Zechariah’s Song
Text: Luke 1:57-80
Core Idea: The greatest gift we receive at Christmas is Jesus Christ. He is the horn of our salvation and the light of the world that rescues us from our sin and darkness. Then may this Christmas be not just a sentimental holiday but an opportunity for us to experience the power of God so that we may erupt in worship to Him.
INTRODUCTION
Merry Christmas, Lighthouse. It is delightful to see you. If you’re new to this place, thank you so much for choosing to spend time with us. I pray that you’ll come to see how beautiful and wonderful our God is – and that you’ll experience this incredible love that He has for you today. Well, our church has been going through the first chapter of Luke this Christmas season – exploring the events leading up to Jesus’ birth. And last week, we saw that Mary’s understanding of God deepened, her faith strengthened, and her joy intensified by doing three things – she found a community to do life together, reflected on what God did for her, and sang about the great reversal that Jesus will bring to the world. Unlike the world where the strong are admired and the weak are despised, where the proud move up and the humble get trampled upon, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, Jesus will love and embrace us not because we have proven ourselves worthy but simply because He is a gracious and merciful King. This is the Kingdom that Jesus was ushering in.
Now, before Luke turns to the birth of this Savior King, he’ll return to the story that was introduced earlier in the chapter – the story of Zechariah. Then let me give you a quick summary of the story so far in order to refresh your memory. Zechariah was married to Elizabeth – and both of them were righteous in the sight of God. They deeply loved the Lord and faithfully obeyed the Word – but this didn’t mean that they were without sorrow because we’re told that Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were now both very old. All that to say, they were familiar with the pain of infertility. Month after month, year after year, they must have cycled through hope and disappointment which would’ve been incredibly discouraging and taxing to their souls. I wonder if they blamed themselves, blamed one another, or blamed God for this hardship. But what made this even more unbearable was the fact that barrenness was thought to be a curse from God. Of course, we see that this was not the case for them since Luke tells us that they were blameless before the Lord – but it doesn’t change the fact that this would’ve been burdensome to their hearts. Then can you imagine the countless prayers they must have offered up to God? They were waiting and waiting for God to answer but God remained silent – and it must have left a huge hole in their hearts thinking that their longings would never be satisfied.
But that silence was broken when an angel appeared before Zechariah to tell him that they would have a son – and that this child would have the privilege of preparing the way for the Promised Messiah, the Savior King. This of course should’ve filled Zechariah with joy and gratitude knowing that God had finally heard his earnest cry – but instead, he questioned God. “God, don’t You see that it’s now physically impossible for us to conceive? You’re too late – Elizabeth and I are too old. But if You’re serious, give me some evidence. I don’t want to have my hopes up just to be disappointed again. Prove it to me so that I can believe.” Zechariah was unwilling to believe that God was able to do the impossible – and as a result, his lips were sealed by Gabriel, and he was not allowed to speak. At this point, we’re left to wonder, “Will God choose someone else because of his sin?” But thankfully, despite Zechariah’s faithlessness, God remained faithful. We know this to be true because we read that Elizabeth was pregnant. Now, today’s passage will tell us what happened nine months later when it was time for Elizabeth to give birth. Then with that in mind, let’s open up our Bibles to Luke 1:57-80. Let me read this for us.
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. 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.” 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. 67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: 68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come to His people and redeemed them. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David 70 (as He said through His holy prophets of long ago), 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us – 72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember His holy covenant, 73 the oath He swore to our father Abraham: 74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve Him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. 76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, 77 to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” 80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Let me share three things from this passage:
· THE FULFILLMENT
· THE HORN OF SALVATION
· THE LIGHT
1) THE FULFILLMENT
Verse 57, “When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.” This was the moment that they had been waiting for with yearning hearts – Elizabeth finally gave birth to a son. Then can you imagine how grateful and joyful they must have been to hold this child in their hands? They thought this was impossible. They thought that their longing would never be satisfied. But here was God – making the impossible possible, fulfilling what He had promised. Now, what added to their joy was the fact that they were joined by their family and neighbors who came to celebrate with them. They had heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to Zechariah and Elizabeth – so, they came to rejoice with them and bless them. This is significant because it shows us that Elizabeth’s disgrace has been taken away. As I mentioned before, barrenness was perceived to be a curse from God in their culture. But God had intervened and restored her to a place of honor.
Verse 59. On the eighth day, they circumcised the child in accordance with the Mosaic Law – and since it was customary for the child to be named during this time, the neighbors and relatives gathered again to witness this momentous occasion. Now, they all assumed that the child would be named after his father probably as a way to honor Zechariah who had experienced a great deal of affliction as he all of a sudden could not speak. But to their surprise, Elizabeth said in verse 60, “No! He is to be called John.” This confused them because taking a name from your family line was an honorable thing. To put it differently, taking a name that was not from your family line could be seen as a dishonorable thing. So, they tried to change her mind – but when they realized that Elizabeth was adamant, they turned to Zechariah. Verse 63, “He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, ‘His name is John.’” And at that moment, his tongue was set free, and his voice was restored. Now, this must have shocked the people because verse 65 says, “All the neighbors were filled with awe.” In Greek, it literally says, “Fear came on all their neighbors.” Remember that they were filled with great joy at the beginning of this story – but they were now filled with great fear. They knew that Elizabeth’s pregnancy was a miracle, but they didn’t think much of it – they thought this was just another ordinary visit to celebrate the birth of a child. But they began to realize that something extraordinary was taking place here – that God was powerfully at work in this child. So, they asked each other in verse 66, “What then is this child going to be?” Now, the answer to this question will be provided in the song that Zechariah sings in verse 67. But before we go there, let me share two applications.
First, our disbelief does not disqualify us from God’s favor. As I shared before, Zechariah was guilty of disbelief – he refused to trust God and he demanded God to work in ways that he saw fit. This of course did not please God – so, Zechariah was not allowed to speak until the baby was born. Then think about what those nine months must have been for him. His heart must have cycled through seasons of regrets, repentance, and re-commitment – earnestly waiting for the baby to be born. But, to his surprise, Zechariah could not speak even though Elizabeth had already given birth – in fact, eight days had passed but he still wasn’t able to speak. Then I wonder if Zechariah thought to himself, “Wait, didn’t Gabriel say that I’ll speak again when His word was fulfilled? Then why can’t I speak right now? What’s going on here? Did I do something wrong? Was my sin actually unforgivable? What if I’m not able to speak forever?” Now, at that moment, he could’ve said, “I knew it. God doesn’t care about me. In fact, He probably forgot about me. How can I trust Him when He doesn’t follow through on His promises?” But he didn’t. He didn’t question God. He didn’t turn away from God. Instead, he trusted God – which is why he named the baby “John” just as God commanded him to do. And immediately, his lips were opened. Now, I wonder if some of you are asking, “Why did God wait for this moment to free Zechariah’s tongue?” It’s because God was waiting to see Zechariah put his faith in action. A few weeks ago, I shared that God silenced Zechariah not as a way to punish him but to discipline him – God did this not because He hated him but because He loved him. Discipline is never God’s way of paying you back for your sins but His way of bringing you back from your sins. Then God was waiting for His discipline to run its course so that Zechariah would grow in his faith. So, when Zechariah finally expressed his faith by naming the child, “John,” discipline was complete – and his voice was restored. Friends, I pray that you would have the eyes to see this because it shows us that Zechariah’s disbelief did not disqualify him from God’s favor. In fact, no sin is ever grave enough to keep us from God’s grace. Then let me ask you, “Do you feel like God has grown tired of you and is holding you at arm’s length because you’ve disappointed Him, because you’ve failed Him too much? Do you feel like you’ve completely exhausted God’s mercy?” If so, let this story remind you that God hasn’t given up on you. You’re not lost – in fact, you can’t be lost because God’s grip on you is so much stronger than you can ever imagine. So, this Christmas, come back to God. Cling to Him in faith. It’s never too late. You haven’t been disqualified from His favor – He has been waiting for you. In fact, if you would just turn to Him, He’ll come running after you with His arms wide open to forgive you, restore you, and use you for His glory. He is a God of forgiveness, grace, and second chances.
Second, Christmas is so much more than just a sentimental holiday. The world that we live in often promotes a version of Christmas that focuses only on simple joys – quiet snowfalls, listening to the carols, quality time with family, and gifts under the tree. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love the joys that come from these simple things but the Christmas we find in the Bible is so much more than that. We’ll talk more about this later – but the Bible tells us that Jesus came into the world not to give us a sentimental holiday, but to rescue us from our sin and darkness. And if you get this, if you experience the power of this truth, you’ll experience this joy that will last forever. Do you remember how an ordinary event of celebrating John’s birth turned into an extraordinary experience for the people who gathered at Zechariah’s place? I pray that this will happen to you today as well. You may have come today without expecting much. In fact, you may have come because it’s just what people do on Christmas or because someone asked you to come. In other words, it’s just another ordinary day for you. So, even though you’re here, you’re not really here. Your mind is elsewhere – thinking about all the things that you need to take care of after the service, all the events that you need to attend, and all the gifts that you still have to buy. If this is you, I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your hearts to see how beautiful our Lord is today, how wonderful the gospel really is so that you’ll be freshly reminded of the wonder of Christmas, so that you’ll be filled with awe of God, so that you’ll experience this everlasting joy that is available in Jesus Christ. I pray that you’ll have the eyes to see what Christmas is truly about.
2) THE HORN OF SALVATION
Being filled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah couldn’t help but break out into a song. Now, remember that Zechariah was not able to speak for nine months. Then can you imagine how much he wanted to speak again? But when his voice was restored, the first word that came out of his mouth was adoration – verse 68, “Praise be to the Lord.” Isn’t this amazing? Nine months ago, Zechariah made everything about him – “I won’t accept Your promise until I have some kind of proof.” But after nine months of quiet meditation, he was beginning to see that this was so much bigger than him, that God was on the move again after 400 years of silence, that God was preparing to do something incredible starting with the birth of his son – and it humbled him. In other words, when he took his eyes off of himself and placed them on God, he couldn’t help but make everything about God and worship Him.
Now, before we take a look at the song more closely, let me just point out that some of us may need this season of quiet meditation, this season of slowing down to recalibrate ourselves to God and His Word so that our lives would burst with praise. Our lives are too busy. It honestly feels like there’s no time to breathe because there’s always something that consumes our schedule – something that’s constantly distracting us. Now, sadly, when our lives become crowded, it’s often the case that God gets pushed out of our lives first. We stop fighting for God, and we allow ourselves to drift away from God. If this is you, I invite you to seek out silence and solitude so that you’ll have an opportunity to be still and know that He is God. This Christmas season, labor to draw yourself closer to God so that you’ll give Him the worship that He truly deserves. Remember that He’s our Savior and Lord.
Okay, back to the song. We clearly see that this is a song of blessing. Then why did Zechariah praise God? Verse 68, “Because He has come to His people and redeemed them.” Now, notice that he doesn’t say, “Because He has given His people great advice as to how they can be saved.” No, in order to save His people, God Himself had to come. Friends, this is what Christmas is all about. The heart of the Christmas message is good news, not good advice. In other words, it’s not something we do, but something that has been done for us. Advice urges us to make something happen, but news informs us that something has happened. Advice says it’s all up to us to act but news says someone else has acted. For example, let’s say that there was an enemy army coming toward our city. At that moment, what we need is military advisers – we need advice. Someone needs to come up with ways to defend, ways to position our soldiers, ways to attack, ways to bring resources in. But what if a great king has come to intervene and defeat this invading army? Then we don’t need military advisers; we need messengers – messengers who will announce to the city, “Stop fleeing the city. Stop trying to save yourselves. You don’t need to be in fear – the King has saved us.” This is what Christmas is all about. Verse 74 – the King has come “to rescue us from the hand of our enemies.”
Then we can’t help but ask, “Who is this King?” Verse 69, “[God] has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David.” In ancient times, a horn was a symbol of strength and power, a means of victory because this was how animals defend themselves. Then here, Zechariah was prophesying that a Messiah of great power and strength would come out of the line of King David to deliver God’s people from their enemies. Now, since Zechariah was not from the house of David, he couldn’t have been talking about John. In fact, there’s only one baby that was from the house of David in this story – the baby in Mary’s womb, Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus is our horn of salvation, Jesus is the ultimate demonstration of God’s power and strength, and Jesus is the King who came to save His people from their enemies. Then let me ask you, “Have you embraced Him as your King today? Do you see that Jesus alone can save, and He alone can satisfy your souls? Do you see that Jesus is the true gift of Christmas?”
The tragedy is that we often treat Jesus like a gift that we don’t need. Let me explain. I’m sure we’ve all received gifts that may not be so useful to us. It’s really hard to appreciate a gift card to a gas station if we don’t have a car, a bag of coffee beans if we don’t drink coffee, a snowblower if we live in the South, a set of dumbbells if we never exercise. The truth is that many people look to Jesus and the Christmas story in a similar way (as a useless gift) because they don't realize that they need to be rescued from their sins. But Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In other words, it’s not that some sinned and some didn’t. No matter who we are, we are all sinful before God. Think of it this way: we’re not good people who occasionally do bad things; we’re bad people who occasionally do good things. This is so important to understand because sin is much more devastating than we think. Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death.” Regardless of how small our sin may be, sin is like deadly poison – it will surely kill us. And the most devastating truth is that we are not able to save ourselves. No matter how much we try, we’ll always fall short – which is why Jesus had to come. The Christian message teaches that Jesus came to substitute His place with us so that He would be punished in our place. We’re forgiven because He was forsaken. We’re accepted because He was condemned. We have life because He died for us. Friends, Jesus came to save us from our sins – which means that He is the gift that we all need. He is our horn of salvation. Then my prayer for you is that your eyes will be opened to see the worth of Jesus this Christmas. May you desire Him with an earnest heart knowing that He alone can save and satisfy your souls.
3) THE LIGHT
After praising God for all that He will do through the Messiah, Zechariah finally addresses John. Verse 76, “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, to give His people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.” Can you imagine how overwhelmed Zechariah must have been saying these words? The child that he had been praying for and waiting for was now in his hands – and this child was no ordinary child. He would have the privilege of preparing the way for the Promised Messiah, the Savior King who would save the people of God. Now, even though he was talking to John, he continues to disclose an incredible truth about God. Here, he tells us why God chose to redeem His people – why He didn’t leave them in judgment. Verse 78, “Because of the tender mercy of our God.” Friends, Christmas is an expression of God’s tender mercy for us. It reminds us that He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve. And this isn’t because He’s taking our sins lightly – absolutely not. He knows the gravity of our sins far more deeply than we’ll ever do. But He’ll respond this way because His heart goes out to us, because of His unwavering love for us. Now, this is so important for us to remember because we’ll never run to God if we don’t believe this. We’ll be too scared, too intimidated. Our guilt and shame would cause us to keep our distance from God. But remember that our God will never have His back turned against us. No, He will always deal gently with us because it’s the only way He knows how to be – He is our merciful Father.
Then how does this mercy come to us? Verse 78, “Because of the tender mercy of our God, the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death.” Zechariah tells us that God’s mercy will come like the rising sun – breaking the darkness of our hearts. In his book, King’s Cross, Pastor Tim Keller wrote, “If you’re in utter darkness, you can’t even see your hand in front of your face. And to stay in utter darkness for an extended time can have a radically disorienting effect on you. In such deep darkness, you can’t see forward, so you don’t know where you’re going. You have no direction. You can’t even see yourself; you don’t know what you look like. You may as well have no identity. And you can’t tell whether there is anyone around you, friend or foe. You are isolated. Physical darkness brings disorientation, but according to the Bible, so does spiritual darkness.” Brothers and sisters, this is where we were – without a direction, without an identity, and without a community. We had no hope. We had no future. We were all sitting there waiting to be devoured by death because of our sin – until this glimmer of light appeared to break the dawn and guide us to the path of peace. Then with that in mind, listen to what Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” In other words, Jesus is not just the horn of our salvation that rescues us from our enemies, He’s also the light of the world that rescues us from our darkness.
Then let me speak to those who have yet to give their lives to Jesus. Friends, without Christ, you’ll continue to live in this darkness. You’ll be lost, isolated, and hopeless. I say this with a humble and broken heart knowing that I too was in this darkness until God in His infinite loving wisdom rescued me through Jesus Christ. He really is all that you need because He’s the only One who can shine the light in your life again. Then I invite you to surrender your life to Him today for He will save you. He will satisfy your soul in a way that this world cannot.
Christians, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world.” Now, if you’re wondering how this is possible (since Jesus is also the light of the world), think about the moon. The moon doesn’t actually shine. It gives off no light – it only reflects the light that comes from the sun. At night, when the sun disappears, we still enjoy the sun’s light, coming through the reflection of the moon. Then in the same way, even though Jesus as the light of the world is no longer on earth physically, His light remains. How? Through us who reflect His light. We absorb His love and grace, the truth of His gospel, and we reflect them for all the world to see. Then let’s do just that. Let’s not stay hidden, but let’s join Zechariah as we sing the gospel to those around us this Christmas.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, the greatest gift we receive at Christmas is Jesus Christ. He is the horn of our salvation and the light of the world that rescues us from our sin and darkness. Then may this Christmas be not just a sentimental holiday but an opportunity for us to experience the power of God so that we may erupt in worship to Him.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Zechariah’s disbelief did not disqualify him from God’s favor as his voice was restored at the right time. Do you feel like God has grown tired of you and is holding you at arm’s length because you’ve disappointed Him, because you’ve failed Him too much? Do you feel like you’ve completely exhausted God’s mercy? If so, how can this story encourage you today?
2) Zechariah praised God “because He has come to His people and redeemed them” (v. 68). Why is this good news to us? How is this different from good advice? Why is it helpful for us to know that Jesus is our horn of salvation?
3) Christmas is an expression of God’s tender mercy for us. It tells us that He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve. Then how does this comfort you today?