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The time has almost come for the Messiah to be
born. But first the forerunner must appear. First John
must appear, as the one who would, in the words of the
Angel Gabriel, "go before the Lord, to turn the
hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient
to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people
prepared for the Lord." (Lk 1:17) And so Elizabeth
gives birth to a baby boy, just as the angel had
predicted. And, as instructed, they name him John. And at
the very moment when Zechariah confirms that's to be his
name, his voice returns to him and he begins to praise
God. |
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This in itself is enough to set the countryside
talking. The fact that Elizabeth was able to have a child
in the first place was miracle enough, but the way
Zechariah was struck dumb, and was then enabled to speak
again as soon as John was named sets this birth aside as
quite remarkable; something to be talked about and
discussed for some time to come. But the wonder doesn't
stop there, because Zechariah is then filled with the
Holy Spirit, just as Elizabeth and Mary were in the
previous section and begins to prophecy. |
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So lets think about this prophecy of Zechariah. |
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Salvation |
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The first thing we discover as Zechariah begins
to speak is that John's birth heralds the coming of a
saviour, of a redeemer. He says "Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people
and redeemed them. 69He has raised up a mighty
savior for us in the house of his servant David," |
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Now there's no doubt from the surrounding
chapters of Luke's gospel, that the people of Israel at
this time were looking for God to send the Messiah. They
were waiting and hoping that a redeemer would come who
would restore the kingdom to Israel. But it isn't that
sort of hope that leads Zechariah to say these words. No,
he's inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit puts
these words in his mouth. And what do his words reveal?
God is about to act. In fact it's put in the past tense.
He has redeemed them. It's as though once God's plan is
set in motion, it's completed. Jesus hasn't been born
yet, but Zechariah is able to say that God has redeemed
his people. Why? Because he's raised up a mighty saviour
for us from the house of David. This child who's about to
be born to Mary is the Messiah who was promised hundreds
of years before. His birth will mean the culmination of
God's plan to redeem his people. They may have been
waiting a thousand years since the death of David for his
successor to appear, but now it's as good as done. This
is the salvation God has been promising through his
prophets for hundreds of years. And now it's happening. |
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Deliverance |
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So what is the nature of this salvation? In the
first place it's deliverance from their enemies. |
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This had been the core hope of the people of
Israel ever since the exile; ever since they were no
longer an autonomous nation. It went against the grain,
both at a political level and especially at a religious
level that they were subject to another nation. How could
they be the people of God if a pagan nation was in
control of their future? This in fact goes to the heart
of the gospel and, as we'll see in a moment, is central
to the role that John would play in going before the
Messiah to prepare the way for him. |
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You see, the Jewish people of that time had gone
down the wrong road. They saw the redemption of the
nation as being essentially political. They thought that
what mattered was who was in control of the political
life of the nation. Now there was some justification for
that idea. Just a couple of hundred years earlier, the
Syrian King Antiochus had attempted to force the Jewish
people to abandon the God of Israel and to take on Greek
religious customs, including idolatry. He'd claimed to be
a god himself, calling himself Antiochus Epiphanes,
meaning "God manifested". He'd even desecrated
the Temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar so the Jews
could no longer use the Temple for worship of the Lord.
It was only when the Maccabees staged a successful
rebellion that they were again able to worship in the
Temple. You may have heard reports of the celebration of
Hanukkah a few weeks ago. Well, that celebration
commemorates the rededication of the Temple following the
Maccabeean rebellion. We'll come back to Hanukkah in a
moment but for now, it's enough to know that the Messiah
has come to save the nation from its enemies and to
fulfill God's promise to Abraham, to enable God's people
to serve him without fear. But the way that deliverance
will come about will not match the people's expectations.
But let's read further. |
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The Role of the
Forerunner |
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As Zechariah goes on he moves from the coming of
the Messiah to the role of the Forerunner. He says
"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the
Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his
ways." John's role is to prepare the way for the
Messiah. To get the nation ready. And how will he do
that? By giving "knowledge of salvation to his
people by the forgiveness of their sins." Here we
see the first hint in Luke's gospel that the popular
understanding of the Messiah was wrong. |
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You see, the major problem that the nation faced
in their desire to worship God wasn't the fact that they
were subservient to another nation. It was that they were
dead in their trespasses and sins. It was that they
needed to repent. |
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They weren't any different from each of us. Our
major problem in coming to worship God is that we're not
worthy to even speak his name, let alone offer him
worship. So we need to first repent of our sins. John's
role was to prepare for Jesus' coming by offering people
God's forgiveness. A forgiveness based on what Jesus
himself would achieve for us on the cross. As he began
his ministry John's message was singular: Repent of your
sins for the King is coming. Turn back to follow God and
the Messiah whom God has appointed and who's about to
appear. |
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This is the salvation that God has prepared for
us. A salvation that's based on our sins being forgiven
so we can stand before God and offer him true worship in
holiness and righteousness forever. |
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The Role
of the Messiah |
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So, finally, Zechariah speaks about the role of
the Messiah. He says: "By the tender mercy of our
God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, 79to
give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." |
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The festival of Hanukkah was also called the
Festival of Lights, because of the practice of lighting
lamps and candles in people's homes to celebrate the
light of God shining on them again. But here, Zechariah
is pointing to Jesus as the light of God, the one who
will shine on those who live in darkness and in the
shadow of death. |
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There's an incident recorded in John's gospel,
in ch10, on the festival of Hanukkah when some of the
Jews came to Jesus and asked him to say clearly whether
he was the Christ. Jesus' answer is "I did tell you
but you didn't believe." And they respond by trying
to stone him. Their response is partly influenced by the
timing. Here is Jesus claiming to be the Son of God on
the feast that commemorates the overthrow of Antiochus
and his false claims to be a god. Their reaction is
understandable and even justifiable if his claim is
false. But if in fact it's true, then they've made a huge
mistake. They've missed what is the miracle of Immanuel,
God with us. As they celebrate the rededication of the
temple, the reopening of the means by which they can
approach God, they've missed the true source of that
approach, the only means by which we can approach God
with confidence. |
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Jesus comes as the light of the world. He comes
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death. His coming will guide our feet into the
way of peace. Again, not political peace. That certainly
has never been the case. But peace with God. His coming
allows us to be at peace with God again. To come into his
presence without guilt, without fear. And he brings not
just the possibility of peace with God. He also brings
the possibility of peace with each other when we live as
faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, sharing the grace and
love and forgiveness of Christ with each other. |
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Christ's coming will make it possible for us to
worship God in spirit and in truth, because he'll remove
our sins from us. He'll cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. He'll free us from the hands of our
enemies, not in a political sense, but in a spiritual
sense. Our real enemy you see, is Satan. The thing that
will stop us worshipping God is not some political
regime, but our failure to live righteous lives. And it's
that that Jesus comes to save us from. |
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John's role as the forerunner is to call people
to repent; to offer them the forgiveness of sins that
Jesus himself will win for us on the cross. His task is
to proclaim a new and living way to God, that transcends
political and national boundaries. His role is to
proclaim the light that will lighten the nations and
bring peace with God |
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How will we respond to this message of a saviour
and redeemer? The message of the gospel is this: Repent
and believe. Turn away from your sins and trust God to
lead you into peace. Peace with him and peace with each
other. Let me suggest that our response should be
twofold. First to repent and believe the gospel. To let
God's forgiveness take root in our lives and in our
thinking. And then to take that gospel and share it with
others. To be like John, to be people who proclaim the
coming of the King, the Saviour, the Redeemer. |
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May that be your response to the proclamation of
Jesus this Christmas. |
