• Luke 1:5-17

Luke 1:5-17

Sermon preached on December 23, 2007 by Laurence W. Veinott. © Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. Other sermons can be found at http://www.cantonnewlife.org/.

If you're a baseball fan you've probably heard of, "The Curse of the Bambino" in reference to the Boston Red Sox. It was a superstition that tried to explain why the Red Sox never seemed to win the World Series after they sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919. There were many times when they came so close, but it seemed that there was something inexplicable keeping them from winning. Unexplainable errors, bad calls by the managers, journeyman opponents who suddenly became heroes—over the course of 86 years it seemed that something mysterious was keeping them from winning the World Series.

As time when on some Red Sox fans began referring to "The Curse of the Bambino" and some of them sought ways to reverse the curse. For example, there was the story about how Babe Ruth owned some property near Boston and one time in the winter he rolled a big piano out onto the pond behind the house. I guess he wanted some outdoor entertainment. But the piano broke through the ice and sank to the bottom of the pond. It was never recovered. Just a few years ago some bright (or rather, dimwitted) Red Sox fan got the idea that the curse against the Red Sox would be reversed if they could find the piano and raise it from the bottom of the pond. So they got divers and everything and went looking for the piano.

Now, although I think they were just having fun—that's crazy. To think that there was some connection between a piano at the bottom of a pond and the failure of the Red Sox was preposterous. They never did find the piano and yet the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004.

To see a connection like that where there is none is a great mistake. But the opposite is true as well. Not to see connections where we should is a great mistake.

Next week we are going to celebrate the birth of our Lord. When we do so it's important that we see the connections that the Gospel writers make between the Old Testament and Jesus' birth. Many people today want to view Christianity as just an ordinary religion—one religion among many. In regard to its roots they will tell you that it came out of Judaism and that it began with Jesus' earthly ministry. They will have you believe that it was something entirely new- that it's connection to Judaism was no different than that of any new religion. For example, Islam has a relationship to Judaism and they will tell you that Christian is like that—that both of them are new religions that have their roots in Judaism.

The world today doesn't want you to believe that Christianity is from God. Many people today will tell you that Jesus' disciples started it after his death. They will tell you that Jesus never intended to start a new religion but the disciples changed His teaching and made Christianity up after He died.

Some will tell you that the Apostle Paul made it up. They will tell you that we don't have any of the writings of Jesus or anyone who ever met Him—but that Paul started Christianity.

Others are more general, but they insist that it comes from human beings. Adolf Hitler said,

"The heaviest blow that ever struck humanity was the coming of Christianity. Bolshevism is Christianity's illegitimate child. Both are inventions of the Jew."

Is Christianity an illegitimate offshoot of Judaism? Is it just like any other religion? Is it one among many?

The passage before us is very important in this regard for it shows us that Christianity is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. In a very real sense Christianity did not start with Jesus' earthly ministry. It did not have its origins in Jesus' disciples. It did not owe its birth to the apostle Paul. The Old Testament as a whole was pointing to Jesus, the Great Messiah, the One who was promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After they sinned, God said to Satan, Genesis 3:15 God said to Satan,

"And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."

The first promise of a Redeemer, the first promise of the Great One who would come and defeat Satan, the first promise of Jesus—is given to us in the third chapter of Genesis.

Christianity is not some new, upstart religion that is merely an offshoot of Judaism. Not at all. Christianity completes the Old Testament hope. It is its fulfillment. Christianity is not one religion among many—it is the one true religion. Christianity is not just one of several religions that sprang from the Old Testament—it is the fulfillment of the Old Testament—the Old Testament pointed to the coming Messiah. The coming of Jesus is what the Old Testament saints were longing for.

We see this in the song of Zechariah that he sang after John was born. His song gave expression to the Messianic longing that had long existed in Israel. Zechariah praised God and said, (Luke 1:69-75)

"He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
(as he said through
his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days."

There are three connections in our text that show us this.

The first thing that shows us that Christianity is the fulfillment of the Old Testament is the fact that

the first one to whom God revealed that the Messiah was at hand was a priest, descended from Aaron.

God revealed this to Zechariah. In verse 5 we read,

"In the days of King Herod of Judea,
there was a priest of Abijah's division
named Zechariah.
His wife was from the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth."

In 1 Chronicles 24 we learn that in the time of David the priests were divided into 24 orders and that the order of Abijah was eighth.

Not only was Zechariah a priest, but he was married to a priest's daughter. Elizabeth was also descended from Aaron. Norval Geldenhuys writes, (Luke, p. 61)

"To be a priest and to be married to a priest's daughter was considered to be a double and special distinction."

The situation reminds me of Paul's words in Philippians 3:5 where he said that he was a,

"Hebrew of Hebrews".

So it could be said that Zechariah was a 'priest of priests'. He was not some outsider, some Johnny Come Lately, some upstart—God revealed that the Messiah would be born soon to this 'priest' of the Old Testament, this priest of priests.

Not only that, but the names Zechariah and Elizabeth are also significant. Zechariah's name means,

"The Lord remembers"

In other words, the priest that God revealed this to, even his name pointed to the fact that God would remember His covenant with His people. Elisabeth's name means,

"My God is an oath"

Her name testified tat God is the absolutely Faithful One, the One who does not forget His promises. Norval Geldenhuys writes, (Luke, p. 62)

"These names, therefore, given to them in the providential ruling of God, are pregnant with meaning, especially here where we stand at the portals which lead to the full revelation of God in Christ."

Summing it all up, we can say with Norval Geldenhuys, (Luke, p. 62)

"John, therefore, was sprung from parents in whom the highest form of the Old Testament piety was personified. In his parentage, as well as in himself, he represented the perfect form of the old Jewish religion and fulfilled its highest calling by pointing to the One that was to come."

God revealed the coming of our Great High Priest, Jesus—to a priest, to one who was descended from Aaron.

The second thing that shows us that Christianity is the fulfillment of the Old Testament is the fact that

this was revealed to Zechariah in the Holy Place of the temple while he was carrying out the Old Testament ritual of burning incense.

The coming of the Messiah was not revealed in some backwater of Israel—but in the temple itself—in the Holy Place—to a priest who was performing an Old Testament ritual.

You'll remember that inner sanctuary of the temple Solomon built according to God's instructions, was divided into two rooms—the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, was the place where the ark of the covenant was, and there the High Priest was only allowed to enter once a year, on the Day of Atonement. But Solomon's temple was destroyed after the Babylonians took Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Thus Herod's temple did not contain the ark. But the inner area copied that of the earlier temple. It had the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The two rooms were separated by a great curtain.

The priest who was to burn incense entered the Holy Place to do it. In the Holy Place, near to the curtain of the Most Holy Place—was the altar of incense. That's where the angel appeared and gave his message to Zechariah.

It was in the Holy Place that the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, this 'priest of priests'. Gabriel appeared while Zechariah was performing a great Old Testament ritual according to the Old Testament law. It was then and there that the angel Gabriel told him about the coming of the Lord and the one that would go before Him. F. Godet writes, (Luke, Vol. 1 p. 70)

"when God begins a new work, He does not scornfully break with the instrument by which the past work has been effected… it is from the loins of an Israelitish priest that He now causes to come forth the man who is to introduce the world to the renovation prepared for it. The temple itself, the centre of the theocracy, becomes the cradle of the new covenant, of the worship in spirit and truth."

That day Zechariah was leading the people in the worship of God. His job was to put the incense on the hot coals. At first, two assistants were with him and they entered the Holy Place with him. One removed what had been left on the altar from the previous evening's service. He then retired backwards and left the Holy Place. The second assistant then advanced with the live, hot coals taken from the burnt offering altar. He spread them on the altar of incense and also retired. Zechariah then stood alone in the Holy Place, holding the golden censor, waiting for the signal to spread the incense on the altar. At the signal he would spread it on the altar as near as possible to the Holy of Holies. When he placed the incense on the coals a cloud would rise, its fragrance rising and filling Holy Place. This represented the prayers of the people.

It's important to note that while Zechariah was doing all this the people were praying outside. In verse 10 we read,

"And when the time
for the burning of incense came,
all the assembled worshipers
were praying outside."

Edersheim tells us that they were bowed before the Lord, (p. 137-138)

"offering unspoken worship, in which record of past deliverance, longing for mercies promised in the future, and entreaty for present blessing and peace…"

The burning Incense and prayer went hand in hand. In Psalm 141:2 the psalmist declared,

"May my prayer
be set before you like incense;"

In Revelation 5:8 we read that when the Lamb had taken the scroll that was sealed with seven seals,

"the four living creatures
and the twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb.
Each one had a harp and they were holding
golden bowls full of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints."

The bowls of incense represented the prayers of the saints. In Revelation 8:3-4 we again see a close connection between incense and prayer. We read,

"Another angel,
who had a golden censer,
came and stood at the altar.
He was given much incense to offer,
with the prayers of all the saints,
on the golden altar before the throne.
The smoke of the incense,
together with the prayers of the saints,
went up before God from the angel's hand."

Thus the angel appearing at the right hand of the altar of incense just when Zechariah was offering the incense is very significant. The incense represented the prayers of the Old Testament people. More than anything else, the saints of the Old Testament were longing for the coming of the Messiah. This was the focus of their hopes and prayers. I've already quoted Zechariah's song that shows us this. Two weeks ago I quoted about the prophetess, Anna, who, when Jesus was brought to the temple on the eighth day, (Luke 2:38)

"gave thanks to God
and spoke about the child
to all who were looking forward
to the redemption of Jerusalem."

In her song, Mary, the mother of our Lord said, (Luke 1:54-55)

"He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful to Abraham
and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."

The promise given to Abraham was about the Messiah. Remember what Jesus said about Abraham? (John 8:56)

"Your father Abraham
rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day;
he saw it and was glad."

Indeed, in Galatians 3:8 the apostle Paul refers to the gospel being announced,

"in advance to Abraham".

So what we see here is that when the angel appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar of incense in the Holy Place of the temple, which symbolized the prayers of the people—he was there to announce the answer of their prayers regarding the Messiah. The prayers of the ages were answered. The Messiah was at hand. John was to be His herald. The angel appearing at the right hand of the altar of incense while Zechariah was offering incense shows us that Christianity is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

The third thing that shows us that Christianity is the fulfillment of the Old Testament is the fact that the angel told Zechariah that his son, John, would go forth,

in the spirit of Elijah.

Malachi 4:5-6, the last verses of the Old Testament declared,

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah
before that great and dreadful day
of the LORD comes.
He will turn the hearts of the fathers
to their children,
and the hearts of the children
to their fathers…"

Four hundred years later the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and said to him about his son, John,

"And he will go on before the Lord,
in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers
to their children and the disobedient
to the wisdom of the righteous—
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

John was the Elijah who was to come.

As we have seen in our study of Elijah, his mission was to call the people to repentance and to the true worship of God. John Calvin writes,

"We know how terribly the people fell away in Elijah's day, how shamefully they lapsed from their fathers' standards, that they could scarcely ever be called by rights, 'children of Abraham', being so very different from them: this was the people that Elijah brought back to reverence and order."


"the very Spirit of God, which had worked mightily in Elijah, later exerted a similar force and efficacy in the Baptist. The name is added to explain and expound the particular grace in which Elijah supremely excelled, namely, under the direction of heavenly resource, to restore the broken worship of God in a wonderful way…"

John called the people back to the true worship of God. He showed them that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. He turned the hearts of the fathers to their children.

John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. He started to restore the true worship of God. He called the people to repentance. He told everyone that the way of the Pharisees was not right, that their rules and regulations were not the right way. Theirs was a religion of self-righteousness. When he saw them coming to he said to them, (Matthew 3:7-12)

"You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
And do not think you can say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as our father.'
I tell you that out of these stones
God can raise up children for Abraham.
The ax is already at the root of the trees,
and every tree that does not
produce good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire.
I baptize you with water for repentance.
But after me will come one
who is more powerful than I,
whose sandals I am not fit to carry.
He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
His winnowing fork is in his hand,
and he will clear his threshing floor,
gathering his wheat into the barn
and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Elijah called on the people to stop serving Baal and to serve the true God. In the same way, John the Baptist urged people to turn away from what they were doing. He pointed people to Jesus, and showed them that He was the true God, the One longed for by the Fathers. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he declared to everyone, (John 1:29)

"Look, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world!"

I want to make two applications from this.

The first thing I would suggest is that you Christians recognize what you have in Christianity.

Christianity is the true religion.

Christianity is not some peripheral offshoot of Judaism. Strictly speaking, Christianity didn't spring from what we today call Judaism. Christianity is implicit in the Old Testament. In Jesus the Old Testament was fulfilled. Anyone who doesn't recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, the hope of the ages—they're the ones who are missing out on the true worship of God.

What we've seen this morning is that there are many connections between Jesus and the Old Testament. People will tell you not to believe Christianity because it's just one religion among many. They will tell you that we don't really know much about Jesus, and that what we know is probably wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Old Testament is all about Jesus, all about His work. It's clear that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament—that He is the Messiah.

So don't be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God to everyone who believes. Christianity is unique. It's not like any other religion. It alone points people to Jesus, to the one who died and rose from the dead—the only one who can save people from their sins.

Secondly, if you're not a Christian,

all this shows you that you need Jesus.

Why was the birth of John the Baptist such a great thing? It was because he was going to point people to Jesus. The Messiah was at Hand. He was coming to save His people. Zechariah was an Old Testament priest. The Old Testament priests knew that the way to God's presence was blocked. A great curtain blocked entrance into the Most Holy Place. They could not enter. Only once a year could the High Priest go in and he had to go in with blood. The Old Testament priests knew that the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. They knew that their annual sacrifice couldn't do it. It had to be repeated. They knew that these sacrifices pointed to the coming Messiah who would die in their place.

Jesus was their hope. The Messiah was the hope of their prayers. They needed the Messiah. They would be lost without Him.

That's the way it is with you. John declared,

"Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand."

You need to repent and go to the Lamb of God who can take away your sin and make you clean. Go to Him now.

• Luke 1:5-17 >