God Always Rescues His People
Good morning, Cities Church, great to be here with you this lovely Sunday morning. And this morning we are launching our 2022 Advent series. Advent the season when we remember Jesus’ first coming and we remind ourselves that he will come again.
Well, this morning we’re gonna kick-off this Advent series by examining the opening chapter of the gospel of Luke. But, before we get to the text, I’d love to tell you a story about a man who was greatly impacted by this passage, a man by the name of Leopold Cohn.
Cohn was born in 1862 in Hungary and would become an Orthodox Jewish rabbi. And in his late 20s he was bothered by something. He was bothered by the fact that the Messiah had not yet come; it didn’t make sense to him that God would wait so long to send the Messiah.
No long after that, Cohn was studying the book of Daniel, specially Daniel 9, and he came to the conclusion that the Messiah should have come within 400-500 years after the events of the book of Daniel.
Well, the events of the book of Daniel conclude apx. 500 years before Jesus was born, and that was not lost on Cohn. Amid his wrestling, Cohn moved to New York City and met a group of Jewish Christians, and that convinced him to read the New Testament. And as he read, one of the primary passages that stuck out to him was Luke 1, this is one of the primary passages that convinced Cohn that Jesus did indeed fulfill all of the prophecies in the OT about the Messiah.
Cohn converted to Christianity and would go on to be the founder of a missions agency, and in his lifetime Cohn would personally lead more than 1,000 Jewish people to faith in Jesus. Remarkable. And Luke 1 played a big role, so I’m excited to look at it with you this morning. Let’s pray and we’ll dive in.
Father in heaven, Thank you that we can read about conversions, like Loepold Cohn, thank you that you are saving people, Jews, Gentiles, Black, White, Republican, Democrat, your gospel knowns no bounds, you are in the business of saving souls. Thank you! And God, I thank you for the gospel of Luke, this inspired and inerrant document… that gives us such great insights into the life and ministry Jesus. Thank you for this book! God, I ask would you use your Word this morning and throughout this sermon series to comfort and to transform your people. Please mold us to be more like Jesus, I ask. Amen.
Luke Introduces Zechariah
Well, as we examine the gospel of Luke, when we look at it’s structure and style and vocabulary, we quickly realize that Luke is sort of functioning like an investigative reporter, or historian. In fact, the style and structure of the opening verses mimic the style and structure used by many of the greatest historians in Greek history. Luke is reporting history, this is a true story, this stuff actually happened, and he’s primarily going to tell us about Jesus, the Messiah.
But before Luke gets the Jesus, he spends a chunk of time in this opening chapter telling us about a temple priest named Zechariah. Zechariah, this temple priest was married to woman named Elizabeth, Luke tells us that Zechariah and Elizabeth could not have children.
Well, one day an angel appears to Zechariah, and the angel says, in Luke 1:13:
“Your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.”
And then Zechariah questions the angel, he doubts him. “Like, how is that going to happen? We’re old. That ain’t happening.”
Then the angel says to him in Luke 1:20:
“behold, you will be… unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words…”
Because he doubted, Zechariah will be turned into a mute until the child is actually born. Later in this chapter we are introduced to Mary, a young virgin girl, who happens to be cousins with Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, and an angel appears to Mary and tells her that she’s going to give birth to the Messiah, and she’s to call him Jesus. Then, Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth and she stays there for three months, and they discuss their miraculous pregnancies.
Then, toward the end of chapter 1 John is born. And Elizabeth goes to name the child, and the people assume that she would name the child after his father, Zechariah, but she says, “His name is John.” Some of the people are confused, they’re like, there aren’t any Johns in your family, what’s up with that? Then Zechariah signals for someone to give him something he can write with, remember, he’s mute, and Zechariah confirms by writing, “Yes, we’re going to name him John.” And then something extraordinary happens, look at v. 64:
“Immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed.”
This is speaking of Zechariah, for the first time in months he speaks, and Luke tells us that Zechariah begins to prophesy, Zechariah’s words here are often referred to as “Zechariah’s Benedictus” or sometimes “Zechariah’s song.” This morning I want to look at these words from Zechariah. And there’s three I want to highlight for us this morning
John the Baptist Embraced His Role
Zechariah prophesied that John the Baptist would prepare the way for the Lord and we later see that John the Baptist gladly embraced this role. Look at what Zechariah says in v. 76:
“And you, child, [John]… will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.”
Later in Luke, in chapter 3. John the Baptist has grown up and he’s speaking to a crowd, developed a certain level of notoriety, they’re wondering if he’s the Messiah. John makes it clear he’s not the Messiah… he says. Luke 3:16:
“I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals.” (NLT).
John the Baptist had been famous, but now he’s all about making Jesus famous! John the Baptist is the ones who prepares the way. In baseball terms, he was the set-up man. In football terms, he was the blocker, pushing away would-be tacklers, to help to create a pathway for the ball carrier to make it to the endzone.
John the Baptist was the appetizer, preparing Israel’s palette. He was the opening act, warming up the audience. And he gladly embraced his role! And John the Baptist is an example for us. So often, we want to be the most important characters in the story, we want the credit! This is exactly the problem that Adam and Eve faced.
Adam and Eve had been dependent on God, but then Satan tempted them, saying, “Eat from this tree, you’ll be like God.” Adam and Eve pursued their own divinity. It was not enough to be in the garden with God, they wanted to be like God, on par with God. Adam and Eve wanted to know what God knew, they wanted to call their own shots. They refused to embrace their role. They forgot they were not the main characters, and their choice wreaked havoc on all of humanity. And many of us have often followed in their footsteps, to our own demise.
But how different would things be if we followed the model given to us by John the Baptist. If we stopped trying to make things about us, about our wants, our desires, our fame. How might that change churches, and families, and marriages, and our nation??? John the Baptist knew that he was not the star of the show; he knew that he was the trail of stardust that leads us to the super star! He embraced his proper role, and we ought to be very careful to make sure we embrace our proper roles too.
God Promised to Rescue Us
Second thing I notice here in this text. God has promised to rescue his people. Look at v. 68:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.”
Now, the English word “visited” here is translated from a unique word in the Greek, it’s the ‘verb form’ of a particular Greek noun, and that Greek noun is the word we translate into English as “bishop” or “overseer.” And the word “overseer” is used interchangeably in the Bible with words like pastor and shepherd. When we see that God has “visited” his people, we get the sentiment that it’s not just hanging out. God’s not visiting like he’s on vacation.
God has visited them with a purpose, to pastor them, to protect them, to guard them, to feed them, like a good shepherd. Zechariah continues… Look at v.69:
“[God] has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.”
Throughout this passage Zechariah is using lingo and imagery from the Old Testament, he’s making it clear that he believes that these events, these two miraculous pregnancies, they are the fulfillment of various Old Testament prophecies. In v. 69 here, he uses the phrase “horn of salvation” which is used multiple times in the Old Testament as prophecies pointing toward the Messiah, here’s two of them:
2 Samuel 22:3:
“My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my savior; you save me from violence.”
Psalm 18:2:
“The Lord is my rock…
my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock… my shield…
the horn of my salvation.”
Zechariah is making it clear that the same person who David was alluding to, his rock, he’s the horn of salvation, and he’s the one that John will point people to.
Now look at v. 71 with me, we see one of the reasons why God is raising up this “horn of salvation” for the people:
“That we should be saved from our enemies.”
God’s plan has been, all along, to save his people from their enemies, we see this throughout the Old Testament. God rescues the people of Israel from Egypt. God rescues them from the armies of Pharaoh when their backs are up against the Red Sea. Throughout the era of the Judges, we see God rescuing his people from various foes. We see God rescuing David from Saul, and later from Absalom. Over and over again, we see God protecting the Jewish people from multiple assaults.
This is God’s track record, when the enemies of God come against the people of God, God rescues them. Now, often times, when God promises to rescue us, we assume we know how it ought to go down; we have a plan in our minds as to how we think things ought to unfold, but often times, the plans that we have, they don’t line up with what God has in-store. For centuries the Jewish people had been waiting for the Messiah.
Dozens of times in the Old Testament we see promises of a king that would, a Messiah from the line of David and when God promised to rescue them, so the Jewish people assumed this meant rescue from the Romans.
Remember, at this time, the Jews are under Roman rule. The Romans have been an occupying army for nearly a century, and the Jews are ruled by a puppet king named Herod that the Romans put in place. So it makes sense that the Jews would assume that this was referring to Rome, but God had his eyes on a bigger enemy, the Jews were looking for the Messiah to overthrow the Romans, but God planned to rescue his people from the enemies known as sin, death, and the grave.
Then, Zechariah continues, and he reminds us why we can be confident that God will indeed rescue us. Look at v. 72:
“To show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,”
73 "the oath that he swore to our father Abraham.”
Interesting, the reason why God comes through is because he made a promise to Abraham and our fathers. And he’s not about to go back on his promise now. His reputation is on the line. God told Abraham, I’m with you. I’ve got your back, and all those that come after you.
Now many people assume this is just for the ethnic Jews, but that’s not what the New Testament teaches. In John 8, Jesus says, whoever believes in him is counted as offspring of Abraham, you may not be Jewish by ethnicity, but if you believe in Jesus, the promises of God, the promise that God made to Abraham, that applies to you. We see the same thing explicitly taught in the book of Romans and the book of Galatians.
If you believe in Jesus, if you are his, then you are in a family that is in covenant with God, and God has made all sorts of promises to that family, and God keeps his promises.
So recap, the first observation: John the Baptist embraced his role, he remembered it was all about Jesus. Second observation, we remember that God has promised to rescue us and protect us. And now the third.
No Need to Fear
Because of who God is, because he promises to rescue. we can live without fear! Look at v. 74:
“that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,might serve him without fear.”
Life is hard sometimes, filled with moments of uncertainty, and it’s really easy to be afraid in this life. But God says, for us, his people, there’s no need to fear!
Nearly 400 times in the Scriptures we are commanded,
“Do not fear!”
Nearly 400 times!!! Also, consider these words from Scripture.
John 16:33, Jesus said,
"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 4:4:
“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
Matthew 16:18: Jesus said,
“I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail.”
In the early 20th century there was pastor named Francis Grimke, he had been born into slavery in the 1850s, later became a prominent Presbyterian pastor, he lived and pastored through the Spanish flu of 1918, in the wake of the pandemic he said this:
“While the plague was raging, while thousands were dying, what a comfort it was to feel that we were in the hands of a loving Father who was looking out for us, who had given us the great assurance that all things should work together for our good.”
God will protect us and pastor us, and even if we do physically die, God has promised that won’t be the end.
John 11:25-26, Jesus said,
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
Here’s the final words of Zechariah’s prophecy, look at v. 78:
“because of the tender mercy of our God,whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on highto give light to those whosit in darkness and in the shadow of death,to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
God is tender and merciful, even in the midst of painful moments, when we feel like we’re in the dark. Even when you sit in the shadow of death, you still do not need to fear, because he will be your light.
God is “tender” and he will bring “light to those who sit in darkness.” In my opinion, there’s few people in church history that seem to understand this sentiment better than the great 16th century pastor John Calvin. Calvin had married a widow named Idelette, she had two children from her first husband, but she and Calvin had never had children. Calvin and his wife had multiple miscarriages and stillbirths, but in 1542 they had a son who was born alive but the baby died at just 2 weeks of age. Here’s what Calvin said:
“The Lord has certainly inflicted a severe, bitter wound in the death of our baby son. But he is himself a father and knows best what is good for his children.”
We don’t always know why God does what he does, sometimes he leads us down some very painful roads, but we can always trust him, he is a good father, there are moments in this life that are dark. Those moments are like a tunnel, everything is black, we’re not sure when this tunnel ends, we don’t know if it’ll take us to the right place. But God says, in those moments, even in those dark moments, I’ve got you, I’ll guide you, I’ll be your light.
Psalm 23:4:
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Isaiah 42:16:
“I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.”
Church, God is looking at you, and when everything seems dark, when you’re confused, God says, “Do not fear! I will guide you, I will be your light!”
Let me give you an example: A few weeks ago, my wife and I went to Texas to visit her family, and when we were driving back, we decided to make a quick pit stop in the state of Missouri. Stopped by Springfield, visit one of my favorite restaurants on the planet, Lambert’s Cafe, home of throwed rolls.
Well, while we were driving, it was late night. We had left Texas, late in the day, we’d been driving for several hours, it's dark. And all of a sudden, in the backseat, in the car seat, our baby, Lettie starts to vomit. And so, she starts screaming, and I've got the little mirror. I can see this. She’s vomiting and there's, and there’s no shoulder to pull on. Malaina, my wife, she’s like trying to reach back and try to help her.
It feels dark, there’s no sunlight, but also the moment feels dark, it feels heavy. And finally we get to the point where there's minimal shoulder. We got trucks that are flying by us, she’s vomiting, trying to decide what to do. And I'm looking up ahead and I can’t see any lights. I'm looking back behind me. I can't see any lights, no gas stations. The moment feels heavy, feels dark.
So we finally get her cleaned up a little bit and we start to drive again, wondering, “Do I turn back or drive ahead?” I'm feeling some anxiousness, if I’m honest in this moment. I’m not sure what to do. And right as I come over the incline, I see way off in the distance, a light of a gas station, and instantly the light sort of sets me at ease. And so, I just start putting the gas pedal down. I see that there’s some light in this darkness.
The moment is not over, right? She’s still crying, she's still screaming. The moment is still dark. It still feels heavy, but I see the light and it births in me hope, and confidence. I know that this moment, it’s not gonna last forever. In just a few minutes, this difficult moment is going to come to an end.
And that’s what Christmas tells us, we as humans, we’re in this difficult moment, this life is hard, we face many heavy moments, but Jesus has come, he’s our light… and eventually, he will bring an end to our suffering. Friends, the moment you’re in right now, the things you’re facing right now, this moment will not last, it feels dark right now, but Jesus is your light, look to him, and it will birth in you confidence.
God will not leave you, he will not forsake you, he has visited you, and he will rescue you. He will be your light.