September 15, 2024
Luke 1:5-17
“Following the Path”
We’re going to start out with something to write down. It’s good to know now and hold on for later:
THE FIRST WORDS FROM GOD IN THE GOSPEL ARE “FEAR NOT.”
Why fear not? Because God’s sovereign will is active and purposeful in history. In other words, God is in charge. His plan for salvation will not be interrupted or thwarted. Amen?
Remember the truth we firmly established from our series on Obadiah. Remember what we’ve been strengthening our grip on. Your name…the names of all who have been saved…was written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world. God had already established how He was going to save us. And so, all of history was moving
toward that point. That moment. All of God’s salvation history moved toward Bethlehem. All of God’s salvation history moved toward the cross. All of God’s salvation history moved toward the empty tomb. All of God’s salvation history moved toward the establishment of His church. Nothing could thwart it. Nothing could stand in its way.
Look at what we saw with Obadiah. Israel’s own kin, descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau, worked for her destruction. It didn’t happen. Why? Remember the trajectory of God’s salvation history. Nothing could stand in the way of our salvation and knowing that we are saved.
Here’s Luke 1:5-17:
“In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous - to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Right out of the gate, a lot of historical figures introduced here. These are all clues to place the story in the flow of history. We are reminded of God moving His plan throughout history. And Luke also gives us road signs to remind us that we are moving forward.
Here is what that means. Later verses contain refrains which signal a departure from one touchpoint to the next. It’s all about movement forward. As we’ll see, verse twenty-three says, “And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.” Verse thirty-eight says, “And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.” And then verse fifty-six, “And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.” There are four more of these examples. They mark, over and over, movement from the Old Testament age of promise to the New Testament age of fulfilment. It is God’s salvation history inexorably moving forward.
By the way, I love that word, inexorable. It captures the full force of Luke’s purpose. Inexorable means “not to be moved or stopped; impossible to stop or prevent; unyielding.”
Think about problems or hardships you’ve had in your life. Think about mistakes you’ve made. Think about the horrible things you’ve done or that have been done to you. Your salvation…where your life is headed…is fully, completely, confidently in God’s sovereign will. Nothing can prevent God from pouring His grace and mercy into your life. Nothing can steal your joy in this life or rob you of eternal joy in the life to come.
Let’s put it in the context of something Viktor Frankl once said:
“Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.”
What influences how you respond to the situation? Your absolute certainty that God is driving the narrative of your salvation in Jesus Christ. Nothing can stop it. Nothing.
In the words of one of my favorite hymns:
Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise
Thou mine inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only first in my heart
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art
High King of heaven, my victory won
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O ruler of all
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O ruler of all
“Be Thou My Vision”
Who does Luke begin with in verse five? Right – Herod, king of Judea.
To understand Luke’s strategy, let’s touch base with Herod’s backstory.
Herod was also known as Herod the Great. As a ruler carrying out the wishes of Rome, Herod was quite a leader. He got things done. He understood the value of overwhelming military force. He also knew how to foster good will. He reduced taxes, he enacted policies that drove economic prosperity, and he built things. It was his vision that led to the
port city of Caesarea. He built fortifications around Jerusalem. He built his own palace on top of an artificial mountain. Herod the Great was hugely successful in so many arenas.
Herod was also a despot of epic proportions. Matthew 2 reports that, fearing the birth of a new king, Herod had infants boys slaughtered. He had his wife’s brother drowned in the swimming pool of his palace. He had 46 members of the Jewish ruling assembly put to death. He killed his mother-in-law. He had his wife murdered, along with two of their sons. Augustus Caesar once observed, “It is better to be Herod’s dog than one of his children.” He was not a good guy.
Here's another interesting artifact about Herod. He was an Edomite, a descendent of Esau. The Edomites were primary players in the Book of Obadiah. We spent our summer walking through Obadiah. The primary point of Obadiah was that nothing or nobody could stop God’s sovereign will working in His chosen people’s lives. And here we go again.
Knowing these things, how could anyone doubt God’s purpose working in
our lives?
Here’s the best thing about how Luke treats Herod. And why Luke brings Herod up.
Remember the trajectory of salvation history. Remember from Genesis to Jesus, the purpose of the story. Remember what’s most important. God saves sinners from eternal death.
So, in Luke’s account of the life of Jesus, kings and rulers and the high falutin play no direct role in the story’s action. All they do is serve as markers in time. That’s the sole purpose of Herod. It places Jesus’ birth in a specific historic place and time. Nobody of any sort of esteem takes note of the births of John or Jesus, when they happen. Herod is late to that party. None of the rich, powerful, or famous have a clue about how Jesus will turn their world upside down.
Who are the vital players? Next week we’ll meet Zechariah and Elizabeth. All of the vital characters in Luke’s story are unknowns. An ordinary priest. His aging wife. A young peasant girl and a Jewish man who has to register to pay his taxes. Shepherds, despised and societal outcasts. And finally, two prophets, a man and a woman, who hang out in the temple waiting for a sign from God.
The trajectory of salvation history.
Herod, who was called the Great, presided over a fragile kingdom. Upon his death, three heirs will fight over it. Jesus, on the other hand, will receive a kingdom given him by God. As 22:28-30 says, “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” And, as we’ll see in 1:33, “And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
The dots are connectable. Herod, tracing his ancestry back to Esau and the wickedly rebellious Edomites, is assigned to the dustbin of history. Meanwhile, Jesus, the ancestor of Jacob, reigns over a kingdom that has no end. And we are heirs to that kingdom. We are assured through the beauty of this story that our names cannot be erased from the Lamb’s Book of Life. Remembering what God has done in the past, we believe that God acts to fulfill those promises in the present in surprising ways.
In preparation for next week, here’s one last thing you might want to write down:
GOD IS MOST GLORIFIED WHEN THE SITUATION IS HOPELESS.
Until then:
SOLI DEO GLORIA…
To the Glory of God Alone
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