This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Luke’s Christmas Story” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 21, 1997.
About this sermon
Zacharias and Elizabeth stand for Israel, and Luke 1:57-80 falls into four parts. Naming the child John breaks with family custom, as the old gives way to the new. God opens Zacharias’s mouth and he sings, and 1:80 shows the law serving the gospel.
Sermon transcript
This morning our scripture is in Luke 1 at verse 57. We begin our reading at verse 57. This is the Word of God, Luke 1, verse 57 and following. Now, Elizabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered, and she brought forth a son. and her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her, and they rejoiced with her.
And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so, but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none in thy kindred that is called by this name. They made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table and wrote, saying, His name is John.
And they marveled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed. And he spake and praised God, and fear came on all that dwelt round about them, and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea, and all that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him.
And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people. and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us.” to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.”
The first of Luke’s Christmas carols is Mary’s Song, verses 46 through 55 in chapter 1 of Luke, traditionally known as the Magnificat because of the first word in the Latin version of this song. The second of Luke’s carols is Zacharias’ song, found in verses 68 through 79, commonly known as the Benedictus. Again, for the same reason, Benedictus being the first word in the Latin version of this This song by Zacharias appears in a text made up of four sections.
First, Elizabeth’s deliverance through the birth of her son and the subsequent celebration, verses 57 and 58. Secondly, the circumcision and naming of the child, verses 59 through 63. Then, Zacharias’ healing, the people’s response, and his own prophetic praise, verses 64 through 79, and finally, the child’s life as he moves into maturity and toward his ministry, verse 80.
Now, there are two things I want you to keep in mind as we begin this message this morning. First of all, I want you to notice the parallel between the account of John’s birth in chapter 1 and Jesus’ birth in chapter 2. Both accounts follow the same line and development. First, the birth and dependent praise. Next, the circumcision and the naming. Then, the prophetic praise, even prophecy. uttered accompanying the child’s presentation, and finally, the child’s early life and growth. You might note in this regard the parallel between chapter 1, verse 80, and chapter 2, verse 40.
These accounts, then, are deliberately structured. They have a parallel that is deliberately presented to you. You ought to see that parallel and to profit from the parallel as you move from one chapter to the next. Now, I won’t say any more to you this morning about this parallel, except this.
Jesus has as his forerunner John. John is the forerunner to Jesus in more than later ministry. John is the forerunner to Jesus. He is the forerunner in the totality of his life. What this means is that we are to see, then, the figure of Jesus Christ himself, that one whose way John prepares, that one for whom John is the forerunner.
Even in the story about John’s birth. As you read the story or hear the story of John’s birth, you are to see beyond John to the one to whom John points. Remember then, the story of John’s birth serves Christ. Now, the second thing I want you to keep in mind as we begin this message this morning is this. This story about John’s birth plays well, fits well, into the overall design of Luke’s writings.
Very much at the center of Luke’s writings is the theme of the temple and service at the temple. You might remember Luke’s gospel begins its narrative with a scene in the temple, the very beginning of Luke chapter 1, but it also ends in chapter 24 with a scene in the temple. Luke’s gospel begins in the temple and it ends in the temple. The temple also plays a very prominent role in the book of Acts, the other writing by Luke, as Acts builds towards that remarkable climax in chapter 21, verse 30, where we are told that Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, the apostle of the gospel, was dragged from the temple and then, immediately, the doors to the temple were shut. You might want to add your own exclamation point. The doors of the temple now are permanently shut against the gospel and against the gospel’s the gospel’s apostle.
Zacharias is a priest serving in the temple. Zacharias is a priest serving in the old temple, in the old administration. John, his son, is a Levite. He is a priest also. and his service will be understood within the context of the priesthood. He is that Levite who prepares God’s people for service, not in the old temple, but in a new and final temple which God is bringing and establishing. Knowing this will be helpful for you in understanding the story of John’s birth. We begin with verses 57 and 58 in Luke 1. You remember the events leading up to these verses.
Elizabeth, the barren, elderly wife of Zacharias, the priest, has conceived a child miraculously in her old age. And although righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord—chapter 1, verse 6—Elizabeth, with her husband Zacharias, had been unable to generate a child. And despite their righteousness, which is underscored in Lutz’s account, the announcement concerning their baby’s conception even elicits an unbelieving response from the baby’s father. Zacharias, who was struck dumb by the angel Gabriel in judgment for his unbelief. And then Elizabeth, at the realization of her conception, again, despite her righteousness, secludes herself in shame and speaks out rudely, even blasphemously, about the Lord’s mercy.
It is after Mary has come to visit Elizabeth in her sixth month that Elizabeth undergoes a great change, a transformation. In this transformation, we can see the form and pattern of the change that is coming to Israel, but also the transformation of regeneration.
Elizabeth now births her child to her own great joy and to the great joy of her family The meaning of all this has nothing to do with the hope of a faithful but barren woman. It has nothing to do with the hope that a faithful but barren woman may carry with her into her old age, like Elizabeth, hoping, yes, against hope, that she might yet have a child. You will recall that Elizabeth was not especially thrilled about learning of her pregnancy. Much rather, Elizabeth’s story has its meaning in its relationship to the story of salvation and God’s great overarching plan of redemption.
Therefore, in Elizabeth we see Israel itself. which, for all of its righteousness before the law, cannot deliver itself, nor in itself even respond appropriately to that deliverance when it comes. It can’t generate salvation, but it can’t even respond appropriately to that salvation when it comes back to itself. Israel, like Elizabeth and Zacharias, her husband for that matter, proves itself faithless if not contemptuous of the Lord’s dealings. and his purpose of salvation. It has no real interest in the law’s plan and purpose for salvation.
It has, instead, every interest in its own personal position and its own personal problems. I’m a barren woman. That’s the important thing here. The important thing isn’t what God is going to do with the world, the important thing is me and what happens to me. Israel, even at its best, cannot bring salvation, nor in itself can it receive the salvation that the Lord sends. It is plain, then, is it not?
Hope does not rest in or with Israel any more than it rests in or with Elizabeth. Hope rests alone in God, who, according to his eternal counsel, according to the purposes of his own will, performs the impossible in sending salvation and in changing hearts to receive his salvation. be they even the hearts of those who, like Elizabeth, had been much more content living comfortably within the provisions of the law, satisfied within that context. But the law’s very purpose is to greet the gospel, just as Elizabeth Davy, from the womb the voice of Mary, the one who carries the gospel in her own womb in the person of Jesus Christ. Israel is led by Elizabeth’s baby, even as Elizabeth herself has been led to receive the gospel. And when the word salvation, having come full term, is delivered, there is great rejoicing for many. just as there was among Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives. But as the story of Elizabeth is now drawing to a close, as is Israel’s story in her, we turn to Zacharias for the purpose of completing his story. We begin with verses 59 through 63 in the account of John’s circumcision and his naming.
Zacharias is still dumb. He cannot speak. In that condition, he attends his son’s circumcision, which, according to traditions based upon Old Testament precedent, was to occur on the eighth day after birth. and in a ceremony attended by at least ten witnesses. But when those performing the rite, or those simply attending it, were determined to call this boy, Zacharias, after his father, Elizabeth objects and demands that the child be called John. Those present object in reply. protesting that the name John appears nowhere in the family register, in the family tree. They then appeal to Zacharias. Apparently, the mother’s wish in this case is not conclusive. Zacharias beckons for a tablet and writes, to the astonishment of the assembled gathering, his name is John, verse 63. what is going on in this account.
Here we are watching the transition from the old order to the new, in a new frame, with a new frame of reference. So we move from Elizabeth to Zacharias, as this new order is brought about by God himself. The old order is seen in the ceremony of circumcision itself, to which John is subjected. The old order is also seen in those gathered for the event, those who in time insist upon the naming of the child, Zacharias. The new is seen in John, in John the child, as acknowledged by Zacharias and Elizabeth. Their determination to name the child John indicates their determination to bow before the angel Gabriel’s directive, a directive by which the coming of the new administration, the new order, was announced.
In fact, a directive by which the gospel had been announced. Verse 19, the angel Gabriel speaks about the good news. that has come to Zacharias. For them, then, his parents, to name this child after the father, to name this child Zacharias, would be a rejection of the revelation that had been given to them.
But it would also be a symbolic perpetuation of the old order under the crippling handicap signaled in the liability of Zacharias’ own disbelief. Naming the child John signals the appropriate break with the past and the embrace of the new. The name John itself underscores this.
It means Jehovah’s gift, emphasizing God’s grace to hopeless and helpless Israel. which even through the law could not make itself good enough to save itself in its condition. Whatever else the unified testimony from Zacharias and Elizabeth about the name is intended to tell us, it is meant to tell us this much. God brings out of Israel a common confession by his mercy, by his grace, a common confession of the new with regard to the new order when the new arrives.
This confession is the only confession to which the old order, the older administration, even in its laws and legal sanctions and codes, was predestined. It was not for the perpetuation of the State of Israel. It was not for the sake of putting before you laws and statutes by which you might then construct the perfect society. It was not put in front of you so that you could create a perfect world here.
Zacharias and Elizabeth represent the old order, particularly in its Levitical and legal identity. Their confession of the grace of God in the naming of their child reveals the transition from the old order, they themselves making this confession, to the new upon the arrival of the gospel.
The astonishment of those gathered mentioned in verse 63 has nothing to do with the miraculous character of what is going on in the naming of the child, as if Zacharias and Elizabeth hadn’t talked to one another, hadn’t conferred with one another about this beforehand, as if somehow, miraculously, because the man couldn’t talk, he couldn’t communicate with his wife, didn’t know what name she had in mind, she didn’t know what name he had in mind. Believe it or not, that’s the way the commentators approach this text. The astonishment of those gathered here, mentioned in verse 63, has nothing to do with some supposed miraculous transition going on between Elizabeth and Zacharias in the agreement upon the name.
Instead, it has everything to do with the absolute befuddlement and belittlement of the assembly that has been gathered here at the circumcision rite and serenity. Likewise, even as there has been rejoicing over the birth of John, there is also confusion and befuddlement amongst those who are clinging to the law and its order, clinging to their traditions. And they will be continually baffled by the new, as the new makes its appearance and grandly declares its presence in the dawning of the kingdom in the ministry of Christ.
This brings us to verses 64-79, Zechariah’s healing, the people’s response, and Zechariah’s song of prophetic praise. Very quickly, Zechariah’s healing, verse 64, has its meaning in this. The law is given its true voice in the interests of blessing the gospel. The voice of the law is restored for the purpose of blessing the gospel. Gospel does not, you see, serve law in this redemptive historical sense. Law serves gospel. Zacharias’ voice is restored that he might now speak as one representative of the law but his voice is restored in the interests of blessing the gospel.
What about the people’s fear and their questions, verses 65 and 66? These reactions anticipate the response throughout Judea concerning the gospel events coming Yes, as they are inaugurated and are seen in John, but much more so in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, the child more significant than John still. We have then, in verses 68 and following, Zacharias’ song, filled with the Holy Spirit, to the intent that he might praise. reaching out beyond himself into the age of the gospel, that he might participate in the blessing of the coming of the Spirit. His song divides into two parts, verses 68-75 and then 76-79. In verses 68-75, we find a celebration to the Lord because There has been the commencement of the day of salvation in the birth of John, which Zacharias now, according to the Spirit, precedes.
He is speaking in the most grandiose terms as if the complete accomplishment of that salvation for which he and Israel awaited has now become a genuine reality. You will note that the man praises his words. He gives us his verbs in the past tense. The Lord has visited us.
He has already accomplished redemption for his people, verse 68. He has already raised up the horn of his salvation, verse 69. Here in what is taking place in the birth of John is the fulfillment of the promise to David, verse 69. The oath to Abraham, verse 73. Here is the satisfaction of God’s holy ancient covenant, verse 72.
In verses 76-79, Zechariah speaks specifically about his son now, and recognizes in him that great latter-day prophet whose ministry fulfills the promises from Malachi, the last of the canonical prophets, concerning the one who precedes the Lord, preparing his way for entrance—yes, his entrance, but also the entrance of his people into the last and lasting temple. and that specifically through the forgiveness of sins.
The consummate administration has come. John’s ministry prepares a people who will serve the Lord without fear in holiness and righteousness all their days. Priest language, verses 74 and 75, even as their feet are guided into the way of peace Verse 79, priest language again, Zechariah’s psalm, is the priesthood, the law, the old temple order, blessing the gospel, which has begun its marvelous work in John’s presentation. A presentation in which we perceive the very fullness of Christ, who comes after. This brings us to the end, verse 80. If, in verses 64-79, the law blesses the gospel, in verse 80, the law serves the gospel. In John, now, the entire legal order and its priestly structure are placed at the disposal of the gospel.
The wilderness setting here for him in his early years and later for his ministry, answer to the prophecy that God himself is coming out of the wilderness, and that his people must return to him in the wilderness there to greet him for the consummate exodus experience. This consummate exodus wilderness experience has as its objective a people for entrance into God’s final temple, his everlasting dwelling place.
No temple of this creation, no building or structure in this earth. The fact that the wilderness in view here is actually the Judean wilderness, think of It is the Judean wilderness, meaning that Judea herself has become a wilderness, a place of pilgrimage, not a place of final resting. The sanctuary for which John prepares us gradually makes itself plain. and effectively so. As I have said, this is no structure of this creation, but it belongs to the heavens.
And if we were to relate it to John’s ministry of baptism, it goes like this. Beyond even the waters above the earth, Beyond even the waters above the earth, there is the sanctuary and habitation of God prepared for his elect. To get to him, you have to go through the waters that are above the earth. And the symbolism of your baptism here, when you are baptized by water, is indicative of your passage through those transcendent waters into the very presence of God. John’s ministry at the Jordan is in the interests of the consummate baptism, you passing through waters you do not see into the very presence of God.
It is this which has been your blessing in the gospel administration. No longer in a preparatory stage, but in its grand and glorious reality. You make a wonderful beneficiary of the gospel, of the new administration that has come. That newness being of a peace of eternity and glory.
Your baptism, even with water, as you move from John’s baptism to your own, being a sign and seal unto you that you have been privileged, now by faith, to pass through the transcendent waters, even those waters which are above the earth, into the very presence of God. This is the value of the gospel to you. This is the significance of John’s birth, and it prepares you for the meaning and intention of Christ’s.
Now, above all, when such things have been given to you, Don’t hold on to the old. Even though it extends to you all kinds of visible securities, let it go. and pledge your life in the interests of those things that are not seen, that are eternal in the heavens, where Christ himself, your unseen Lord, sits serene at his Father’s right hand.
We thank you, our Father, for the beauty of your word and the power of its instruction. O Father, deliver us from that attitude of mind that finds the imperatives only in the imperative sections of the scriptures. Rather, O God, may we be molded and shaped, even commanded and directed by the narratives that are before us, what we find. in the Gospels as we are told the stories of Jesus’ birth and ministry, even as that is the consequence of the undergirding and underpinning ministry of John the Baptist. May we learn, O Lord, effectively these lessons, that we would not be left without the proper imperatives that are ministered to us by your Spirit in the whole
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