Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon – Luke 1:5-25. 57-66, 80 “Zechariah’s Son”
November 28, 2021
Today is the first Sunday in the season of Advent. Our English word “Advent” comes from a Latin word, “adventus”, which means coming or arrival. And so it is used as we anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ. The ancient prophets talked about the coming of the messiah or Christ and so we hear the words of Isaiah as we light the Advent wreath. The New Testament tells us that Christ is coming again. And the Gospels tell of Jesus' coming two thousand years ago.
This Advent we will turn to the Gospel of Luke and witness the events leading up to Jesus' birth. This time was filled with the birth of Sons and the singing of Songs. And so I begin a sermon series on the Sons and Songs of Christmas.
We start today with a look at the birth of John the Baptist. John the Baptist is the antidote for an excess of Christmas materialism as he reminds us that the purpose of Christmas is not to buy gifts but to “prepare the way of the Lord.” Luke wants us to understand John's birth before we can understand Jesus' birth. And so we turn to the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. We will get to this good news, but first let's pray.
“Faithful God, your promises stand unshaken through all generations. Renew us in hope, that we may be awake and alert watching for the glorious return of Jesus Christ, our judge and savior. Amen.” (Book of Common Worship p.172.)
Luke 1:5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
Luke's story of the coming of Jesus Christ begins with two ordinary people. Zechariah was a simple country priest. He taught and prayed with the faithful of his village. His wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of a priest. They lived a comfortable life, but there was a problem. Just as we heard earlier, like Hannah, Elizabeth has no children. And like Hannah the only thing Zechariah and Elizabeth could do to get pregnant was to turn to God in prayer.
This is what we do as we wait for Jesus to return. We use prayer as a way to share our needs and concerns with God, trusting that God hears our prayers and responds. When Jesus does return we will be able to address him directly. And in the resurrection we will no longer have needs and concerns. But today we use prayer as a way of communicating our needs to our savior. Let's return to Luke and see what happens to Elizabeth and Zechariah.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
As a country priest Zechariah would come to Jerusalem three times a year to help with the festivals. And he would come twice a year to help with the sacrificial system at the Jerusalem temple. This year Zechariah will receive a great honor. He has been chosen for a once in a lifetime responsibility to enter the Holy of Holies and present the prayers of the people directly to God.
This opportunity is extended to us as well. Since Jesus ascended to heaven to serve as our High Priest we now have the ability to approach God directly through him. The protestant reformers told us that all believers are like Zechariah. We are all priests. When we worship and pray we are priests, like Zechariah, entering into the Holy of Holies, and into the very presence of our God.
When Zechariah entered into the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem temple he brought with him the prayers of the people. He also had a very special prayer that day. This prayer was for his wife to have a child. Let's see what happened.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.
In the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple in the presence of Almighty God, Zechariah, a simple country priest, received a very important message from God. God was sending a prophet to prepare people for the coming of their messiah. This prophet will be born of Zechariah's wife Elizabeth. And they are to raise him, as Hannah raised her son, Samuel, to be used by God for his purposes. And what are God's purposes for this new prophet?
16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Zechariah's son will be a prophet. He will call people who have drifted away from the faith back to God. He will call people to obedience of God's law. The reason he will do this is that the people must be prepared to receive their savior who is coming. I'm sure that when he heard this, Zechariah had some questions and more than a little doubt. So he questioned the angel.
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.
God has sent the Angel Gabriel to prepare the world for the coming of its savior. This is big news. This is good news. And this is the news that Zechariah's son will proclaim. Zechariah couldn't wait. He wanted to tell everyone the good news, but that wasn't his job. The proclamation will come from his son. Let's go back to the story and listen to Angel Gabriel.
20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Zechariah is now mute, unable to talk. Of course, this happens to him just before he is to make the biggest sermon of his life. So let's see what happens when Zechariah returns to the people after praying in the Holy of Holies.
21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
All Zechariah could do was to try to communicate the good news with wild hand gestures. The people realized that something big had happened, but they didn't know what. All they can do is wait, as we wait for the coming of Christ, and now Zechariah will go home to his wife and they will wait to see if God's promises come true.
23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
God has kept his promise. A son has been born to Elizabeth and Zechariah, just like the son who had been born to Hannah and Elkannah. Hannah dedicated her son to God's service. He was the great prophet Samuel. What will Elizabeth and Zechariah do with their miracle son?
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”
God proved his faithfulness to Zechariah. Elizabeth had a son. And in obedience to the command of God as spoken though the Angel Gabriel they called the baby John. The contract is complete. God and Zechariah have both kept their side of the bargain. And so there is no longer any reason for Zechariah to remain mute. Let's return to Luke.
64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit ; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
As your pastor I can proclaim to you today that the time has come for all people to return to God. All people are now to repent of their sin and obey God's law. All people are to do this because the savior is coming. Prepare the way of the Lord. Christmas will soon be here. Let's pray.
“Eternal God, through long generations you prepared a way for the coming of your Son, and by your Spirit you still bring light to illumine our paths. Renew us in faith and hope that we may welcome Christ to rule our thoughts and claim our love, as Lord of lords and King of kings, to whom be glory always. Amen.” (Book of Common Worship p.173)
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