, the crucifixion, the tomb—and then that most glorious question spoken by the angel, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5). You know what Jesus did to save you from sin and how absolutely certain this salvation is.
But for you, there are still some promises of God yet to be fulfilled, right? You are in a shell, a shadow of God’s true house here this morning. You have not been brought to his perfect courts. You still wrestle in this world being at the same time a sinner and one who is forgiven, one of God’s saints. Eternal life is still a promise yet to be fulfilled in your life. But Zechariah’s confidence in what God was going to do can be your confidence as well. So many promises of God have been fulfilled in body of our Savior, Jesus. We know that the ones still outstanding are not in doubt.
In Bethlehem a Savior was born for you. And that Savior is the one who will bring you to himself for the perfection of life everlasting. That is our Christmas joy now and always. Merry Christmas! Amen.
