Luke 1: Preparing the Way for Tender Mercy

Click Here For the Audio Preached at Haverhill Community Church on December 16, 2012

Back-Story: Luke 1:5-20

Most of our time here will be spent dwelling on Luke 1:57-80. This particular passage details the birth of John the Baptist, but also includes a prophesy by Zechariah, who is John's father. This prophecy, which is almost a hymn of praise, is where we will spend most of our time.

Bur first, some background. For that background we look back to vs. 5-20,to provide detail of John's birth and the hymn of praise that Zechariah eventually delivers:

"In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense."

Now, let me stop here for a minute to paint this picture. Zechariah is a priest, remember. He is given the chance of a lifetime to enter the temple, something every priest longs for and few get to do. He enters in and begins to burn the incense. He is inside the holy place, serving God before the table of incense, while the people are outside praying. His once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has arrived. And he realizes that he is not alone. The text continues:

"And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.'"

Zechariah can't wrap his head around this. His once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has turned into an encounter with the angel Gabriel who is delivering a promise from God to Zechariah. And Zechariah says the following:

"How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."

In other words: It is the greatest day of his life, the best news and surely the best means for which to hear it. His prayers for a child are not only going to be answered but are the fulfillment of the prophecy we read in Malachi 3 and 4. His son will be "great before the Lord" and will be "filled with the Holy Spirit" and will prepare the way for the Lord! Your son, Zechariah! This is all spoken by the lips of an angel in the holy place of God in the temple. How do you respond? Given your knowledge of the scriptures, and the promise
of a child to Abraham in Genesis and knowing that God promised the exact same thing to Abraham and Sarah and kept his promise 4,000 years earlier. And remember: he is a priest! How do you respond?

Zechariah basically says: "You do know we are old right?"

Oh how quick we are to doubt the promises and goodness of God! Even when an angel delivers them! Even when God Himself promises them Himself in His word!

"And the angel answered him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.'"

Gabriel responds with a rebuke and immediately, Zechariah's mouth is shut. Later on in the chapter, it suggests that his ears are closed too. He is deaf and dumb. You can almost hear the tone of Gabriel's voice in his rebuke: "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. I was sent to bring you this good news! And now you wont say a word until it all comes true."

The Birth of John and the Prophesy of Zechariah: Luke 1:57-80

That is the background leading us to the main text we are going to look at. In verses 57-80, we read the second part of Zechariah's story, and the birth of John the Baptist. Nine months have passed. Elizabeth is about to give birth to their son. The story reads:

"Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, 'No; he shall be called John.' And they said to her, 'None of your relatives is called by this name.' And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, 'What then will this child be?' For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.'

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the
day of his public appearance to Israel."

It all starts coming true now. John is born to Zechariah and Elizabeth. I can't help but take a moment to ponder this silence that Zechariah has experienced until this point. He had nine months to speak nothing and hear nothing. How much had he pondered this promise that was delivered to him? He knew the scriptures, and under the rebuke for his disbelief, he must have been forced to contemplate all that was at stake with the arrival of this son who will be filled with the Holy Spirit, will be great before God, and will prepare the way for the Lord. I am reminded of Hebrews 12:6 when the writer says that the Lord "disciplines those whom he loves". God always turns the rebukes and discipline into great fruit for those who have faith in His goodness. For those of us who are familiar with "How People Change" curriculum by Paul David Tripp and Timothy Lane, you can see that Zechariah produces great fruit instead of thorns. He is under discipline for his sin and this time brings great sanctification and refining for Zechariah. For those of you who are struggling with the sins of your past, perhaps still dealing with the consequences of those sins, they will be turned into triumphs of grace if your faith in God remains. We sing of this on Sundays in the hymn "O Church Arise". "As saints of
old still line the way, retelling triumphs of his grace." These triumphs of grace are displayed in the place of our sin. This is what we see in Zechariah once his mouth is opened. His first words are "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel..." This is fruit!

Evidences of Mercy

Going back to vs. 58, Luke is careful to point out to us that the birth of John is a sign of the mercy of God, a theme that is rampant in this first chapter. Really, throughout the entire book of Luke. The word “mercy” is used ten times in the book of Luke – five of those ten times are in this chapter. Gabriel had told Zechariah to name this boy "John". This name means "God is merciful". Not only did the neighbors acknowledge the "great mercy" that God had shown to Elizabeth, but in their newborn son's very name, mercy is
communicated. Mercy is at the heart of what is going on here and it is displayed in Elizabeth, a woman advanced in years, giving birth to a son as well as the very name given to John. We must take note of this theme that is growing here. The neighbors say this because God was merciful to give Elizabeth a child, but oh how short-sighted they were! This great mercy will extend much further then the arrival of this child to a barren woman.

The text reads that "fear came upon all their neighbors". Another translation of this would be "awe came upon all their neighbors". They are amazed at what is transpiring! Elizabeth, a barren woman, gives birth to a son. They name him John because that is what God told them to name him. Zechariah, who's tongue has been tied for nine months, speaks the minute he believes the promise of God. Awe comes over the neighbors
and it spreads through all the hill country of Judea. And all are amazed and wonder "What then will this child be?" This was not simply gossip. They "laid it up in their hearts" or "treasured it in their hearts". It had been 400 years since God last spoke through the prophet Malachi. 400 years. Imagine knowing that the last time God spoke was in 1612. Imagine the various governments, cultures, waves of knowledge and experiences this people had experienced in 400 years. This was a major departure from the cultural norms of their day.
The events that were unfolding were clearly implying a mighty act of God was about to happen. They saw this. They were in awe. And they "treasured it in their hearts".

A Hymn and Prophesy of Salvation

Vs. 68 begins Zechariah's hymn of praise and prophecy. It comes in two parts: a blessing for God in vs. 68-75, and a blessing for his son in vs. 76-79.

This blessing tells us about salvation and it would seem that Zechariah understood the implications of his son's birth and what the angel had promised to him. John, his son, the one for whom Zechariah had prayed for all his life, had been born and would be the forerunner to prepare the way for the messiah, the savior. And if John was the forerunner, then salvation was near! The salvation of the world was upon them.

Zechariah praises God for visiting and redeeming his people, for raising up a "horn of salvation", which is the coming messiah. He will deliver his people from the hand of all who hate them, he will show mercy (there is that theme again, so take note) that was promised to their fathers. God will remember the holy covenant that he made with Abraham and He will deliver them from the hand of their enemies.

God has visited and redeemed.
God raised up the horn of salvation.
God is faithful to show his promised mercy.
God remembers his holy covenant.
God will deliver us from our enemies.

Why? So we might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness for all our days.

This first half of this praise details that this is God's doing. It is His alone! No one initiated
this sequence of events. Philip Ryken says the following:

"By sending the angel, by giving Elizabeth a baby, and especially by putting His Son in
the virgin's womb, God was visiting His people. He was entering our situation from the
outside, because without His intervention, we could never be saved. Salvation is not a
human invention, but a divine visitation. It is not something we achieve by going to God,
but something God has done by coming to us in Christ. No one could ever be saved except
by the grace of God."

Zechariah's praise shows that this is the doing of God alone. He has visited us and is remembering his covenant. He is showing His faithfulness in his promise of mercy.

Forgiveness of Sins Because of Tender Mercy

Halfway through this praise, Zechariah changes gears. He shifts his focus from blessing God to blessing His son. Fathers, I want you to consider Zechariah's thoughts and feelings at this point. Years of prayer with hope of having a child. It is hard for us in this day to understand the implications that a childless family in ancient Israel meant. We read in I Samuel 1 that barrenness is met with bitter sorrow when Hannah waited years for a child before Samuel is finally born. This is something that has weighed enormously on
Zechariah and Elizabeth for their entire lives. Back in Luke 1:25, you can see the pain in Elizabeth when she says the "Lord has taken away her reproach" by giving her a child. And here Zechariah is in his later years, most likely very old, staring down at this child -- his son. We can imagine the emotion as Zechariah speaks the following over John in vs. 76:

"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Now I find this passage to be wonderful, but a bit peculiar. Zechariah had spent the previous eight verses detailing the salvation of God, his mercy, and that they will be delivered from their enemies. Now, all of a sudden, in his blessing to John, Zechariah is saying that John will prepare the way of the Lord, and will give knowledge of salvation to His people in what? The forgiveness of their sins.

Zechariah has changed from deliverance from their enemies to forgiveness of sins. At first glance, this might not make much sense. God has visited us, raised up a horn of salvation, he will be faithful to show us His promised mercy, He will remember His covenant, that we will be delivered from our enemies. But John, you will prepare the way of the Lord, giving knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins.
This is a bit strange, but there is a right answer that we must look back to the book of Judges to find.

Israel had thrown themselves into a vicious cycle of doubt, disobedience, defeat, desperation, and deliverance. Over and over again. No where in the scriptures paints this picture as clearly as we saw in Judges. Israel doubts the goodness of God, disobeys and worships idols, is defeated and handed over to their enemies and are brought to their knees in desperation, and are delivered. Over and over we see that cycle.

400 years had passed since they last heard from a prophet and the cycle had continued over and over since they days of Judges. And here they were, found under the rule of the Roman Empire because of their disobedience and sinfulness. At this time, the people of John's day looked for the wrong type of salvation. They thought of salvation in political or military terms, not for forgiveness of sins. In the days of the Judges, they looked for deliverance from their enemies but never went so far as to see their need for a heart change. They simply wanted a change of circumstances. Not much had changed since those days and the people in Israel were no different now then they were then. They expected deliverance from enemies, a better economy, more freedom.

As we saw in Judges, this is not what the people of Israel needed. And it is not what we need. A change in circumstances, more freedom, better laws, a new president will not change the real problem. In Judges, deliverance from the enemies did nothing to change their hearts. In fact, at the end of the book, after God had delivered them many times, we see the situation far worse then it had been. They were in civil war and the very last thing we read is "everyone did what was right in their own eyes". Deliverance did not change the problem. The problem was themselves! And John is sent to prepare Israel for the solution that was about to solve the problem that Israel never realized. That the problem is themselves. Before the Savior could even come, someone had to get the people ready. One commentator says the following:

"It was necessary that John, the forerunner of Christ, should summon the people into a
realization of guilt and to a confession of sins, and should make as many of them as
possible see that the real redemption needed by them was deliverance from the power
of their spiritual enemies -- sin and the forces of darkness, so that they might escape
the wrath of God."

How many people here can relate to the fact that Israel got their real needs wrong? We want God to change our circumstances by solving our financial problems, our job problems, our home problems, marriage problems. We pray for deliverance from our circumstances all the time, and that is not a bad thing. We should cry out to God regarding those things! However, our deepest need is for our hearts to be changed and Israel had falsely identified the real root of the problem. John is sent to prepare the hearts of the people of Israel to be ready for the solution to the problem that has sent them into the vicious cycle that they had put themselves in for thousands of years. John is sent to "give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins." We do not appreciate gifts that appear to meet no needs. John is sent to prepare the hearts of Israel to realize that the gift they are about to receive in Christ is ALL that they need.

Why does God do this? Why does God give Zechariah a child, send John to prepare the way of the Lord, and send His very son into a broken and sinful world.

Answer: vs. 78 "Because of the tender mercy of our God."

We have a real problem. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 We have a real enemy as well. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that "Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Zechariah's prophecy tells us that God, will deliver us not only from our enemies, but from ourselves: our sinfulness. If we never see the need for deliverance from our enemy or from our sinfulness, we will never taste the tender mercy of God. John was sent to open our eyes to the need that
we face, and it is not a change in our circumstances. It is a change of heart and deliverance from the works of the devil.

1 John 3:8 tells us that "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."

Hebrews 9:26 tells us that "Christ has appeared once and for all at the end of to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

The Proud Humbled In Order to Taste Mercy

Zechariah, the priest, who should have known more than anyone that the promise of God would be true, had to be humbled before he could rise up, filled with the Holy Spirit, in worship and blessing of God. He knew the scriptures and he knew that whatever God said would come to pass. But in his sin, he doubted the power and promise of God, and was brought to humility.

Israel, the very people of God, with whom God had dwelt amidst their presence, had to be brought to their knees in humility because they doubted the very goodness of God and had forgotten all that He had done for them. Their sin had placed them in a vicious cycle and God had humbled them. My friends, if God has humbled you and brought you to your knees, then taste the tender mercy of God! Psalm 25:9 tells us that "He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way." Psalm 149:4 says "For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the humble with salvation."

God humbles us in order to rescue us. He brings us to the point where we can be ravished by his tender mercy. And as John was sent before the Lord to prepare their hearts, they were told of their guilt and were told to repent. If the confession of sin and the humility of a contrite heart leads us to experience the tender mercy of God, then let us turn from our ways to taste His mercy.

So what of this mercy that Zechariah proclaims in his prophesy? What are we to do with it? How does it change us? Why does God go to such effort here to describe His mercy?

Aside from much of the foolishness that we read about Israel in the book of Judges, one thing we saw consistently was the mercy of God. Time and time again, Israel failed to do what they were commanded, and yet God remained, amazingly, unceasingly, merciful towards them.

What we learn here in this story is that this did not change. Thousands of years later and God is here, introducing a forerunner to prepare the way for His mercy to be poured out on the entire earth through the introduction of His Son into the world. The problem that we see in Israel in the book of Judges is the same problem that Israel had in time of John the Baptist. And yet the mercy that we see extended to Israel in Judges is about to be amplified in a way never before seen, for this mercy will fix the problem long plaguing
all of humanity. And Zechariah, being filled with the Holy Spirit, tells us that not only will will be delivered from their enemies but will be forgiven of our sins.

For those of us who know Christ and are saved, this is the sweetest news that we could ever imagine. We, who once sat in darkness and were in the shadow of death have now been given light and the sun has risen upon our darkness. This was Israel's situation before Christ was born and it is the situation we are all in until we are saved. Nothing is more wonderful for sinners than to receive mercy! And God has gone to the greatest length to extend that mercy to sinners by sending His own Son to deliver it.

God's mercy is eternal. Never-ending. Psalm 103:8 tell us that He is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" and Psalm 23:6 tells us that "surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

For those who do not know Christ, put your faith in Him and Him alone! The dark night in which sinners sit will end and the sun will rise in your hearts.

For this is what Christmas brings to us: the forgiveness of sins because of the tender mercy of God.