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Episodes
Weekly sermons and Bible studies led by a retired pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Episodes
Saturday Jan 01, 2022
Saturday Jan 01, 2022
Sermon for the New Year's Eve, based on:
Sermon originally delivered December 31, 2012
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
This is the 2nd Sunday after Christmas, and our readings have to do with how Jesus was growing in wisdom as a young person and how we can be growing in true wisdom as well.
The Old Testament lesson is from 1 Kings 3:4-15. Solomon had become king of Israel at about the age of 20, and God said to him in a dream, “Ask what I shall give you.” Solomon praised God for His steadfast love and asked only that he be given “an understanding mind” (literally, in the Hebrew, “a hearing heart”) so that he would listen to God and know good from evil and be able properly to govern the people of Israel. God promised him that and much more, as he walked in God’s ways.
The Psalm is Psalm 119:97-104. The psalmist says that he will meditate on God’s Word and in that way be wiser than his enemies and have more understanding than his teachers and the aged, the elders. There are many smart people who know much about many things; but only through Lord and His precepts will one have true wisdom and understanding, the psalmist declares.
In the Epistle, Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul speaks of God’s eternal plans and purposes in Christ. This is wisdom and insight revealed only by God to people through “hearing the Word of truth, the Gospel of salvation,” and coming to “believe in Him, in Christ.” This is all by God’s grace and “to the praise of His glory,” as gifts from Him, in Christ.
The Gospel is Luke 2:40-52. We hear that Jesus, as a true human child, did not always use His power as the Son of God, but had to grow in wisdom and strength by the favor of God, just as we do. He knew that He needed to spend time in the temple in Jerusalem, His Father’s house, listening to God’s Word and asking questions, and showing His own understanding in the responses He gave, though His own parents, Mary and Joseph, did not understand what He was doing. Through it all, He was obedient and grew in the wisdom of God, which brings eternal blessings.
Monday Dec 27, 2021
Monday Dec 27, 2021
This week’s study focuses on the conversation between the two key women in the Christmas story, Elizabeth and Mary, the mothers of John the Baptist and Jesus. The angel, Gabriel, had told Mary not only of the coming of the Savior through her virgin birth, but also that her relative Elizabeth was expecting a child in a miraculous way, since she was far too old to have a child.
In Luke 1:39-40, we hear that Mary decided to visit Elizabeth and quickly went to the town in the hill country of Judah where she and Zechariah lived. She must have thought that Elizabeth would surely be welcoming of her and understanding of her unusual circumstances, since both were experiencing a miraculous birth.
When Mary greeted Elizabeth, baby John leaped in her womb. This was no ordinary movement of a baby in the womb. Verse 44 tells us that baby John “leaped for joy.” Luke 1:15 records the words of the angel that John would “be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb,” and was enabled by the Spirit to respond to Mary and the Savior coming to them.
Elizabeth was also “filled with the Holy Spirit,” and spoke well of Mary and her child, with a loud cry, as “blessed” by God Himself. She even recognized that baby Jesus was “her Lord,” the One John was to prepare people for. (See again Luke 1:17.) Why, she asked, was this privilege given to her to see Mary, and with her, the Lord Jesus? Elizabeth then used another word for Mary being blessed that means more like her being “happy and fortunate” that by God’s grace, she believed the Word of God brought by angel Gabriel and trusted that God would fulfill His promise to her - unlike Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah, who at first doubted it all (Luke 1:42-45).
Note that the focus is more upon God’s grace to Mary in giving her the great privilege of being the mother of the Lord and Savior than upon Mary’s greatness. Elizabeth also knew that she herself did not deserve the honor and privileges given to her.
Words similar to what was said to Mary were also spoken to some in the Old Testament. See the story of a woman, Jael, in Judges 4, who was able to kill Sisera, leader of enemies of God’s people. Jael is called “most blessed of women” in Judges 5:24, but it is clear that God enabled her to do what she did, and He “subdued” the enemies of God’s people (Judges 4:23). Jael was simply His instrument by which this happened. See also Deuteronomy 28:4, where God says to all his people, and to all Jewish women, “Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb” because out of that nation would eventually come the Savior, who was now coming through Mary.
See also Luke 11:27-28, where Jesus was speaking and a woman cried out to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed.” Certainly Jesus respected and loved His mother. He made sure she was taken care of in John 19:26-27. But in Luke 11:28, Jesus responded to the woman, “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” Hearing God’s Word and trusting in Jesus is most important.
Mary responded to what Elizabeth said by also giving the glory to God, not to herself. (The words she said are used in worship and in hymns still today in what is called the “Magnificat.”) Mary “magnified the Lord.” She glorified and praised God, not herself. She used words and ideas that come right out of the Old Testament and people’s praise of God in the past.
See, for example, the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Hannah also was miraculously blessed to be able to have a child, Samuel. Hannah began, “My heart exults in the Lord… I rejoice in Your salvation.” Mary said something very similar: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47). Both Hannah and Mary knew that they were imperfect and needed the Savior God was sending. See in Matthew 1:21 the most important part of the meaning of Jesus’ name as Savior: “for He will save His people from their sins.” The Bible never claimed that Mary was sinless; rather it says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” other than Jesus (Romans 3:23).
Mary rejoiced because God looked upon her in her humble estate as a simple servant of God. She knew that future generations would call her “blessed” (happy and fortunate), not because she was so great in herself, but because the “Mighty” God “had done great things for her,” in allowing her to be the mother of the Savior. Mary did not call herself holy. She said of God, “Holy is His Name,” as Hannah also did in 1 Samuel 2:2 (Luke 1:48-49).
Mary also emphasized the mercy of God. “Mercy” means “compassion” or “pity” on those who are needy and really need some help, but still “fear God,” with reverence and trust in Him (Luke 1:50). See also Luke 1:54, where Mary remembers that “God has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy” to them - not because they deserved it, but because He was compassionate to them. The word for “helped” in this verse means “taking someone’s part and coming to their aid.”
An Old Testament example of that is in Isaiah 41:8-10, where God says to His servant Israel, “You are My servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” God does not forget. The fact that He remembers his mercy simply means that He is ready to go into action in help to people, as He did in the greatest way in finally sending Jesus into the world to be the Savior, through Mary.
Mary was expressing confidence, not in herself, but in God, in this great responsibility of giving birth to the Savior and then in helping raise Him. Note also that God had made such promises of help to “Abraham and his offspring forever” (Luke 1:55). Who are these “offspring”? The New Testament says that they now include all believers in Christ, whoever they are, including us today who trust in Jesus and are baptized. (See Galatians 3:7-9, and 13 and 26-29, and Romans 4:16, etc.)
So much more could be said about this song of Mary, in its parallels to the song of Hannah, and many psalms and other Scriptures. The commentator, William Arndt, summarizes Mary’s words in this way:
1) She thanks God for having favored her, a humble maid of Israel, in such extraordinary fashion (v.46-50).
2) She praises God for resisting the haughty, the proud, and the self-righteous, and for aiding the poor, the lowly, that is, the humble sinners (51-53).
3) She exalts the name of God because the Lord fulfills the promises which he had made to the fathers in the Messianic prophecies
(54-55).
We could look at many more such passages, similar to what Mary said. Some of these I mention in the full podcast, and you could look at more of these on your own.
- From the Psalms: Psalm 34:2-8, Psalm 35:9, Psalm 107:8-9, Psalm 111:9-10
- Jesus’ words: “Some are last who shall be first, and some are first who shall be last.” (Luke 13:30)
- Reminders that many of the blessings that God gives are spiritual, not physical: Romans 14:17, 2 Corinthians 8:9, 1 Corinthians 1:4-9, I Peter 2:9-10, 2 Peter 1:19
Finally, we read that Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home (Luke 1:56). That may mean that she stayed through the birth of Elizabeth and Zechariah’s son, John. If so, Mary received even more in encouragement from what happened there and the prophecy of Zechariah, as we will hear and be encouraged next week, too.
Monday Dec 27, 2021
Monday Dec 27, 2021
Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas, based on:
Sermon originally delivered December 30, 2012
Wednesday Dec 22, 2021
Wednesday Dec 22, 2021
This Sunday is the 1st Sunday after Christmas. Here are the readings most likely to be used. The Old Testament lesson is Exodus 13:1-3a,11-15. The firstborn of the Jews were spared when the firstborn of the Egyptians died in the last plague against the Egyptians, and the Pharaoh finally set God’s people free. Future firstborn sons belonged to God, first, and were to be “redeemed.” (See Numbers 18:15-16, also.) This was to remind God’s people that they were His and always dependent on Him. This also explains some of the ceremonial laws that were followed when Jesus was “presented” in the temple in the Gospel lesson.
In that Gospel lesson, Luke 2:22-40, Joseph and Mary did everything expected for a newborn son and his mother in Jewish law. In His life, Jesus faithfully followed all of God’s will, without sin, in our place, and freed us from that ceremonial law and the curse of all sin. This passage also shows us two faithful Jewish people, Simeon and Anna, who waited for the coming Savior, and rejoiced when Jesus, that promised Savior, was brought to the temple. They also spoke of the redeeming work that Jesus would do. Finally, we hear that Jesus, as a true man, was growing and becoming stronger, physically and with the wisdom and favor of God.
The Epistle, Colossians 3:12-17, speaks of our own growth in our Christian life, as God’s chosen ones, called to faith by God’s love, and the Christlike qualities God wishes to work in us, through the Word and power of Christ, who lives in us. We are called to do everything in the name of Christ Jesus, with thanksgiving.
The Psalm is Psalm 111. The Psalmist thanks and praises God for His great works on behalf of His people and His redeeming work, above all. We, in thanksgiving to Him, are to fear Him, with awe and love and trust.
For some churches, including St. James, the readings may be those for the day of Stephen, the first martyr of the early Christian church. The Epistle lesson, from Acts 6:8-7:2, 51-60, tells of how Stephen spoke out boldly for Christ and the Christian faith and then was arrested and stoned to death, as the Jewish religious leaders were outraged at what he was saying. Stephen saw a vision of the risen Lord Jesus at the right hand of God, as he was dying, and prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
This is not the first time in the Bible a spokesman for the Lord was killed. In the Old Testament lesson, 2 Chronicles 24:17-22, King Joash turned against the one true God and worshipped idols and had the priest Zechariah stoned to death for criticizing him and pointing out the idolatry in the land.
In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 23:34-39, Jesus said that this rejection of God’s true prophets and leaders had been all too common in Old Testament times, from the first murder, of Abel by his brother Cain, to the last one mentioned in the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures, this death of Zechariah. (The Hebrew Scriptures have the same content as our Old Testament, but the order is different and the last of their books is 2 Chronicles.) Jesus also called Jerusalem “the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.” He knew of His own death, soon to come, and of the death of Stephen and so many others.
The Psalm is Psalm 119:137-144. The Psalmist speaks of how he has been “small and despised” in the eyes of others, and faced “trouble and anguish” and says, “My zeal consumes me, because my foes forget Your Words.” Jesus quoted a similar psalm, Psalm 69:9, with regard to His own zeal for God’s house and the reproach He would receive; and He predicted His own death, too, in John 2:14-22.
Monday Dec 20, 2021
Monday Dec 20, 2021
Last week, we heard in Luke 1:5-25 of Zechariah and Elizabeth and the promise in their old age of a child, John, who would prepare the way for the coming Savior. This week, we hear in Luke 1:26-38 of the promise to Mary that she would give birth to that promised Savior, Jesus. Watch for similarities and differences in what we hear in these two stories.
It was the angel, Gabriel, who was sent from God to talk with Mary, as he had to Zechariah, about six months earlier (Luke 1:26). Gabriel went to the small town of Nazareth, in Galilee, in the northern part of Israel, where Mary lived and was betrothed (engaged) to Joseph, who was a descendant of King David. She was still a virgin, as they were not yet married and living together. Gabriel came to Mary with the words, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.” Mary was confused and perplexed at these words, and was pondering, reasoning within herself, about what the angel’s greeting meant (Luke 1:27-29). (We get the English word for “dialogue” from the Greek word used here.)
Mary must have also been afraid, having an angel suddenly appearing to her, for Gabriel said to her, as he did to Zechariah, “Do not be afraid,” (literally, “Stop being afraid”), “for you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30). The word for “favor” in verses 28 and 30 is related to the word ”grace.” The Roman Catholic church understands these words to mean that Mary is “full of grace” and “a fountain of grace” who is sinless and is so good that she has extra grace to bestow on others who call upon her. That is not at all what this passage says, though.
Mary is a “favored one,” not as the mother, but as the daughter of grace, who has been graced, favored by God, with the privilege of being the woman through whom Jesus would be brought into the world. The particular Greek word used here is used in only one other place in the New Testament, in Ephesians 1:6. Paul is talking about how we become children of God through Christ Jesus, according to the purpose of His will (v.5) “to the praise of His glorious grace, in which He He has blessed us (literally, “graced us”, the same word for “favored” in Luke 1:28) in the beloved, in Christ (v.6). In other words, not only Mary is favored, graced by God, but all believers are, as “ones having been graced” by God, by His undeserved love and favor given to us.
Clearly, as we return to Luke 1:31-33, the important One in this whole passage is not Mary, but Jesus, for who He is and will be. Mary will be honored to “conceive and give birth to this Son, because His name will be “Jesus” (Savior, or The Lord Saves). “He will be great.”
Note that in Luke 1:15, John is also called “great,” but “great before the Lord” because of what God will do with him. Jesus will be “great” in Himself, for He is “the Son of the Most High” - an Old Testament name for God Himself. John is called “the prophet of the Most High,” preparing the way for the Lord (Luke 1:76). But Jesus is the Son of the
Most High, of God Himself (Luke 1:32).
In addition, the Son of Mary, Jesus, would receive “the throne of His father David” and “reign forever,” with an “everlasting kingdom.” The Kingdom of Israel split after David and Solomon into two kingdoms, and never again was there one kingdom with a king from the line of David. There were kings like Herod, as we have heard, but he was not even a Jew. When Jesus came, though, born of the Virgin Mary, He was the fulfillment of all those Old Testament prophecies, like 2 Samuel 7:16, Isaiah 9:7, Daniel 7:14, and so many more. His kingdom would not be “of this world” (John 18:33-37), but we are all part of this everlasting kingdom, by faith in Him. (See passages like John 17:13-20.)
Mary had been pondering all this, though, and she asked what seemed to her to be a logical question: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34). People did not have all the scientific knowledge we have today, but they did know the basics of how a child is conceived. Literally, Mary said, “How will this be, since I do not know a man?” In those days, “to know” sometimes meant to have sexual relations with someone, to “know” in such a deep, personal way. (See, for example, Genesis 4:1, and Matthew 1:24-25, where in spite of what the Roman Catholic church says about Mary being a perpetual virgin, the Scriptures actually say that Joseph “knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus.”) The virgin birth of Jesus Himself is affirmed, though, by both Luke and Matthew, as we will see.
In fact, the angel answered Mary’s question by simply saying that it would be by a miracle of God. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” One commentator, Donald Miller, points out that the word “overshadow” is also used in the transfiguration of Jesus in Luke 1:34-35. A cloud overshadowed everyone and then the voice of God the Father spoke, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him.”
In the Old Testament, the glory of God was often shown by a cloud. God was both present and yet hidden from the people. See Exodus 40:34-38, and Exodus 13:21, 14:19-20, 16:10, 19:9, and 34:5. In Genesis, God created the first man, Adam, in a miraculous way. Here, the angel was saying, the conception and birth of the second Adam, Jesus, would also happen in a miraculous way, simply through the power of the Holy Spirit. As Miller says, “this calls for worship, not explanation.”
The Scriptures say that our own spiritual birth into the Christian faith comes also through the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the Word of God and the Word of God, connected with the water of Baptism. We are “born again of water and the Spirit” (John 3:3-6). We “have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God” (1Peter 1:23). It is a miracle of God for us, too, that calls for worship, not explanation. We do not know just when, but some think that the conception of Jesus happened when the angel was bringing these Words of God to Mary, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit worked through that Word.
What is clear is that, as the angel went on to say, “Therefore” (not because of some power or quality in Mary, but because of the miracle of God), “the Child to be born will be called holy - the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Jesus was “holy,” set apart for His saving work and without sin, from the time of His conception onward and through His whole life (Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:22, etc.) The same was never said of Mary, or any of us, in the Scriptures. (God the Son had been God and holy from all eternity before becoming man for our salvation.)
The angel then went on to tell Mary that her “relative Elizabeth in her old age had also conceived a son” and was already in her “sixth month” of pregnancy. This was also a miracle of God, but a different kind, as Zechariah and Elizabeth conceived this child, John, the normal way - but at an impossible age and when Elizabeth was seemingly barren, unable to have a child. How could all of this have been happening? The angel simply says, “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:36-37). God is not powerless in any way or any situation, though it is His good and gracious will that will be done, according to His wisdom, and for the ultimate good of those who are called by Him and love Him (Romans 8:28).
Mary had been graced with God’s favor, as His gift, and she responded with trust in God and His Word. She said, “Behold" (a way of saying “Look, see, pay attention!), "I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to Your Word” (Luke 1:38). That is always the goal of God and His Word and therefore of Luke and what he wrote in this Gospel: “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:4).
Then we simply hear: “And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:38). Gabriel’s task had been completed. Mary had heard God’s Word, and she trusted it, by God’s grace. May the Lord lead us, also, to trust in Him and His Word, and if we are struggling, like Zechariah, wake us up spiritually, and help us to trust God and His Word more, too.
Next week, we will look at Mary meeting with Elizabeth and their encouraging each other; and we will hear Mary’s song of praise to God her Savior. A blessed Christmas celebration to you all, too, even if you are in a situation or country where few pay attention to the true Christmas story.
Saturday Dec 18, 2021
Saturday Dec 18, 2021
Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, based on:
Sermon originally delivered December 23, 2012
Wednesday Dec 15, 2021
Wednesday Dec 15, 2021
This Sunday, December 19, is the 4th Sunday in Advent, and we will have celebrated Christmas by the next Sunday. Our Scripture readings on Sunday lead us ever close to the birth of our Savior, Jesus.
The Old Testament lesson, Micah 5:2-5a, predicts the birth of the Savior in little Bethlehem. He will be Shepherd and Ruler for people, and He will be their Peace, even to the ends of the earth. This remarkable prophecy was made nearly 700 years before Christ Jesus was born and was the reason the wise men were sent to Bethlehem to find Him.
The Psalm is Psalm 80:1-7, where God is called the Shepherd of Israel, and God’s people pray for Him: “Stir up Your might and come to save us… Let Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” God did come to save us, at last, in the person of His own Son, the Son of Man (v.17), baby Jesus. In Him, in His face, we receive salvation.
The Epistle is from Hebrews 10:5-10. Another Old Testament prophecy is quoted, from Psalm 40:6-8. As Christ came into the world, He already knew His Father’s plan and was willing to do His Father’s will and sacrifice that human body He was given, through Mary, to pay for all the sins of the world, “once for all.”
In the Gospel lesson, Luke 1:39-45 (46-55), Mary, already carrying the body of Jesus in her womb, goes to visit Elizabeth. Elizabeth is also pregnant with her son, John, and baby John leaps in her womb when Mary comes, carrying Jesus within her. Elizabeth is “filled with the Holy Spirit” and knows that Mary is “the mother of Her Lord,” the Lord Jesus, coming to her. Jesus truly is the promised Savior, as Mary then sings in the words of the Magnificat. She, too, needs God, her Savior, who has come for her in the Person of her Son. He brings her grace, as He does all of us, as we are brought to trust in Him.
Tuesday Dec 14, 2021
Tuesday Dec 14, 2021
Last week, we looked a little more at Jesus as our “Substitute” in a perfect life and in suffering for all our sins, in our place. We also looked at Luke’s preface to his Gospel, where he tells Theophilus and us that he writes so that we may have “certainty” about and believe the things we have been taught about Jesus and God’s plan of salvation.
This made me think again about the very different messages we get about believing from so many today. An anniversary edition of the book The Polar Express came out recently. A popular movie has been made with the same title, starring Tom Hanks. A boy has started to doubt if there really is a Santa, and he and other children are taken on a mysterious train ride to the North Pole. They meet Santa and his elves, and are called to believe in him. The boy even has BELIEVE written on his return ticket, and he does believe - BELIEVE IN SANTA - when he gets what he wants at Christmas. Maybe you have also seen one or both version of the movie Miracle on 34th Street. This time it is a young girl and her mom and many others who do not believe in Santa any more and come back to saying, “I Believe.”
These are interesting, entertaining stories and movies. We know better as Christians, but we can be overwhelmed by all these messages, and what we really need to believe - BELIEVE IN JESUS - can be obscured. Santa and all the presents and family activities and gatherings, etc. are good; but they won’t get us far, unless Christ Jesus is at the center as we believe in Him and His good news for us, above all. We need His guidance and love and forgiveness also at Christmas.
Luke 1:5-25 tells us about the miraculous coming of John the Baptist. According to prophecy (Malachi 3:1, 4:5-6, for example) a messenger had to come first, someone like Elijah, to prepare people for the coming of the Lord Himself, in the person of the God/man Jesus. The miraculous birth of John prepared the way for the even more miraculous birth of Jesus, too.
Luke begins in v.5 with mention of “Herod, king of the Jews,” at the time of the announcement of John’s coming birth. Herod the Great ruled between 37-1 BC, though scholars disagree on the exact dates. He was called “great” because of his building projects, especially the work on the temple in Jerusalem, and other things. At the same time, Herod was not even a Jew and had been appointed king by the Romans and was a very cruel leader. (The Herod we hear about in the ministry of Jesus was a relative, but obviously not this same person.)
Genesis 49:10 had predicted that future leaders who held a “scepter,” a kingly symbol, would come from the line of Judah, one of the 12 sons of Jacob. King David was from that line, and so was Jesus, the Bringer of Shiloh, of Peace, (Isaiah 9:6-7) and King of Kings (Revelation 1:5 and 17:14). John would announce the coming of Jesus and the end of the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, the old way that had been corrupted by Herod and so many others.
Zechariah (Luke 1:5-6) was still a priest of the Old Covenant at this time. Josephus, a Jewish historian, and others estimated that there were then about 20,000 Jewish priests, divided into 4 divisions and 24 classes (family groups; see 1 Chronicles 24:10 for mention of the Abijah family). Zechariah’s wife was Elizabeth, who was also from the priestly line, through the first Jewish priest, Aaron, a brother of Moses (Numbers 26:59).
Zechariah and Elizabeth were “righteous” and “blameless” before God. This does not mean that they were perfect, but that they trusted God by faith and sought to follow His commandments (basic principles, like the 10 Commandments) and statutes (specific regulations, like what priests were to do). They were counted as righteous as they trusted God’s promises and lived with His forgiveness.
A great sorrow was that they were unable to have children. Psalms 127 and 128 speak, for example, of the joy and blessing of children and children’s children. Not only did Zechariah and Elizabeth miss out on this blessing, there was also an attitude among many Jews that couples who could not have children had done some things really wrong and were being punished for their sins. (See how Elizabeth speaks of her “reproach among people” - how they looked down upon her, simply because she had no children) (Luke 1:25). The call in Genesis was to be “fruitful and multiply,"” but that does not always happen in a now fallen world, even for people like Zechariah and Elizabeth, who are clearly called “righteous before God.” Nor do the Scriptures look down on people who are single, or who cannot adopt a child, etc.
It is also clear that Zechariah and Elizabeth had kept their faith and kept praying to God, even when they were beyond childbearing years and did not understand what was going on for them. Zechariah also faithfully went to carry out his work as priest “when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood” (Luke 1:7-9).
Each family group of about 830 priests served for a week in the temple, twice a year. There were many responsibilities, including helping with the weekly Sabbath days and other things, including “burning incense” in the temple, each morning at dawn and each evening, around 3 pm or a little after. (See Exodus 30:7-8.)
Burning incense was a great honor, because it involved going into the presence of God in the Holy Place in the temple, where the Golden Altar of Incense was located. A priest was “chosen by lot” if he drew out a white stone (see also “a white stone” mentioned in Revelation 2:17); and only once in his lifetime could a priest be chosen for this sacred duty. Another priest would put hot coals on the Golden Altar and then the chosen priest would enter and place frankincense or a similar valuable incense on the coals and burn it, until the good-smelling smoky incense rose into the air.
What was the significance? See Psalm 141:2 and Revelation 8:3-4, for example. The incense represented the prayers of the believers rising toward God in heaven and gave assurance that these prayers would reach God and be heard. People gathered at the temple for prayer, but were not allowed into the Holy Place. They waited in outer areas of the temple, while “the hour of incense” went on. When the specially chosen priest had finished burning incense, he would come out to the people and give them a benediction, maybe Numbers 6:24-26 or similar words, assuring them that God did look upon them and hear their prayers.
At dawn, fewer people gathered for prayer, so it was likely at the evening (later afternoon) sacrifice that Zechariah went into the Holy Place alone
to do this incense burning. (See Luke 1:10, and Acts 3:1, as an example of how the apostles Peter and John still followed this practice of waiting in prayer at the temple, with others.)
Suddenly, someone else appeared (was seen by Zechariah) to the right of the incense altar, an angel of the Lord. Zechariah “was troubled” and “fear fell upon him.” The angel, though, spoke and told him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah” (literally, “stop being afraid”). This is often the reaction when an angel appears to someone (Luke 1:11-13).( See also how the same angel, Gabriel, appeared to Daniel at the hour of the evening sacrifice, in Daniel 9:21, even though Daniel was in Babylon, praying.)
In the case of Zechariah, the angel went on to tell Zechariah that his many years of prayer for a child had been heard, and that finally he and Elizabeth would have a son, who was to be called John (the Lord is gracious and merciful). This child would bring joy and gladness to this couple and to many others. He would be “great before the Lord” and would take a kind of Nazarite vow, not drinking wine or strong drink, and would live a very simple, sacrificial life (Numbers 6). He would be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in Elizabeth’s womb. (Note the reference to the third person of the Triune God here at the beginning of the New Testament era. The Holy Spirit had already been at work in the Old Testament, but now he would be even more evident and active in the New Testament times) (Luke 1:14-15).
John’s primary work would be to “turn many of the children of Israel (back) to the Lord their God.” He would “go before” the Lord God Himself, who was also coming. “In the spirit and power of Elijah,” the Old Testament prophet, John would “turn the hearts of fathers to their children” (with real repentance and spiritual concern for themselves and their children,) that “disobedience” would be turned into “wisdom that justly,” rightly, wants to follow the Lord. Then people would be prepared for the Lord when He came. (See Luke 1:16-17 and the prophecy of this in Malachi 3:1 and 4:5-6, and words of Jesus in Matthew 11:14 and 17:10-13 that John the Baptist was definitely the one who was to come in “the spirit and power of Elijah” and do this preparatory work.)
Sadly, Zechariah was unprepared for the angel or the angel’s message. Doubt and disbelief seemed to come on him, too. He said, literally, “According to what shall I know this?” It was as if he was looking for a sign or some other evidence for what the angel said would happen. After all, he was an old man and his wife was old, too - far beyond child-bearing years. The angel then introduced himself as Gabriel, the same angel who had appeared to Daniel and who would soon appear also to Mary, as we will see. He had been in the presence of God in heaven and now had been sent to speak to Zechariah and bring him “this Good News.”
However, because Zechariah “did not believe the angel’s words,” he would be “silent and unable to speak until the day that these things took place.” This was a kind of judgment on him for his failure to believe the Word of God; but it was also the very sign he wished for. He would have about nine months to think about trusting God’s Word, no matter what, as he was silent. The angel also promised two more times that Zechariah’s son, John, would definitely be born. The day would come when “these things would take place.” They would be “fulfilled in their time” - in God’s good timing.
This was truly “Good News,” too - Good News for Zechariah and Elizabeth, after all their praying and waiting for a child - and Good News for the whole world, because the Savior of all was coming, and John was coming to prepare the way for Him (Luke 1:18-20).
Meanwhile, many people had gathered at the temple and were waiting for Zechariah to come out from the Holy Place and give them a benediction and assurance that their prayers were heard by God in heaven. They were wondering why he was delayed in coming out to them. Finally, Zechariah came out, but could not speak, and they realized
“that he had seen a vision in the temple.” He could only makes signs in order to dismiss the people.
Zechariah finished the remaining days of his priestly service and then went home, and we hear very simply, “After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived.” It was a normal conception between a man and wife, even though it happened by a miracle of God, for two very old people. Elizabeth then kept away from other people for five months, until it was very clear that she really was expecting a child. She said, “The Lord has done this for me, when He looked upon me in mercy, and has taken away my reproach among people” (Luke 1:18-25). (See also Numbers 6:24-26, again. Blessings come when the Lord looks upon His people with His undeserved favor, with His grace.)
If you had been Zechariah, what do you think you would have done in this situation? Abraham struggled when he was told that he and Sarah would have a child, especially as they kept getting older and older, with no son. Yet we read, Abram finally “believed the Lord, and He counted it to Him as righteousness” (Genesis 15). Mary was “greatly troubled” and had questions, when the angel told her that she would give birth to Jesus, as we shall hear. Yet she also finally said, “Let it be to me, according to your Word” (Luke 1:26-38). Haven’t we all struggled, at times, with what is happening in our lives and trying to understand and accept God’s Word and His plans?
We just heard in worship about John the Baptist himself, later on, sitting in prison and wondering if Jesus really was the Promised One from God, when he, John, was having so much trouble. Jesus told him of all the great things happening and reminded him, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Luke 7:18-28).
Paul also taught, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” The key is staying “in the Lord” and seeking to trust Him and His Word and plans, even if we do not always understand them. Then, as Paul says, “The peace of God which surpasses all” (of our human) “understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7). May the Lord give us grace to trust Him in this way, even in the challenges we face.
Sunday Dec 12, 2021
Sunday Dec 12, 2021
Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent, based on:
Sermon originally delivered December 16, 2012